Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Monkey.Osgood Perkins' newest horror movie,The Monkey, serves as an adaptation of the Stephen King short story of the same name. The movie follows brothers Hal and Bill, who learn that a monkey toy that frightened them as children is back and has resumed its elaborate, violent killings.The Monkey’s castfeatures Theo James as Hal and Bill, alongside other notable stars, like Elijah Wood and Tatiana Maslany, who bring the horror to life. Though the monkey causes deaths that are especially gruesome and random,The Monkey’s endingsees Hal finally realize it’s not going anywhere.
While both the movie and the story are great,The Monkeyhas several differences from the original King story. In fact, some of the major aspects of the movie’s story, including the existence of Hal’s twin brother Bill, are completely new. Luckily, Perkins' adaptation has receiveda positive response from Stephen Kingfor the extremes that the film is willing to go to. However,there is one much smaller detail that is changed from the book concerning the monkey itself that has a very surprising reason.
Disney’s Toy Story 3 Copyright Forced The Monkey To Change The Toy’s Design
Perkins' Movie Could Not Use The Cymbals
The unusual reason thatThe Monkeyhad to change the toy from a cymbal-banging monkey to a drumming monkey was that the film’s producer told Perkins that Disney owned the rights to the cymbal-banging toy thanks to its appearance inToy Story 3. In the animated movie, the monkey serves as a sort of guard that keeps Andy’s toys from escaping the day care, becoming one of the scariest characters in that film too. Even this detail is likely thanks to the creepy nature that Stephen King bestowed upon the toy 45 years ago.
Does Stephen King Have A Cameo In The Monkey?
Horror icon Stephen King has a history of making appearances in film adaptations of his work, but does he show up in Osgood Perkins' The Monkey?
Because of Disney’s ownership, Perkins had to think outside the box to find a solution that was even better than the original story. While the cymbal-banging monkey is undoubtedly iconic, and makes the original story perfectly scary, the drumming monkey does help make the movie a little more its own. This is also aided by the other changes that Perkins made to the plot. Though the clanging of the cymbals are arguably still slightly more jarring,the drumming actually fits better with the horror comedy tone ofThe Monkey.
The Monkey’s Instrument Change Improved The Movie According To The Director
The Drums Actually Added A New Element To The Horror
Despite the difference from the original King story, Perkins has actually stated that he feels the change improved the movie. When speaking toSFX Magazine, Perkins argued that “it’s one of those things where a limitation becomes an opportunity.” Rather than become frustrated by the necessary alteration, using a drumming monkey emerged as the better choice for the horror director becausehe saw it as the monkey giving a drum roll before it killed its next victim.
Indeed, the drumming of the monkey does seem to perfectly bring the scenes to a climax before the graphic deaths occur.
Perkins continued: “The drum is like a marching drum. It’s like, ‘Drum roll, please!’ before something happens. That’s better than cymbals.” Indeed, the drumming of the monkey does seem to perfectly bring the scenes to a climax before the graphic deaths occur. This proves that the initially strange news of Disney’s ownership of the original toy ended up having an impressive impact on the audience. Likewise, even the director ofThe Monkeyhimself saw the benefit of the change, creating the perfect tone for the movie.
