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MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT
Directed, drawn, and animated by Bob Cesca
Written by Bob Cesca, Tara Donnon, and Mike CervantesI remember reading another reviewer's take on this film, about how it was truly prophetic. About how the nation's highest office is nothing more than a joke. That it's just a matter of time before the Presidential candidates are revealed as the monkey's we know them to be. Personally, I thought the past 8 years proved that hands down.
MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT first appeared as a series of satirical Flash animation shorts for the internet. Take one dimwitted simian and show the dog and pony act it takes for the little guy's press agents and spin doctors to get him into the Whitehouse. Along the way, show then Vice President Al Gore doing all he can to mimic the personality of the people's choice, after all, he seriously lacked one of his own. With MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT predating George Bush's entry in the Presidential arena by a few years, I would say that other critic pretty much called it.
MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT is a natural extension of late 90's pop cultural phenomena. It owes as much to South Park as it does Reality TV. The director isn't so much concerned with breaking new ground as he is mearly taking what's come before and crossing the ever-broadening lines of good taste. This was one of the original cartoons to cash in on the South Park craze and about all the two shows have in common are crude animation styles and flying poop.
I always saw South Park as the non-thinking man's Simpsons, social commentary aimed at GED crowd. MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT is geared for those that couldn't pass the equivalency test. The jokes aren't so much aimed at politics as they are the populace for buying into the nonsensical propaganda force-fed by those Washington-wannabes.
To meter how funny other people might find MONKEY FOR PRESIDET, I slipped in the tape at a recent gathering of friends. Some laughed, some cried, but most watched in horror and disbelief. The thought that their beloved Al Gore would fling poop was just unimaginable. Funny thing is that all I could think about was how much he flung during the real-life election. No one seemed to remember what happened just a few months ago.
Is MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT funny? You bet! It's about as funny as a poop-flinging monkey could possibly be. I'm reminded of Dumb and Dumber, that's probably the last movie I saw that has as much crap humor as MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT. While I didn't care for the Jim Carrey film, I did enjoy MONKEY FOR PRESIDENT.
Looks like I need to start work on my GED again…
(Note: Joe R. Lansdale's lawyers might want to take notice. The rendition of Al Gore looks just like various renditions of Lansdale's God of the Razor.)