Famous Monkeys in Movies and TV

Monkeys have been scene-stealers since the earliest days of film. Some of the most famous “movie monkeys” are not monkeys at all, which makes this a useful tour for anyone who wants to sharpen their primate spotting. Here are the best-known screen primates, what species they actually are, and how the industry’s use of animals has changed.

Animated Icons

Abu, from Aladdin

Disney’s pickpocketing sidekick is drawn as a small capuchin-style monkey with a cap and vest, and he set the template for the loyal animated monkey companion.

Rafiki, from The Lion King

Rafiki is a mandrill, the heaviest monkey species, although his long tail is artistic licence since mandrills have a stub. See Largest Monkeys on Earth.

Curious George

George is described as a monkey but drawn without a tail, which is one reason children so often mix up monkeys and apes. The differences are laid out in Monkeys vs. Apes.

King Louie, from The Jungle Book

Louie is an orangutan in the animated film, so despite the “King of the Swingers” reputation, he is an ape.

Master Monkey, from Kung Fu Panda

A golden-furred langur-style character whose acrobatics are a decent nod to how real arboreal monkeys move. Compare with Arboreal Monkeys.

The Monkey King

Sun Wukong, from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, is the most adapted monkey character in the world, appearing in decades of television series, animations and films across Asia.

Live-Action Scene Stealers

Marcel, from Friends

Ross’s pet was a capuchin, and the storyline of a pet monkey outgrowing a city apartment was, ironically, an accurate lesson in why primates make poor pets.

Jack the Monkey, from Pirates of the Caribbean

Barbossa’s undead capuchin is a mix of trained animal work and digital effects.

Dexter, from Night at the Museum

Another capuchin, and the source of the franchise’s most quoted slapping gag.

The monkey in Raiders of the Lost Ark

A small capuchin plays the double-crossing spy monkey in Cairo, a rare villain role.

Betsy, from Outbreak

The capuchin at the centre of the outbreak plot reflects real concerns about zoonotic disease transmission between primates and people.

Dodger, from Monkey Trouble

A pickpocketing capuchin drives the whole plot of this 1994 family film.

Flying monkeys, from The Wizard of Oz

Costumed performers rather than animals, but still the most unsettling primates in film history.

Apes Often Mistaken for Monkeys

Caesar in the modern Planet of the Apes films is a chimpanzee rendered with motion capture. Dunston in Dunston Checks In is an orangutan. Bonzo, Clyde and most “chimp comedy” stars of the twentieth century were apes too. If a screen primate has no tail, walks upright easily and has a broad chest, you are looking at an ape. The tail test and the other giveaways are covered in Famous Monkey Species.

Documentary Monkeys Worth Your Time

Wildlife series have arguably produced the best monkey performances of all, following toque macaques in Sri Lanka, temple macaques in India, geladas in the Ethiopian highlands and capuchins cracking nuts in Brazil. These show real behaviour rather than trained routines, including the tool use described in Do Monkeys Use Tools? and the politics in Monkey Behavior and Social Life.

How Screen Primates Are Made Today

Using live primates as performers has fallen sharply out of favour. Infants must be separated from mothers, training windows are short because adults become strong and unpredictable, and retired animals need decades of specialist sanctuary care. Most modern productions use digital doubles instead, which is better for the animals and usually better for the film. If you want to support the real thing, Monkey Conservation and Best Gifts for Monkey Lovers both point to sanctuaries and field projects.

Related Reading

• Incredible Monkey Photos and Stories
• The Cutest Monkey Species in the World
• 50 Amazing Monkey Facts
• Monkey Myths and Misconceptions
• 25 Funny Monkey Behaviors Explained