The Monkey King Offers A Fresh Look At A Centuries Old Story

If you’ve been in the mood for a kung fu comedy adventure complete with gods, demons, haughty monkeys, and magic sticks set against in a lush animation style inspired by Qin and Tang Dynasty art, well friend, you’d be out of luck. Fortunately, however, your troubles are almost over. Based on the 16th century novel, Journey to the West, The Monkey King is a new animated adventure coming to Netflix Aug. 18.

The feature-length film follows the adventures of Monkey King, whose bravery, gumption, and playfulness are matched only by his ego and deep loathing of authority... so, kind of like your toddler! Monkey King has always been a bit different — he doesn’t fit in with the other monkeys in his forest and eventually he decides that might not be such a bad thing. In fact, the ambitious primate knows he is destined to dwell not with his chittering troop, but with the Immortal Ones... but he’s going to have to earn it. Specifically, he needs to battle 100 demons, including the notorious Dragon King. Fortunately, he’ll have some help from his trusty magical fighting stick (named Stick) and an earnest village girl named Lin... that is if his own smug sense of self-importance doesn’t sabotage him.

“I grew up in Hong Kong knowing the Monkey King story and so did millions and millions of people for many generations,” Jimmy O. Yang, who provides the voice of Monkey King, said in a statement. “This is one of the most important stories in Asia and I’m so happy to be able to tell it in such a fun, new, and creative way with beautiful animation.”

“I hope the viewers that are familiar with the Monkey King story enjoy this fresh new take with beautiful animation and fun performances by the voice actors,” Yang continued. “And for people that don’t know Monkey King, I hope they have fun as they learn about this classic story that teaches many good lessons to adults and children.”

In addition to new songs from Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (fresh of the success of Broadway’s Six), The Monkey King features a cast including Yang (Monkey King), Jolie Hoang-Rappaport (Lin), Nan Li (Stick), Bowen Yang (Dragon King), Jo Koy (Benbo), Ron Yuan( Babbo), Hoon Lee (Jade Emperor), BD Wong (Buddha), Andrew Kishino (Demon of Havoc), Sophie Wu (Red Girl), Andrew Kishino (King Yama), Jodi Long (Wangmu) Jamie Sie (Elder Monkey), Andrew Pang (Mayor), Stephanie Hsu (Mayor’s Wife), and Kuno Inghram (Mayor’s Son).

In Romper’s exclusive sneak peek, we can see that from an early age, Monkey King’s disregard from the rules sets him apart. Sometimes, that boldness serves him well... but not always.

The Monkey King, rated PG, is available to stream on Netflix on Aug. 18.