Cymbal-Banging Monkey: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

* In ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', the Grinch has a giant version of one in his lair, and uses it to get his head hit.

* In ''[[Road To]] Utopia'', when [[Bob Hope]] and [[Bing Crosby]] enter a talent contest, their act follows a man with a cymbal-banging monkey. The monkey wins.

** Can also serve as [[Nightmare Retardant]] since {{spoiler|we see him during the end credits in a much more positive light, at the new Sunnyside wearing these giant star glasses and happily swaying to "We Belong Together".}}

*** As defused here: [http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/4838304460_9abd984054_d.jpg\]

* "The Monkey", a [[Stephen King]] short story. In a nutshell, every time it claps its cymbals, someone dies, and the main character and his younger son both describe the feeling of revulsion they have when they see and touch the doll, yet also how they almost ''want'' to wind it up even though they know what will happen when they do.

** The comic adaptation of this by Glenn Chadbourne from ''The Secretary of Dreams'' (Volume Two) also features a cymbal-banging monkey.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' had a laughing version of one of these while a repairman had his arm torn apart by a garbage disposal.

* ''[[The Captain And Tenille]]'' [[Variety Show]] in the middle 1970s featured a sketch where Darryl "The Captain" Dragon attempted to play piano with a Cymbal Banging Monkey allegedly named "Kokomo", who actively refused to cooperate.

* Basco ta Jolokia of ''[[Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger]]'' has a pet/assistant monkey named Sally, who wields cymbals as weapons and can produce giant monsters from a hatch in her chest.

* Inverted on the ''Mythbusters'' December Holiday special when three were used in a Rube Goldberg holiday contraption. They're more comical than scary, plus they're hard to see amongst the rest of the gags.

== [[Music]] ==

* It can be seen in Roxette's video ''Joyride''.

* ''Over and Over'' by Hot Chip.

* Exaggerated in Chris Cunningham's short film ''Monkey Drummer'', which features a monstrous contraption of mechanical parts, human limbs and a chimp's head that drums to the beat of [[Aphex Twin]]'s "Mt Saint Michel + Saint Michaels Mount".

* The 1986 musical ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' features a cymbal-banging monkey as the topper of a music box.

* ''Woyzeck''/''Blood Money'' involves one of these, and even gives it a song ("Misery is the River of the World"). It was voiced by [[Tom Waits]].

 

== Real Life ==

{{quote|'''April Ryan''': Mildly amusing.. but annoying as ''hell''.}}

* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has one as a familiar.

* At the end of the final level in ''[[Ape Escape]] 2'', you fight a giant robotic cymbal-clanging monkey. When you appear to defeat it, it falls away to reveal a [[Humongous Mecha]] ape, the ''real'' boss of the level.

* A version with a real monkey is in ''[[Escape from Monkey Island]]''. The monkey is initially playing an accordion that Guybrush needs, so he swaps it for a pair of tiny cymbals which endlessly amuse the monkey for the rest of the game.

* In ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police|Sam & Max Episode 101: Culture Shock]]'', a monkey serves as the form reader for Brady Culture's "Home" for Former Child Stars.

* There's a weapon in ''[[Ratchet and Clank|Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time]]'' called the Chimpinator...if you use it on a robotic enemy, they turn into this.

** The ''Annihilation'' DLC map "Shangri-La" features the return of the Monkey Bomb as the distraction weapon.

* ''[[Okami]]'' has one of the three monkey gods be a cymbal monkey.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' [[The Movie|movie]] "A Sitch In Time" ([[Punny Name|pun intended]]), the Tempus Simia idol is a magical time-traveling stone version of one of these, broken into a body and head section. To find the head, the bad guys fly around in a jet waiting for the body to play its cymbals when they get close.

* Also, ''[[Rugrats]]'' used one in multiple episodes...

* One appeared in ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'', where it poofed into Homer's mind to distract him from Marge's nagging.

* In a ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode, the Titans hear an eerie "help me...help meeeee..." coming from a closet. An innocent cymbal-banging monkey falls out and says "Help me, help me, help me count! One! Two! Three! Four!...." It's played for comedy though, the scene is hilarious rather than creepy.

** It's worth note that Beast Boy smashes this monkey against the wall several episodes later.

* ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'' has one of this as part of a [[Rube Goldberg Device]] built by The Brain.

* One episode of ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius|Jimmy Neutron]]'' had him reducing his intelligence to the point of total idiocy; when it's time for one of his climactic brainstorms, the only thing left in his head is a monkey busily clanging away.

 

[[Category:Paranormal Tropes]]

[[Category:Toys]]