| A Monkey's Tale | |
| Director: | Jean-François Laguionie |
| Starring: | Tara Römer Nadia Farès Pierre Arditi Jean Piat Yves Barsacq |
| Music: | Alexandre Desplat |
| Distributor: | Miracle Communications |
| Runtime: | 75 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom France Germany |
| Language: | English French German |
A Monkey's Tale (French: '''Le Château des singes'''; literally "The Castle of Monkeys") is a feature-length animated film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. It was released in 1999, and won the Award for Best Animated Feature Film at the fifth Kecskemét Animation Film Festival.[1] It was released theatrically in the UK by Miracle Communications in its original English-language version in 2000, featuring the voices of Rik Mayall, John Hurt, Michael York, Sally Anne Marsh, and Michael Gambon. It was initially going to be released straight-to-video in the US by Universal Pictures, but for unknown reasons, it never materialized. A sequel titled The Prince's Voyage was produced in 2019.
A narrator speaks that long ago, an earthquake separated a tribe of monkeys. One group escaped the flood brought on by the quake by climbing to the top of the trees while the other clung to the roots. In the flood's wake, the single tribe becomes two with mutual suspicion and fear of each other maintaining the divide.
Kom is a member of the Woonkos, the tribe of monkeys residing in the tree canopy, who live in obsessive fear of falling into the world below which they believe to be inhabited by demons. Kom refuses to believe these superstitions and dismisses the warnings of both his older brother, Gavin, and the paranoid elder of the Woonkos. However, on the way home, he accidentally falls from the trees into the land below. He is saved by the king of the Lankoos who have developed into a medieval-themed culture with a similar level of scientific knowledge, but equal levels of superstition and prejudice towards their Woonko cousins whom they believe to be savages. While at the King's castle, Kom befriends and falls for Gina, a young maid, while the castle librarian, Master Martin, teaches him to behave as a Lankoo while also teaching him about academic topics such as astronomy. The King is amused by Kom's attitude and impressed by the various cries his people use to communicate, prompting the King to make Kom his jester, although Gina gets annoyed when he tries too hard for popularity, and forgets her, prompting her to break off their relationship. Kom briefly attempts to return home, only for the King to remind him that he isn't a prisoner of the Lankoos, prompting Kom to return and reconcile with Gina.
Meanwhile, the King's royal chancellor Sebastian, the governess to the King's daughter, Princess Ida, and their dim-witted side-kick, Gerard the Gormless, plot to kill the king while slowly poisoning Ida. During a cold spell, the lake which the Lankoos believed to be cursed, freezes over and the king leads his army to cross it in order to reach the "promised land" on the other side of the lake. Unfortunately, the ice melts and the king and his army all drown, save Kom and one other soldier named Lionel. Sebastian believes his plan has worked and moves to claim the throne, but the governess (who was giving the princess the poison) is given it herself by Gina and Lionel, subduing her, while Gina administers an antidote to the princess which Kom had heard of from the Woonko elder. Ida recovers from the effects of the poison and claims the throne before Sebastian can. Sebastian attempts to escape, but is pursued by Kom who subdues him after a fight while Lionel does the same to Gerard. The film ends with Sebastian and Gerard imprisoned, Ida as the new queen, and Kom and Gina returning to the land of the Woonkos, with the implication that the two tribes will learn to know each other once more.
A sequel titled The Prince's Voyage was produced in 2019.[2] In this film, it is revealed that the King of the Lankoos survived falling into the lake and is rescued by a younger monkey named Tom.