Monkeybone

Stu Miley is a shy, overworked cartoonist who has bottled up his imagination for years. A late night car crash snaps him into a coma, and he winds up in a bizarre afterlife waystation filled with eccentric souls and a gleefully anarchic alter ego named Monkeybone. The two battle for control as Monkeybone coils his chaotic influence back into the waking world, turning Stu's life into a maze of mischief, danger, and cartoonish mayhem. As his body seems to act on its own, Stu must find a way to reclaim his identity and prevent the situation from spiraling into something that threatens his future.

Directed by Henry Selick, Monkeybone blends stop motion with live action to conjure a surreal underworld and a carnival of the mind. It grew from an original concept by Mike Cachuela with Sam Hamm and Kaja Blackley, and features Brendan Fraser as Stu Miley, Bridget Fonda as Dr Julie McElroy, John Turturro voicing Monkeybone, Chris Kattan, and Giancarlo Esposito. The film arrived in 2001 with eye catching creatures and a tongue in cheek tone that leans into fantasy humor.

Budgeted at 75 million dollars, the film grossed about 5.41 million worldwide, a stark underperformance given the ambitious setup and Selick's pedigree. The mismatch between a big budget and a niche appeal limited its box office impact, though it attracted a devoted if small audience.

This movie has a compact cult appeal among fans who enjoy its offbeat humor and visual audacity. Its dreamlike sequences and unusual humor have earned a place in early 2000s fantasy conversations, and fans still reference the film in discussions of unconventional stop motion and clever pop culture mashups.

Critics offered mixed verdicts, noting ambition and striking design while pointing to uneven pacing and tonal shifts. The film foregrounds identity and control and asks whether art can stay true to the creator when fantasy demands its own rules. It meditates on fame, creative autonomy, and the pull between dream logic and real world consequences. It invites viewers to consider the cost of fame and the boundaries between imagination and reality.