The Incredibly Strange Brendan Fraser Film Nobody Watched

A complete bomb at the box office and forgotten by everyone involved, this incredibly strange film had a fallen hero who has risen back to the top star in it, so why don't we go over it?
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[@magicmush1998]

No you're not going crazy, I did un-list this video and re-upload it. I tweaked a few things for copyright reasons and also added a bit more info my dumb ass should have included from the start. My apologies for the inconvenience.

[@TheJPooka777]

Ah

[@JimmehRulez]

Fail

[@MimiOrozco23]

Oh ok no worries

[@AROAH]

Don’t worry I downloaded the original

[@booshbear]

stop gaslighting me into thinking im not crazy

[@comixproviderftw_02]

Paying $600,000 every year? That’s just evil.

[@Coyotebriggs]

Right? Jesus Christ imagine saying you NEED over half a MILLION dollars a year for a friggin decade?

[@SZF123456]

Just women things

[@Markm8]

Man you think it be cheeper just to take her out at that point

[@drkreuzer670]

Not the first case of a gold digger, and wont be the last

[@cyruscrompton8221]

You dont even need 600,000 to raise a kid for his life time, why the fuck do you need 6mil for?

[@doctorqrow3452]

I love how he made sure to only say "Beetlejuice" twice

[@r.j.lombardi111]

Oh come on, you are workin' with a professional here!

[@internet.weirdo]

Honestly, kudos to Brendan Fraser for persevering through everything that happened in his life. Not only does he deserve that Oscar, he deserves the absolute best for himself.

[@SwaggyG_2102]

Brendan Frasier suffered A LOT in the past few decades, but I'm really glad to see that he's finally getting his big break after all of the shit that he went through.

[@TheLoneGameMan]

Not only is Saul Goodman in there, but Gustavo Fring is Hypnos.

[@thegamingprozone1941]

Coincidence?

[@thecampingyeen2524]

holy crap i didnt even notice it was him

[@latviandragon2718]

wait what?

[@SirBlackReeds]

And Flint Marko.

[@_-Lx-_]

Man, this extra info is really making me feel sorry for everything Brendan went through, I had seen those meme crying eyes but had no idea they were him nor the struggles he had gone through. Good on him for getting his life back in form, as someone who recently broke through from a decade of mental health issues myself I have respect for anyone who keeps on pushing through those tough times and finds the light at the end of the tunnel, hope anyone else who's in a similar situation can break through into a better era as well even with how difficult it is.

[@user-tw3rh9po4t]

“The horrible, horrible flop nobody watched.” -Schaffrillas Productions, approximately

[@saladmancer4802]

Monkey bone is like one of those cursed movies that kills you, but instead, it gives you autism and takes your life savings. Is it bad that I can remember the exact comment I posted on the original vid?

[@SolomonWayze]

Well it just proves the movie is blursed and works!

[@SilliamWilliam-xb7sl]

I am glad this gem didn't get lost in time

[@BugsyFoga]

This film deserves a directors cut

[@realeala]

This deserves a remake to what it was supposed to be. A stop motion based on the original comic

[@someobserver844]

This sounds like a complete mess, but still more entertaining and creative than all the capeshit and nostalgia bait we get these days. Cinema has truly declined.

[@kingbash6466]

I don't think the movie's all that great, but I do ironically believe that the underworld set is amazing and all the different effects used for the creatures still stand the rest of time. Kinda sad that this is the legacy of the movie. That and specific fanart of the catlady involving pizza.

[@GerardMenvussa]

It feels very "90s", even though it came out 2 years too late. You don't get this kind of magic these days.

[@SwissArmyTin]

@@meowmeowmeowmeowcatoncomputer It helps that the SMB's production designer was the same guy that did Blade Runner's. Not joking, David Snyder, dude's a legend.

[@JagoShogun]

@@meowmeowmeowmeowcatoncomputer Man I was going to mention Dinohattan. But also the Batman forever sets were good.

[@shirleymaemattthews4862]

What is the fanart like

[@kurgans]

Let's not insult Skeletor's appearance here. You took that too far.

[@Trashboat444]

Not only is Saul in this, but Hypnos is Gus Fring

[@donnylurch4207]

I was one of the 27 people who saw this in the theater, along with my dad. It was the first time I came out of a movie feeling like I wasn't fulfilled, but I couldn't put my finger on why.

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

For a long time, the only knowledge I had of this movie was a single trailer on a single random VHS. With no other context or evidence of the film, it felt like witnessing a feverish creepypasta about a cursed film. Guess that wasn't too far off.

[@stuckpig92]

Same here. It was either on the dr dolittle 2 vhs? or the bridgette jones diary vhs?

[@bloodblade1221]

I watched this movie like 50 times when I was a kid cause I thought the cat lady was hot

[@yama9488]

Based

[@tablefr]

furry lmao

[@thegamingprozone1941]

Don't worry we all had those guilty pleasures as a kid 😂.

[@JagoShogun]

The coma part reminds me of those bad theories where "insert cartoon character in a fantasy setting" is just hooked on life support and traumatized and the show is allegedly all in their head lol

[@rubyy.7374]

I said it before and I’ll say it again: This gives me such big Cool World vibes, only made worse by Brad Pitt, another heartthrob, being in that film.

[@ricardonb6375]

The film was meant to be an R-rated horror film about a half-cartoon half-human woman who wants to kill her father for being an abomination to cartoon's and God's existence

[@anueutsuho7425]

Funny, TVTropes actually describes this movie as "Imagine if Cool World had better visuals, but made even less sense."

[@killingtimeonline]

Doom Patrol brought back Brendan Fraser and we should all be thankful for it

[@miffedakko9312]

Thanks for being the only youtuber that has reviewed a movie and has never done an unfunny bit where you "go insane" and laugh hysterically to yourself for a long amount of time. Dunno why that pisses me off so much but it does. Thanks for not doing that.

[@masterseal0418]

I'm just happy Brendan Fraser is back on top, and the Oscars are finally giving him respect. But Monkeybone is that much of a bizarre fever dream that the cast admitted how hellish the production is as much as Downtown. Fraser admitted this with this interview quote: "-it felt like they put us in a mental asylum! We went nutty and made a movie." I remember that the most rather than the whole movie in spite of it's surrealist nature and humor I really like, akin to your usual internet black comedy.

[@Anarcho_Ingsoc]

I really wish I weren't reminded that I used to watch the nostalgia critic

[@Guymanbot97]

Yeah. It's one of those things I just have to accept that a guy I watched for half a decade of my life did not age well. I mean tbf he is at least better than 98% of what happened to Channel Awesome people, but that's just cause at least Doug as a person is mostly sane.

[@user-tw3rh9po4t]

Fun fact: John Turturro, the guy who played Monkeybone, also played Carmine Falcone in The Batman (2022). No, I’m not kidding you.

[@dpv007]

For all its flaws, you can see Bredan gave it his all in this film, while almost any other actor might had just half-assed it. Always a professional even in such strange circumstances, I'm super glad his acting talent got well deserved recognizion. 😊 We wish him only the best of the best.

[@BlazePiffington]

Hoping to see this becomes a cult classic in the future… Probably hasn’t marinated enough yet. Keep kicking ass, Brendan

[@amaravazquez8591]

Nobody watched? I did. Shit gave me nightmares. I don't know what my mom was thinking taking me and my friends to go see this movie over "Recess: School's Out." but we all chose this one for some reason (probably because of the talking monkey). We were around 7-8 years old lmao.

[@Chocolatepain]

This movie was a fever dream as a kid. It was creepy yet captivating. I never watched the mummy so this is the only thing I knew Brendan Fraiser from aside from Scrubs.

[@otaking3582]

Apparently this movie was loosely based on a graphic novel. From what I can tell, pretty much the only thing kept in the adaptation was the concept of Down Town (which was also the name of said comic).

[@marcusharris188]

I loved this movie as a kid. Mostly because I was like 8-9 years old and the concept of the afterlife being something other than Christian pearly gate bullshit fascinated me lmao

[@user-tw3rh9po4t]

Also, Freddy Got Fingered had a similar introductory premise about an aspiring comedic cartoonist, and was also released in 2001. The difference between that movie and Monkeybone? *_Monkeybone isn’t the worst fucking movie of all time._*

[@thischannelhasbeenabandoned420]

Monkeybone would've worked better had they leaned into the Who Framed Roger Rabbit/Cool World/Looney Tunes: Back In Action angle. In other words, have the Monkeybone(the cartoon monkey) be a 2D animated character. Plotwise, it'd make a bit more sense, and that's coming from a HUGE fan of stop motion animation.

[@robertbauer5860]

Bro, that Down Town jingle lived rent-free in my head for many years after being subjected to this movie on repeat when I was a kid, I feel like I’ve connected with you on a spiritual level. It was in the rotation of things we played on car rides in my dad’s Chevy Astro. I’d wondered, considering how big a name Brendan Fraser was, why it felt like only my family knew what the hell this movie was. Great video!

[@snbsixteen6stars201]

Ever sense i discovered this movie i could only remember glimses from my childhood Finding it on a old review discussing coolworld and similar live action man lost in cartoon world stuff As well as loving coraline Monkeybone has mentally consumed my soul, i love this weird sadly mishandeld movie and the concepts of a world linked to death sleep and the subconscious fears and imagination As well as dipping its toes with a story about a animator getting corrupted by its own creation and dealing with dying with regrets ala bendy and the inkmachine

[@Nerdtendo6366]

Such a underrated movie that you made sure we saw it twice 👍

[@EngineerMonkey-zp3yj]

He's a cousin. Sorry about his uncomfortable behavior. We don't know what to do with him...

[@IAmBraindead98]

Rose McGowan (Kitty the catgirl) has gone on record saying 20th Century Fox "fired the director, a true artist, Henry Selick 1/2 the way through filming" saying the suits at the studio didn't trust his true vision. she also claimed they "changed the name [of the limbo] to 'Downtown' because they were scared African Americans would be upset by a psychedelic underground acid trip of a world with a CAT for a waitress named Dark Town" (the original comic this was based on - yes, this is a COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION - was titled DARK TOWN) the sad fact is that you can easily look up what Selick's original look of the film was a straight up stop-motion of the exact style of the comic, which was muddied by the studios. so not only did the studio NOT want him making his own movie, but they didn't even trust him to make the movie THEY pushed for. im glad Selick himself is more chill and laidback about the experience and does have genuinely great insight into the movie's creation. (brilliant video, Monkeybone is a certified CULT CLASSIC)

[@freddywondercat1362]

Shoutouts to DK64 music - all my homies love DK64 music

[@nicolettel2253]

I actually loved this film as a kid. I loved seeing all the character designs even when the nightmare scenes freaked me out. I even wanted my own monkeybone! I had forgotten the name until a few years ago and I was so young when I watched it I couldn’t explain anything about this movie. It’s nice to see someone cover it

[@raeganj6744]

I paused this video to go watch the movie and I loved it because it’s absolutely insane. Also the best guess I’ve got for Steven King being there is that it’s supposed to be a reference to when he was doing so many drugs in the 80s that he didn’t remember writing Cujo. Cause in the movie Hypnos says that King was in the prison for trying to steal an exit ticket 25 years ago and later King says that Cujo used the ticket.

[@machine-shopbilly6584]

Brendan Frasier taught me to never get married

[@thegamingprozone1941]

Amen too that

[@scipioninja]

I hear ya on that

[@asapling]

This movie reminded me of a movie called Monkey Up, it was made by the same company who made Airbud and all the other bud movies.

[@mateobonavento3939]

I chanced upon this movie around 2006-2008, completely unaware of its existence. I saw Brendan's face while changing channels, I didn't recognize the movie so I decided to watch it. I found it meh, but it got me to laugh a few times so that's something. I definitely didn't need to be reminded of the teacher scene. That's the kind of thing that makes you wish Men in Black with their memory wipes were real.

[@Insomniac1223]

Am I the only person who loved the weird and abstract style the movie it was going for? It just feels like a very regrettable acid trip.

[@gummieboigames]

Dude this movie is a fucking fever dream lol I watched this any chance I got when I was a kid and barely remember anything about it. Great video

[@maxwellpaynewell5305]

This film seems like if Son Of The Mask was somewhat redeemable

[@noirlavender6409]

600k a year for 10 years? Jesus Christ, who was the fking child who needed "support"? Jeff Bezos?!?!

[@dms-pzo8170]

Your videos are always a treat to come back to, thank you for making these

[@SirBlackReeds]

Apparently, this was originally going to be R-rated and star Nicolas Cage, and it was based off of Dark Town. JaMeS BaKeR has a post about his work on this film on his blog. Rose McGowan confirmed that the movie would have ended up better had Fox not fired Henry Selick about halfway through. The suits must have gotten cold feet. Henry Selick summed up Monkeybone as "“I have two thoughts: it never would have been a big hit. It certainly would have done better if they advertised it a little… I would still like to do a Director’s Cut because there’s a lot of cool stuff that was removed… my main lesson learned is, I don’t really do well in the live-action universe… I love my world of stop-motion… I went down a slippery slope to make Monkeybone, but the film that came out it’s not my vision of what the film could’ve been, and I just don’t thrive in that.”

[@crispyalmond5361]

God I was thinking about this movie the other day bc I also watched this repeatedly as a kid. Specifically the art that stu draws with his right hand vs left hand scene. Glad I finally found out what this movie was called bc it's been haunting me.

[@KTWEBS]

Our boy brendan finally, hes finally free and unjusted. Also I read that this movie was based on some obscure short story thats almost nothing like what happened in the movie. Something about the main character and a briefcase getting lost in purgatory.

[@zehn39]

My one memory of this film was it was on when I was 6 or 7, I had stumbled and was watching the scene where the liver lands on the grill. Definitely was too young to see that but it somehow didn’t scare me that much.

[@_itsjustchris_]

Honestly so glad I found your gem of a channel. Your commentary is really entertaining and the topics you cover are always interesting. Looking forward to future content!

[@neya327]

Omg Monkey Bone… I saw this film one time when I was 16 around 2015 when I went to an RTC (Residential Treatment Center). I had no idea what movie was being played since I usually read books all the time there, and the staff let us pick what movie to watch. I guess everyone picked THAT and I honestly will never know why. I thought they replaced my seroquel with acid or some shit. I wondered for a year after leaving if that movie was real or if I had some f*cked up dream. I completely forgot of its existence until now. Thanks for bringing back those memories lmao.

[@Ralphopotamus]

Im glad Im not the only one who thought the doctors chasing a zombie for organs was hilarious

[@SkylerMillerTheBronxProject]

I have based the high functioning person I’m today on what little I remember from watching this movie religiously when I was 8.

[@FTChomp9980]

Brendan Fraiser I always remember him from The Mummy and he was awesome as Encino Man!

[@flaco3462]

i didnt get to comment this on the original video but this joke at 1:29 sent my sides to the stratosphere

[@Lucienchol]

Finally someone else who had a weird obsession to watch this movie as a kid lmao Its definitely a flawed movie but man do I wish we could get like a director's cut or something. Dreams and nightmares as theme concepts is so fascinating and I wish more mediums would explore them

[@thespacebat]

I stumbled on this movie when I was a kid, it changed me. Not in a good way, but I changed.

[@tykamen5588]

I'll admit the stuff with the underworld is a pretty cool concept but with a not so great execution. In my opinion it feels undeveloped and not explored enough, if this movie ever gets a reboot or a TV show (there's a high chance that it probably won't) I would like to see the concept of the underworld explored a lot more.

[@JAMEArts]

You know what's interesting? Not only Bob Odenkirk is in this movie as the head surgeon near the end of the movie, you know who other actor from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul is in this movie? *Giancarlo Esposito*. Gustavo Fring was Hypnos in this movie.

[@berkly159]

I watched this movie as a very young kid and really enjoyed it a lot however I think I may have watched an extended cut as I very distinctly remember both the ending scene with Hypnos as well as the pole falling on Stu and some of the other deleted scenes you showed, I can’t really imagine why they would take them out

[@looneytoastywolf]

I honestly loved Monkey bone! I watched it alot... lol ..still love it tho. But im still really happy for him after going through so much shit i felt so bad for him :( and my heart during that interview, he does sound like he was on the verge of crying But maaaaan, it's good for him, tho always rooting for him ♡ he deserved that Oscar 🎉 Also, seeing the deleted scenes was sooo cool i didnt know that!! ALSO, great video c:

[@ShutUpEve]

I absolutely loved this movie growing up, but then again I also watched naked lunch and requiem for a dream when I was like 10 too soooooooo 😅

[@thedrewdog]

I remember wanting to see this after seeing a TV spot, and it received horrible reviews so I never went to see it, only to end up blindbuying it on DVD, and I remember feeling so disappointed. But the DVD commentary is hilarious AND sad because Henry Selick is throwing sour grapes all OVER the place.

[@GerardMenvussa]

It definitely feels like a Selick movie, it had a lot of potential. Can definitely tell it didn't have the polish of his other works though. lol the scene at 12:16 I have no idea what's up with Bob Odenkirk, so I'm probably missing on a good joke :/

[@keytag14]

Bob Odenkirk plays Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

[@Vexarax]

I was today-years-old when I learned his name is apparently “Brendon” not Brandon 😮

[@Supersonicjuju]

I did watch the original while eating my dinner. Hope you keep making amazing and entertaining videos like this magicmush!

[@wasabisushi404]

Omg the Cat Girl/waitress is Rose McGowan!! And Stu’s sister is definitely Karen aka Megan Mullally! What a crazy fever dream of a movie

[@HurricaneBady]

Yay, the video is back! I liked this video. Nobody talks about this film

[@Windyyyyyyyyy]

I actually OWN monkeybone in my house, and when I saw it, I felt like I unearthed something unholy

[@doctorlucasp9113]

Ah yes

[@dcb99filmz]

The Rock looked better in WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It for PS2 than he did in The Mummy Returns....and both came out in 2001!

[@thegamingprozone1941]

😂😂😂

[@minespatch]

Man, we really need that director's cut. Thanks for adding context to some scenes. I loved this movie.

[@erikrivera4500]

NOOOOO! I also saw this movie as a kid and had the jingle stuck in my head for so long. Thanks for the whiplash.

[@johnnotrealname8168]

I knew Brendan James Fraser was back when I saw the second episode of Trust (2018) I think on television. Absolutely loved his role in that.

[@SodiiumAnimation]

Man, this video was so good, he uploaded it twice!

[@ThatOneRedEchidna]

I remember watching this as a kid. How my parents were ok with that is a mystery.

[@ptwob]

I've seen this fever dream on tv when i was young, thanks for covering it

[@DeathBYDesign666]

This filmmaker has been involved in just a few too many Tim Burton projects and then tried to do one without him, which is exactly what it looks like to me.

[@bloodwolf6217]

17:07 Also, Hypnos is portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito

[@WickedMTG]

Monkeybone is one of my favorite movies. Nobody understood why either. I think it is incredibly charming, creative, unusual, and funny. I used to have the poster hanging on my wall for years. I guess I am an oddball.

[@victorvondroom1039]

Saw this movie just once after I read about in some rando magazine and untill this day I think about it at least once a month. I can't believe I remember it so well.

[@KingofKarnies]

I'm almost 44, so I watched this when it came out and me and my friends love this movie followed by "Blast from the Past" as a Brenden double feature night.

[@fatwreck21]

I watched Monkey Bone for the first time the other day out of 20 years of curiosity and I really liked it. What a breath of fresh air in today's movie market. The downtown characters look the way they do b/c they are figments of Stu's past emotional memories. The cyclops from a movie shocked him as a kid and he's in Stu's limbo, etc. Also, they want to keep Stu in a coma b/c his nightmares are specifically great and they want to milk him for all he's worth. Anyway, thanks for the vid!

[@thiagosalgoa7206]

8:29 HAHAHAAAAAA! IT'S HIM! SNEEEEEED! HAHAHAHAHAAA! AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!

[@tetsusiega2]

I saw this in theaters with my mom when I was like 7, and had a weirdly dark psychedelic experience that night before bed that I still can’t explain. I don’t know if I had a fever or what.

[@symbiote3220]

as a fellow fan of all things FF7, the urban theme in your nightmare's section was spot on editing

[@REALPEDROGAMEPLAYS]

Now it reminds me of an old game magazine young me would read from my dad’s collection with an ad for this movie in the back

[@LuwiigiMaster]

8:11 what an odd character, a yellow and blue cat woman with an Ankh on her head. This movie actually predates Animal Crossing for the GameCube by two months, which is the title the infamous Ankha debuted in. Granted, she's called 'Nile' in Japanese. It's just very bizarre.

[@megawisp]

Fun fact, I'm not sure how but from my memory as a kid I watched a cut with a lot of these deleted scenes

[@geekytronicxz7777]

Why was this reuploaded? Alzo happy 1 year anniversary!

[@endermaster08]

i cant keep doing this anymore

[@geoffreyporter7567]

I had a VHS copy and watched it until it wouldn’t play anymore. Can confirm that the Downtown theme song (and Monkeybone’s Marilyn Monroe song) have lived rent-free in my head for the last 20 years

[@PopeBrandonBrownson]

Before I even tap play, I did actually watch this one... like, a lot. When I was a kid I had an uncle who got cancer and we visited him a lot while he was sick. Whenever I was over there, this was playing on the TV. If my family stayed a weekend at my uncles then this movie was playing from the moment someone woke up until we all went to bed, and it got to the point where this weird ass movie became regular background noise to me. Anyway, I think that's why I'm so fucked up now. RIP Uncle Cecil, I miss you and I really wanna ask you which one of your fuckin' kids liked that movie so much. It's bugged the piss outta me for 2 decades, now, and nobody on that side of the family fuckin' talks to me anymore!

[@doodoobonejones]

Nobody? I rented this movie so many times and even tried to convince my 3rd grade teacher to play this in class for us

[@favoritemustard3542]

Heyyy it's one of the 27 he mentioned 👋 (which is a lot more than "nobody" lol)

[@tempesttossed6029]

I used to love this weird fever dream of a film. I always thought that it was a good example of what the novel Hellbent could be if adapted to film. It was genuinely one of my favorites. The designs of nightmare sequences and monsters were so creative and viscerally odd.

[@Buckle89]

I watched the hell out of this as a kid

[@ProfesorWillem]

again, brendan fraser, my beloved

[@favoritemustard3542]

Chris Kattan & his Mr. Peepers role have anything to do with this? LOL

[@joniden2215]

I saw this movie and still love it to this day.