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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 30 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Monkey
| According to the narrator at the beginning of each episode, what reigned "in the world before Monkey"? | Monkey Magic!
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"primal chaos". "In the world before Monkey, primal chaos reigned...." were the first words uttered at the start of each show. Although this was a Japanese program, the story itself is Chinese. All the dubbing therefore featured Chinese accents.
| The story begins with our four intrepid travelers striking out from China in 630 AD. The countryside is full of demons, warlocks and bandits. Where were they trying to reach on this perilous journey? | Monkey Magic!
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India. Mention is made in each episode of the great journey ahead. The story was written in the 16th century by Tsi Yu Chi under the title "Journey to the West". The precise destination was known as "Gandara" which scholars believe is actually located in what is now Pakistan.
To retrieve sacred Buddhist scriptures. A priest named Tripitaka really did go to India to retrieve scriptures in 629 AD.
| The priest Tripitaka makes the journey with her trusty horse and three brave animal spirits, who defend her against demons, evil spirits and other miscreants. What animals did they represent? | Monkey Magic!
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Monkey, Pig, Fish. Tripitaka is a young (male) priest but is played in the series by Masako Natsume, a woman. She is accompanied by characters named Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy.
A gold ring. The gold ring was placed there by Tripitaka to ensure Monkey's obedience. If he misbehaved or disobeyed, Tripitaka would recite a chant which would cause Monkey to recoil in pain and then fall into line. Monkey's antics in trying to avoid this punishment were some of the comic highlights of the show! Monkey was played by Masaaki Sakai.
| Which common gardening tool closely resembled the weapon Pigsy used to fight off demons and bandits? | Monkey Magic!
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A rake. All three of the animal spirits fought with a stick-like object. Pigsy used a rake, Monkey used a long staff and Sandy used a long stick with a metallic fish tail at the end. Garden sheds all over the world were raided in the 1980s by young children keen to borrow props for improvised Monkey-inspired battles!
Sandy. Sandy (played by Shiro Kishibe) wore a green cape.
| Which character was played by a different actor in each of the two series? | Monkey Magic!
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Pigsy. "Monkey" ran for two seasons of 26 episodes each. Toshiyuki Nishida played Pigsy in the first series, while comedian Tonpei Hidari played this character in the second series.
| Complete the following line from the Monkey theme song: "Born from an egg on a ..."? | Monkey Magic!
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"mountain top". "Born from an egg on a mountain top, the punkiest monkey that ever popped". All the music on the soundtrack was performed by the Japanese pop group Godiego.
| What did Monkey use to travel great distances in a very short time? | Monkey Magic!
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A flying cloud. One of the most memorable moments from the show is the way Monkey summoned his cloud - by rapidly gesticulating in front of his mouth with his middle and forefinger, blowing hard and then throwing his arm into the air. The cloud would appear and then off he went! I hope this quiz took you back!
| Monkey has been assigned the task of escorting a Buddhist monk on his quest to retrieve something from India. What? | Monkey!
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Buddhist scriptures. The TV show was based on the Chinese classic "Hsi Yu Chi"; "Journey to the West" by Wu-Cheng-en. Tripitaka's quest is to travel to India and return with Holy Buddhist scriptures to China.
| What was the name of the Buddhist monk that Monkey protected? | Monkey!
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Tripitaka. Though the monk was a young man the role was played by actress Masako Natsume. Tripitaka means Three Baskets in Sanskrit. The monk was able to keep Monkey’s wild side in check by causing him to suffer terrible headaches if he misbehaved.
| “The nature of Monkey was ______”? | Monkey!
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Irrepressible. Monkey, actually a stone monkey, was hatched from a stone egg. He spent much time bothering and defying the forces of Heaven until eventually he was trapped beneath a mountain for 500 years. It was here that Tripitaka found him and in exchange for rescuing him demanded his services on the journey west.
| When he didn’t feel like walking, or time was of the essence, Monkey was able to summon another form of travel. What was it? | Monkey!
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A flying cloud. Glowing a delightful pink the cloud occasionally emitted exhaust fumes! It was capable of traveling 180,000 miles in an instant. Handy.
| On the journey west, the travelers encountered many evil demons; fortunately Monkey had at his disposal his trusty fighting staff. When it wasn’t in his hands where did Monkey store his staff? | Monkey!
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Behind his ear. The staff was so heavy only Monkey could wield it, and it was able to shrink and grow to any size.
| Pigsy, a Pig Demon, joined the travelers on their journey. But he wasn’t always a pig, once he held a position in Heaven, what was it? | Monkey!
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A general. Pigsy was cast out from Heaven do to his offensive behavior, culminating in his assault of the Moon Princess. Pigsy always had an eye for the ladies, but alas, his disgusting appearance and manners left him with little success in the area. Toshiyuki Nishida played Pigsy in the show’s first two seasons and by Tonpei Hidari in the third.
| Season 2 of the series saw the party’s horse devoured by a white water dragon. A furious Monkey defeats the dragon and it is transformed into a horse to continue the journey with them. What is the horse’s name? | Monkey!
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Yu-Lung. Yu-Lung was able to transform to human form, when he was played by Shunji Fujimura, when the time came to battle evil demons.
| The final member of the party was Sandy, a water spirit. What did Sandy wear draped around his neck? | Monkey!
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Shrunken human skulls. Sandy wasn’t always a water spirit; he too once lived in Heaven, as a Commander in the Heavenly Host. Like Pigsy he was cast out due to his inappropriate behavior. Played by Shiro Kishibe, he and Pigsy didn’t always see eye to eye about, well, just about everything.
| Monkey was no ordinary monkey. Where did he come from? | Monkey!
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A stone egg. Monkey was hatched from a stone egg, fertilized by the grace of Heaven. He was played by Japanese actor Masaaki Sakai and was gifted not only with immortality and being indestructible but also with enormous side burns.
| When totally outnumbered Monkey could call forth extra troops. How? | Monkey!
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Transforming his hair into monkey warriors. Monkey would pluck hair from his neck and with a magical flourish blow them away. Hey presto reinforcements.
Masaaki Sakai. Masaaki Sakai was born of the 6th of August 1946 in Tokyo, Japan. He originally found fame in Japan as part of the band "The Spiders". He became famous in English speaking lands after his great performances as Monkey. He has had some other acting roles but none were as successful.
Masako Natsume. Masako Natsume was born on the 17th of November, 1957, in Tokyo, Japan. She was a model before she played the role of Tripitaka. Sadly, she died of Leukemia on the 11th of September, 1985.
Shiro Kishibe. Shiro Kishibe was born on the 7th of June, 1949, in Kyoto, Japan. He still acts, appearing in the Japanese series "Densha Otoko" in 2005 and "Kurosagi" in 2006. He also presented a daytime television show called "Look, Look, Konnichi Wa" for about ten years.
Toshiyuki Nishida. Toshiyuki Nishida was born on the 5th of November, 1947, in Fukushima, Japan. He is probably the most successful of the main actors from Monkey. He has appeared in over fifty productions in Japan and received several awards.
Tonpei Hidari. Tonpei Hidari was born on the 30th of May, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He too has been a successful actor but now many works on Talk Shows. Shunji Fujimura was the actor that played the part of the Horse (when in human form). Andrew Sachs was the actor who did the English dubbing for the Shunji's role. Peter Woodthorpe did the English dubbing for Pigsy in both seasons. Incidentally, Peter also voiced the role of Gollum in the animated film of "Lord of the Rings" and the BBC's audio cassette version of the story.
A Muck Rake. Pigsy was very proud of his Muck Rake as it was almost indestructible. The Magic Wishing Staff was Monkey's weapon. Sandy had a variation of the Monk Crescent Moon Spade. A Katana is a Japanese sword which wasn't in "Monkey" as the story was set in China.
A magic ring. Monkey wore a ring around his head and Tripitaka could use it as a punishment for him. Tripitaka would recite a sutra that Buddha had told him and the ring would shrink around Monkey's head causing him great pain. There would never be any lasting damage to Monkey though because he was immortal and indestructible.
A philosopher. Sandy often referred to himself as a philosopher. He was often trying to think of a philosophical solution to the group's problems. Pigsy thought of himself as a handsome ladies man.
Turn into a wasp/hornet. Monkey frequently used his magic to turn himself into a wasp. It usually worked really well and allowed him access to private quarters and lairs, until he got swatted and re-appeared as a normal person rubbing his head.
Godiego. Godiego also performed the end credits theme "Gandhara". You can download some Godiego Monkey Magic remixes online.
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