Monkeybone
After a car crash sends repressed cartoonist Stu into a coma, he and the mischievous Monkeybone, his hilarious alter-ego, wake up in a wacked-out waystation for lost souls. When Monkeybone takes over Stu's body and escapes to wreak havoc on the real world, Stu has to find a way to stop him before his sister pulls the plug on reality forever!
The film financial setback against its significant budget of $75.0M, earning $5.4M globally (-93% loss). While initial box office returns were modest, the film has gained appreciation for its fresh perspective within the adventure genre.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Monkeybone (2001) exhibits precise narrative design, characteristic of Henry Selick's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 13-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 33 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.1, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Stu Miley is a repressed cartoonist living in his head, creating the crude Monkeybone character while avoiding real intimacy with his girlfriend Julie. His inner world is vibrant but his outer life is disconnected.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 11 minutes when After Julie accepts Stu's marriage proposal, a giant inflatable Monkeybone toy causes a car accident that sends Stu into a coma. His avoidance of real emotion literally crashes his life.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 24 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Stu decides he must steal an Exit Pass from Downtown to escape back to life and Julie. He actively chooses to fight for his life rather than remain trapped in his unconscious fantasy world., moving from reaction to action.
At 47 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Stu (in the gymnast's body) fails to convince Julie he's real, and she commits him to the psychiatric ward. False defeat: he's lost his chance to expose Monkeybone and reclaim his life. The stakes are now personal and time-sensitive., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 70 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Stu's stolen body begins to die and decay. The gymnast's corpse can't sustain him anymore. Literal death approaches as his physical form crumbles, and he's failed to stop Monkeybone or save Julie., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 74 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. The finale: Stu confronts Monkeybone at the stadium event, battles his shadow-self, and with Julie's help (she finally believes him), defeats Monkeybone and stops the nightmare juice plot. Stu reclaims his body and his life by embracing both his imagination and his heart., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Monkeybone's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 13 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Monkeybone against these established plot points, we can identify how Henry Selick utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Monkeybone within the adventure genre.
Henry Selick's Structural Approach
Among the 3 Henry Selick films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Monkeybone represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Henry Selick filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional adventure films include Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, The Bad Guys and Zoom. For more Henry Selick analyses, see James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Stu Miley is a repressed cartoonist living in his head, creating the crude Monkeybone character while avoiding real intimacy with his girlfriend Julie. His inner world is vibrant but his outer life is disconnected.
Theme
Julie tells Stu he needs to "come out of his head" and live in the real world. The theme: choosing reality and vulnerability over fantasy and control.
Worldbuilding
Stu's life as a cartoonist is established: his successful but crude Monkeybone creation, his relationship with Julie, his sister Kimmy's disapproval, and the merchandising deal that could make him rich. Stu is emotionally stunted, living through his id-driven cartoon character.
Disruption
After Julie accepts Stu's marriage proposal, a giant inflatable Monkeybone toy causes a car accident that sends Stu into a coma. His avoidance of real emotion literally crashes his life.
Resistance
Stu awakens in Downtown, a waystation between life and death populated by nightmares and dreams. He meets his Monkeybone character now autonomous and alive, encounters Death herself, and learns he must navigate this surreal underworld to return to life. Hypnos wants to keep him there.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Stu decides he must steal an Exit Pass from Downtown to escape back to life and Julie. He actively chooses to fight for his life rather than remain trapped in his unconscious fantasy world.
Mirror World
Monkeybone betrays Stu and steals the Exit Pass for himself, taking over Stu's body in the real world. This shadow-self represents everything Stu has repressed: his id, his desires, his raw unfiltered nature.
Premise
The premise delivered: Stu trapped in Downtown while Monkeybone lives his life, destroying everything. Stu is placed in the body of a dead gymnast (Chris Kattan) and must navigate the real world in this absurd form, trying to convince Julie of his true identity while Monkeybone sabotages his life.
Midpoint
Stu (in the gymnast's body) fails to convince Julie he's real, and she commits him to the psychiatric ward. False defeat: he's lost his chance to expose Monkeybone and reclaim his life. The stakes are now personal and time-sensitive.
Opposition
Monkeybone executes Hypnos's plan to distribute nightmare juice through Monkeybone merchandise, threatening to plunge the world into chaos. Stu escapes the asylum and races to stop Monkeybone, but his borrowed body is failing and Julie still doesn't believe him.
Collapse
Stu's stolen body begins to die and decay. The gymnast's corpse can't sustain him anymore. Literal death approaches as his physical form crumbles, and he's failed to stop Monkeybone or save Julie.
Crisis
Stu faces his darkest moment: dying in a stranger's body, unable to prove his identity, watching his creation destroy everything he loves. He must accept that he can't control everything from inside his head—he must take real action.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
The finale: Stu confronts Monkeybone at the stadium event, battles his shadow-self, and with Julie's help (she finally believes him), defeats Monkeybone and stops the nightmare juice plot. Stu reclaims his body and his life by embracing both his imagination and his heart.