Curious George Documentary, “The Story of George’s Curious Creators”! #MonkeyBusiness
For many years the world has been entertained by Curious George! I can remember all of my children reading his books and watching his TV show. Even today my grandkids enjoy Curious George so when I was asked to share about the Curious George Documentary “The Story of George’s Curious Creators” I was more than happy to do so.
Knowing that many of my readers are parents and have children too, I’m sure they would love to hear about “The Story of George’s Curious Creators” Kickstarter project! The film will be a documentary that will explore the extraordinary lives of Hans & Margret Rey, the authors of the beloved Curious George children’s books.
Documentary Following Curious George Creators Hans A. & Margret Rey Announced Ema Ryan Yamazaki Directorial Debut
In celebration of the world’s most beloved monkey, who turns seventy-five years old this year, filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki announces the first ever mixed media documentary about Curious George. Monkey Business delves into the extraordinary lives of Hans and Margret Rey, the authors of the beloved Curious George children’s books. The Reys were of GermanJewish descent and narrowly escaped the Nazis on makeshift bicycles they rode across Europe, carrying the yettobepublished Curious George manuscript with them.
To tell this remarkable story, Yamazaki obtained exclusive rights from the Rey’s estate, curated by longtime caretaker to Margret Rey, Ley Lee Ong, gaining access to the over 300 boxes of the Reys’ personal archives at the de Grummond Collection, housed at the University of Southern Mississippi. Through a unique and Reyinspired technique of animation, as well as archival photographs, the documentary tells the story of the couple’s lives, the birth of George and how the well-loved children’s book character almost didn’t come to fruition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Universal hold the publishing and merchandising rights to the literary and cultural icon, but it is Yamazaki who has been entrusted with documenting this inspiring story of perseverance, adventure, family and what it means to be a world citizen.
Monkey Business: The Curious Adventures of George’s Creators is Yamazaki’s directorial debut, after amassing an impressive editing credit list including collaborations with seasoned storyteller, Sam Pollard (When The Levees Broke). Marc Levin (Chicagoland) is on board as Executive Producer.
Yamazaki, who claims Japan, the UK and New York as three unique homes, was inspired by the Rey’s journey and philosophy of living. She felt a kinship with the married authors of GermanJewish descent who were also multinationals having made homes in Brazil, Paris and ultimately New York City. With immigration and refugee crises at the center of current and urgent international debate, Monkey Business reminds us that we are all world citizens, searching for and deserving of a home.
To fund the postproduction costs of Monkey Business, Yamazaki is running an ambitious Kickstarter campaign, releasing timeless original Curious George prints and digital archive downloads as rewards. The Kickstarter is also intended to be an invitation to the world community to find inspiration in Hans and Margret Rey’s story. How curiosity & imagination gave them the power to overcome life’s greatest challenges. The link to the Kickstarter, which includes personal testimony by Yamazaki about the making of the film, can be found here: bit.ly/CuriousGeorgeDoc.
Meet the team who will be bringing this documentary Monkey Business: The Curious Adventures of George’s Creators to life:
ABOUT EMA RYAN YAMAZAKI (Director) Raised in Japan and England and currently based in New York, Ema has always loved telling stories first as a dancer, and now as a filmmaker. She has directed documentaries such as MONK BY BLOOD and NEITHER HERE NOR THERE that have been seen around the world. As an editor, Ema’s work has screened on HBO, PBS, CNN at Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, among others.
MARC LEVIN (Executive Producer) In his 30+ years as an independent filmmaker, Marc has won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Camera D’Or at Cannes, National Emmys and duPontColumbia Awards. His work includes SLAM, HEIR TO AN EXECUTION, and the BRICK CITY TVseries.
JACOB KAFKA (Animator) The son of a rabbi and a seismologist, Jacob grew up in Massachusetts and has been making movies since he was five years old. His animated short films BASED ON A TRUE STORY and COLD FEET have played in festivals such as TIFF Kids, Woodstock Film Festival, Animation Block Party, ASIFA East Animation Festival, and been featured on Cartoon Brew. He developed the animation software “RoughAnimator” for mobile devices, which has been used by thousands of animators around the world.
Let’s not Monkey around, visit Kickstarter today to make a pledge towards this awesome project! You can pledge from $5 and up.
Note: This project will only be funded if at least $175,000 is pledged by .
