The following is a list of Monkey King-related media in English. I chose to
limit the list to English-language media for two reasons. First, it's the language
I'm most comfortable with. Second, if I included Asian languages the list would be ENORMOUS.
Books
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Monkey
by Wu Ch'eng-en
translated by Arthur Waley
Available
at Amazon.com
Waley's translation is the classic English-language version
of Journey to the West. This books contains all sorts
of interesting tidbits about the origins of the Monkey King's
demon enemies. It's a bit heavy at times (it was first published
in the late 1940s) but readable.
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Monkey: A Journey to the West
by Wu Ch'eng-en
translated by David Kherdian
Available
at Amazon.com
As pure entertainment, this is my favorite translation. Kherdian
has a wonderful writing voice, and the whole book reads like
a Harry Potter novel. It's not quite as detailed as the Waley
version, but it's a page-turner.
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Comic Books
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American Born Chinese
written and drawn by Gene Yang
This one's by yours truly. Read more about it in the
Comics by Gene Yang section.
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Journey to the West (two volumes)
A humorous interpretation of the historical Chinese classic
written and drawn by Tsai Chi Chung
translated by Alan Chong
Available
from Asiapac Books
Tsai Chih Chung is the Taiwanese Charles Schultz, and these
two volumes are translated from daily newspaper strips. In this
parody, Tsai makes fun of everything from Mah Jhong to Ronald
Reagan. And, as dictated by the traditions of Chinese humor,
fart jokes abound.
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The Birth of the Monkey King
written and drawn by Chang Boon Kiat
translated by Geraldine Goh
Available
from Asiapac Books
This book is drawn in an action manga style. Chang is obviously
influenced by Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo. The character
designs look very modern and the story-telling is fluid. The
emphasis is on the adventurous aspects of the original, rather
than the spiritual or political.
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Television
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Monkey Magic
Available
at Amazon.com
This cartoon series looks a little funny at times; the animators
tried to blend traditional cel and 3D animation with mixed results.
Still, the stories remain faithful to the original and the character
designs are very charismatic. The series got cancelled after
12 episodes, but video cassettes and DVDs are still available.
Definitely worth watching.
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Lost Empire
directed by Peter MacDonald
Available
at Amazon.com
NBC aired this miniseries in early 2001. Unfortunately, the
thrill of watching a live-action Sun Wukong fly through the
clouds wasn't enough to save it from being a steaming, racist
pile of crap. Not only does the Goddess of Mercy make out with
Greg from Dharma and Greg, but the producers of the series
actually mandated that screenwriter David Hwang make a white
man/Asian goddess romance the centerpiece of the story. And
why is it that three of the four main heroes of this "Chinese
epic" are played by non-Asian actors, while all of the
demons are slant-eyed?
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