''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' is an American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

created by

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "hi ...

and Julie McNally Cahill for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. It aired from December 26, 2005, to November 27, 2008, ending with a total of four seasons and 56 episodes. The series follows Adam Lyon, a human who, after a clerical error listed his surname as "Lion", is forced to transfer to Charles Darwin Middle School, a school for local

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

zoo animals, where he is partnered with Jake Spidermonkey in gym, and quickly becomes best friends with him.

Saerom Animation Saerom Animation, Inc. () is an animation studio located in Seoul, South Korea founded in 1987 by Gilhwan Kim. While it mainly animates shows from American animation studios, the company started making its own cartoons in 2003. Productions TV se ...

provided the animation. The series won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 2007 and was nominated for four

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origi ...

Summary

A 12-year-old student named Adam Lyon is transferred to a

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

established for anthropomorphic zoo animals due to a spelling error making his surname "Lion". There, he is befriended by a mischievous, eccentric

spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

named Jake, hence the title of the series, along with a sassy

toucan Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Semnornis, Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful Beak, bills. The family includes five genus, genera and over ...

named Lupe, a giraffe named Ingrid, who is infatuated with Adam, the intelligent, wise gorilla Windsor, and Slips the easygoing python. In spite of his usual kindness and fondness for his friends, Adam despises being banished to Charles Darwin Middle School because of something beyond his control and longs for his previous human middle school. Usually, the episodes are focused on Adam's experiences at Charles Darwin Middle School due to his inability to fit in with his anthropomorphic schoolmates, the challenges that he must face (such as the presumed stupidity of his peers, being schooled in subjects of use only to animals, the introductions of new students of odd, dangerous, or strange species to the school or the misadventures that Adam stumbles into with them, or the common effects of adolescence as they are experienced by zoo animals).

Episodes

Characters

Main

* Adam Lyon (voiced by Nika Futterman) * Jacob P. "Jake" Spidermonkey (voiced by

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

) * Windsor Gorilla (voiced by

Rick Gomez Rick Gomez is an American actor. He is known for portraying Radio Technician Fourth Grade George Luz in the HBO television programming, television miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'', and "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in t ...

) * Slips Python (voiced by

) * Guadalupe "Lupe" Toucan (voiced by

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On September 27, ...

) * Ingrid Giraffe (voiced by

) * Virgil "Bull" Sharkowski (voiced by

Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...

) * Principal Poncherello W. Pixiefrog (voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

)

Recurring

* Mrs. Geraldine Sharon Warthog (voiced by

) * Nurse Jacqueline Gazelle (voiced by

) * Henry Armadillo (voiced by

) * Coach Tiffany Gills (voiced by

Brian Doyle-Murray Brian Murray (born October 31, 1945), better known by his stage name Brian Doyle-Murray, is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared with his younger brother, actor/comedian Bill Murray, in several films, including ''Caddy ...

) * Miss Anna Chameleon (voiced by Nika Futterman) * Mr. Cyrus Q. Hornbill (voiced by

) * Mrs. Eugenia Tusk (voiced by

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...

) * Mr. Maurice Mandrill (voiced by

) * Kerry Anderson (voiced by

) * Larry "Mr. I Didn't" (voiced by

)

Minor

* Phineas Porpoise (voiced by

) * Margaret Rhino (voiced by Nika Futterman) * LaTanya Hippo (voiced by

) * Joanie Ox (voiced by

) * James Ant (voiced by

) * Dickie Sugarjumper (voiced by

) * Endugu Elephant (voiced by

) * Superintendent Wolverine (voiced by

Chris Edgerly Chris Edgerly is an American voice actor. Life and career Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several guest voices on the TV series ''Drawn Togeth ...

) * Vice Coach Horace Ferret (voiced by

Robert Goulet Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American‐Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canad ...

in "Animal School Musical") * Mr. Otto Blowhole (voiced by

) * Mr. Ernesto Cheetah (voiced by

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

) * Euripides Sharkowski (voiced by

) * Deidre Koala (voiced by

Kath Soucie Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...

) * Deb Ape (voiced by

) * Dustin Flounder (voiced by

) * Bruce Wolf (voiced by

) * Vanna Flamingo (voiced by

) * Janet Musk Ox (voiced by

) * Eddie Panther (voiced by

) * Phillip "Lippy" Zebra (voiced by

)

Release

Broadcast

The series aired its first episode on December 26, 2005 during

's “Sneak Peek Week” along with Cartoon Network original series ''

Ben 10 ''Ben 10'' is an American media franchise conceived by Man of Action and owned by The Cartoon Network, Inc. The franchise, mainly consisting of animated series produced by Cartoon Network Studios, revolves around a young boy named Ben Tennys ...

'', Cartoon Network European co-production ''

Robotboy ''Robotboy'' is an animated television series that aired from 1 November 2005 to 27 September 2008 on Cartoon Network (British and Irish TV channel), Cartoon Network in the UK. In the United States, it aired on Cartoon Network, premiering on 14 ...

'' and Canadian acquired series '' Zixx''. The series began its regular run with a two-episode premiere on Cartoon Network's "Fridays" block on February 24, 2006. The ''My Gym Partner's a Monkey''-based

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

''The Big Field Trip'' aired on January 14, 2007, as part of season 3.''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' Seasons at the '' iTunes Store''
1

2

3

4
. Retrieved June 12, 2012 A special episode, "That Darn Platypus", aired on Cartoon Network on May 18, 2007, as part of Cartoon Network Invaded, a mini-series that aired 5 specials of different series from May 4 to May 28, 2007. The series ended its 4 season-run on November 27, 2008, with the episode "A Thanksgiving Carol". The series was also shown on the revived block Cartoon Planet from 2012 to 2014. In Latin America, the series currently airs on Tooncast since 2013. In Ukraine, the series aired on Novyi Kanal. The show runs in India on channel

by the name "Samsher Sikander Chuddie Buddie".

Reception

Ratings

''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' was a ratings success for

. On the series' Cartoon Network "Fridays" block two-episode premiere at 9:00 and 9:30 P.M. EST, the first episode was seen by 1.2 million and the second by 1.3 million children ages 2–11, according to preliminary data from

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. The 9:30 P.M. telecast ranked as the #1 telecast on all television, broadcast and cable, with both boys 6–11 and boys 2–11 in the time period. The series went on top the Fridays block ratings, gaining millions of viewers.

Critical response

William Barker of Web Wombat gave the ''King of the Jungle'' DVD a positive review, awarding it with a score of 70%, saying: "With an original – dare I say unique? – premise, ''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' makes for a somewhat refreshing change from super heroes and mutants, and the cut-out animation style is captivating, though far from novel. It's not the most impressive cartoon show I've ever seen, but it's quite cute and fairly amusing – even for the older primates among us." Larisa Wiseman of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

awarded the series three out of five stars, saying: "It's difficult to tell what age group the show's producers were aiming at – the animation style and slapstick by themselves would seem to appeal mainly to grade-schoolers, while the jokes and life lessons are definitely aimed at the tween set. The sly humor may even give some adults the occasional laugh-out-loud moment. Overall, ''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' is commendable for its effort to include a subtle message in each episode. Younger viewers will probably find Jake's sometimes-annoying goofiness amusing, and will definitely find the story lines entertaining."

Awards and nominations

References

External links