Good Little Monkeys

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, no!
We're the Goody-Goody Monkeys every place we go.
Never have we gone astray,
Don't believe in being gay,[1]
Being good's the only thing we know; so,
Speak no hi-de, see no hi-de, hear no hi-de-ho![2]
Not a single wild oat will we sow!
We're so very very good, wouldn't be bad if we could,

Speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil, no!
The Opening Song

Good Little Monkeys was the tenth cartoon short in the Metro Goldwyn Mayer Happy Harmonies series produced (and in this case directed) by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. It starred the Monkey Morality Pose simians of the title and their unforgettable theme-song. The short, which premiered on April 13, 1935, followed the then common pattern of various inanimate objects, such as toys, ornaments, advertisements, or book illustrations, coming to life and frolicking while no humans are around.

Synopsis

Out of a copy of Dante's Inferno comes a red devil, creeping up on the Goody Goody Monkeys, who sing of their unshakable morals. The devil rings a gong, to summon various book characters, etc., to make merry, and invites the monkeys to join the fun; they indignantly refuse, until he begins to tempt them with peanuts -- to a Latin rhythm. The monkeys follow the peanut trail, until the devil summons a scantily clad belly-dancer, to the prudish primates' horror. As the fiend attempts to seize the monkeys, all the other characters join together to rescue them; the devil dives back into the Inferno, and all cheer as the monkeys resume their places.

The cartoon was popular enough to inspire two sequels: the first, "Pipe Dreams" (February 5, 1938), featuring the monkeys smoking their way into nicotine visions, and the second, "Art Gallery" (May 13, 1939), having the monkeys induced by the statue of the Emperor Nero to get drunk on lighter fluid (!) and burn down the gallery's painted "Rome" -- and most of the other paintings besides.


Tropes used in Good Little Monkeys include:

Hobo Cigar: Who are ya, anyhow?
Monkeys: *simultaneous deep breath* We're the goody-goody monkeys everywhere we go . . .
Hobo Cigar: Yeah? What's so good about bein' good?

  1. "Gay" meant "Rakish" during the 30's
  2. Jazz had a very bad reputation during the time
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