A touching special, but not very exciting, and not as enjoyable as the Curious George Halloween special. The nice thing is that the plot is built around the monkey and the Man with the Yellow Hat's mutual anxiety to find a suitable present for one another. That is admirable, but it doesn't carry the episode for the 40 or so minutes it runs. Also, they live in an upscale Manhattan apartment in this episode; what happened to the New England farm of the Halloween special? One continuity is that Bill is selling festive accessories again, this time Christmas trees instead of pumpkins.
7 Reviews
I Understand My Monkey
Fields20111 December 2010
My local theater plays this every weekend and the wifey and I just had to go and see it. We both want monkeys for Christmas and a Curious George cartoon will probably be the closest thing to monkeys we will probably ever get. Sadly, we saw both saw this and Chronicles of Narnia in one weekend and didn't bother taking the kids. Not only that, we rushed out to see it this morning. We need help.
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas is really about George's first Christmas. The Man in the Yellow Hat teaches George about how people spend their Christmas like baking cookies, going out looking for a tree (which George wreaks havoc yet no one seemed to be mad), singing Christmas Carols (unfortunately they sing in this one), and buying that special gift for someone.
Of course, that's not all it's about as both The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George try to find out what each other wants for Christmas. When George writes his Christmas list, all he does is draw up circles and triangles yet somehow The Man in the Yellow Hat thinks this is some kind of clue. I don't know about you but if a monkey draws up some gibberish of various shapes, I would probably discard it as gibberish.
I mention before about how George wreaks havoc. How come no one gets mad at this stupid monkey? There's one scene where George is trying to make tomato snowmen for The Man in the Yellow Hat. When The Man in the Yellow Hat comes home, he sees that George got tomato paste all over the kitchen. That's a big mess yet he never gets mad. Why is he so passive? Not only him, but the rest of the adults in his life seem to just laugh it off and treat George like his fingers on dial with 911 if they ever lay a hand on him. I want to choke that monkey!
In the end, Curious George does something that suggests that "It's the thought that counts" while The Man in the Yellow Hat still tries to figure out that gibberish. This leads to some crazy "It's A Wonderful Life/Christmas Carol" segment that seems a little out of place, and somehow he just figures it out. When you finally discover it, you realize that stupid monkey is expensive!
This Christmas Special is being shown for one reason and one reason only: For the Man in the Yellow Hat to shout, "I understand my monkey!"
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas is really about George's first Christmas. The Man in the Yellow Hat teaches George about how people spend their Christmas like baking cookies, going out looking for a tree (which George wreaks havoc yet no one seemed to be mad), singing Christmas Carols (unfortunately they sing in this one), and buying that special gift for someone.
Of course, that's not all it's about as both The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George try to find out what each other wants for Christmas. When George writes his Christmas list, all he does is draw up circles and triangles yet somehow The Man in the Yellow Hat thinks this is some kind of clue. I don't know about you but if a monkey draws up some gibberish of various shapes, I would probably discard it as gibberish.
I mention before about how George wreaks havoc. How come no one gets mad at this stupid monkey? There's one scene where George is trying to make tomato snowmen for The Man in the Yellow Hat. When The Man in the Yellow Hat comes home, he sees that George got tomato paste all over the kitchen. That's a big mess yet he never gets mad. Why is he so passive? Not only him, but the rest of the adults in his life seem to just laugh it off and treat George like his fingers on dial with 911 if they ever lay a hand on him. I want to choke that monkey!
In the end, Curious George does something that suggests that "It's the thought that counts" while The Man in the Yellow Hat still tries to figure out that gibberish. This leads to some crazy "It's A Wonderful Life/Christmas Carol" segment that seems a little out of place, and somehow he just figures it out. When you finally discover it, you realize that stupid monkey is expensive!
This Christmas Special is being shown for one reason and one reason only: For the Man in the Yellow Hat to shout, "I understand my monkey!"
big monke action
dawsongamer4 July 2020
I watch this movie at least twice every year
salmonsoup12 December 2023
This is by far the best Christmas movie ever made, even being an adult, it still has such a charm to it. It has such a wholesome storyline and overall general atmosphere. The best part is that all of most of the regular characters from the normal shows or other specials return. It really does take you back and makes you feel like a child again, just the art style and the voice acting are exceptional, making this movie absolutely a must watch, even for grown people. My only complaint is that the streaming versions of this, especially prime video, it has been upsampled and looks absolutely garbage, if you are going to watch it for any amount of time you must get the DVD version for the best experience.
one of our fam's must-watch Xmas vids
hwkmth24 December 2023
We watch this show every Christmas season, one of only a few must-sees. The plot is cute, the characters might be taken as simplistic, but they have unique eccentricities, and the songs slap! Christmas monkey? ...awesome. Do fish know that it is Christmas? ...a classic the kids break out with year round. You won't be able to get them out of your head. The chair in the tree bit is fun, the messes George gets into are creative and well played, distinctive animation. Who knew you could get pathos from a cartoon monkey. There are Easter eggs referencing other Christmas shows. Seriously, this is a joy.
BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIE EVER!
wingodsaysso9 March 2020
I can't explain why we love this movie so much but we do. It is often on repeat throughout the day in our house. It has all the great characters from the show on PBS Kids. Bill is my favorite. I love the silly antics George does throughout and the songs. It's by far the favorite in our house during the season and we often watch it throughout the rest of the year as well simply because it's fun! It's clean, family friendly, and sweet. Has some fun scenes based on other classics like It's a Wonderful Life. Fun for the whole family!
Wonderfully warm Christmas show
jdthird24 December 2023
My son was very young when this came out, so this has been one of our traditional Christmas shows we watched every year since. He always enjoyed Curious George, and I really loved how this one showed all the things they did together in the days leading up to Christmas that built their own memories.
The songs are great, and one of the things that he always loved best about it. So enjoyable that we have the MP3's so we could listen to the soundtrack in the car during the Christmas season.
The only reason I didn't give it the 10 stars is that there was such a focus on George and what toys he wanted, and how the Man with the Yellow Hat thought it would ruin Christmas if he couldn't get the right gifts. Seemed a bit too stressed since the entire show leading up to that point was about all the OTHER things that Christmas means.
But it's enjoyable, and a staple in this house now every Christmas.
The songs are great, and one of the things that he always loved best about it. So enjoyable that we have the MP3's so we could listen to the soundtrack in the car during the Christmas season.
The only reason I didn't give it the 10 stars is that there was such a focus on George and what toys he wanted, and how the Man with the Yellow Hat thought it would ruin Christmas if he couldn't get the right gifts. Seemed a bit too stressed since the entire show leading up to that point was about all the OTHER things that Christmas means.
But it's enjoyable, and a staple in this house now every Christmas.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
