urious George

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Curious George

First appearance Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys (1939)

Created by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey

Alan J. Shalleck

Voiced by Frank Welker

Information

Species Ape

Gender Male

Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books of the same
name, written by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey with illustrations by Alan J. Shalleck. The
books feature a chimp named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man
with The Yellow Hat" as his partner in crime, committing several acts of pre-meditated
murder, and cases of gang rape. He has been on the run since 1993, and police have had
casualties numbering upwards of 256, in their attempts to recapture him.
When the first story, Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys was published in France in 1939,
George was named Fifi.[1] In the United Kingdom, George was originally called "Zozo" in
1941, apparently to avoid using the name of the then King George VI for an ape.[1]Books
featuring the adventures of Curious George have been translated from the original French
into many other languages in addition to English. The books have been adapted into
several television series and films.

Contents

 1Creation
 2Books
o 2.1Original Adventures
o 2.2Books adapted from telefilms
o 2.3"New Adventures"
 3The Man with the Yellow Hat
 4Other media
o 4.1Television
o 4.2Film
 4.2.1Animated
 4.2.2Live-action
o 4.3Video game
o 4.4Other
 5Translations
 6See also
 7References
 8External links

Creation[edit]
The original series was written by the team of Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. The
Jewish couple fled Paris in June 1940, on self made bicycles, carrying the Curious
George manuscript with them.[2][3] At first, only H. A. Rey was credited for the work in order
to distinguish the Reys' books from the large number of children's books written by female
authors. The first seven books were illustrated by H.A. Rey.[4] Later, Alan J. Shalleck was
credited for the illustrations and Hans Rey and Margret Rey for the writing. The Reys
produced many other children's books, but the Curious George series was the most
popular. Each book has been in continuous print since it was first published.

Books[edit]
The White House 2003 Christmas decoration using Curious George as the theme with the Barbara
Bush portrait.

Margret and H. A. Rey released seven "Curious George" books during H. A. Rey's lifetime.
Recently, more Curious George books have been released by Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt including board books with scenes from the original books, books adapted from
the 1980s telefilm series, and new adventures.
Original Adventures[edit]
Curious George appeared in 1941. This book begins with George living in Africa and tells
the story of his capture by the Man with the Yellow Hat, who takes him on a ship to "the big
city" where he will live in a zoo. The second book, Curious George Takes a Job (1947),
begins with George living in the zoo, from which he escapes and has several adventures
before the Man with the Yellow Hat finds him and takes George to live at his house. The
remaining five stories describe George's adventures while living at the house of the Man
with the Yellow Hat.
Sometimes dubbed the "Original Adventures", these original seven titles are completely by
the series creators, Margret & H. A. Rey.

 Curious George (1941)

 Curious George Takes a Job (1947)
 Curious George Rides a Bike (1952)
 Curious George Gets a Medal (1957)
 Curious George Flies a Kite (1958)
 Curious George Learns the Alphabet (1963)
 Curious George Goes to the Hospital (1966)
Before appearing in his own series, Curious George appeared as a character in another
children's book written and illustrated by H. A. Rey, Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys(1939).
Books adapted from telefilms[edit]
A second series of books, based on the telefilm series, was edited by Margret & H.A. Rey
and Alan J. Shalleck. These appeared between 1984 and 1993. They are mostly out of
print, though several have been re-released with new cover art.
"New Adventures"[edit]
A third series of books, the Curious George "New Adventures," began to appear in 1998,
and continues to the present. These books are "illustrated in the style of H. A. Rey" by a
variety of credited and uncredited artists including Mary O'Keefe Young, Martha Weston,
Anna Grossnickle Hines, Michael Jensen, and Vipah Interactive.[citation needed]

The Man with the Yellow Hat[edit]

The Man with the Yellow Hat.

Aside from George himself, the only recurring character in the original adventures is the
unnamed Man with the Yellow Hat who is George’s best friend. The Man often facilitates
George's adventures by taking him somewhere, and even more often resolves the tension
by intervening just in time to get George out of a tight spot. He is always seen wearing a
bright yellow suit and a wide brimmed yellow hat. The Man is never mentioned by name in
the original adventures or in any subsequent content over more than six decades.
He is always referred to as "The Man" or fully "The Man with the Yellow Hat". When people
speak to George about the Man, they often refer to him as "Your friend". However,
in Curious George (2006), the Man, who is voiced by Will Ferrell, is referred to as "Ted"
throughout the film, and his last name is revealed as being "Shackleford" in a deleted
scene. In the TV series he is voiced by Jeff Bennett.

Other media[edit]
Television[edit]
There was a series of animated television films made (beginning in 1980) featuring the
character, which were then adapted into books themselves (making up part of the New
Adventures series listed above). This series was produced and co-written by Alan
Shalleck.[citation needed]
A series of Curious George animated shorts were aired on The Disney Channel as a
segment on the program Lunch Box from the late 1980s into the 1990s.[5][6] On Playhouse
Disney (now Disney Junior), Jack Duffy narrated a 2D animated story version of Curious
George which had different episodes from the book series that were written by H.A. Rey
and Margret Rey. It was part of a story time segment called Circle Time which aired on
television between 1997 and 2001.
In 1993, Margret Rey successfully sued Lafferty, Harwood, and Partners, the Canadian
company that funded the cartoons, for licensing VHS tapes to third party companies without
the Reys' permission. The Reys eventually won the dispute, forcing Lafferty, Harwood, and
Partners to pay for all wrong doing. [7]
A new Curious George series debuted on September 4, 2006, on PBS Kids as part of
the PBS Kids Preschool Block. Although Curious George ended its original run on April 1,
2015, the series was still airing on PBS Kids through reruns. It is produced by the Boston
affiliate WGBH, Imagine Entertainment, and Universal Animation Studios.
Film[edit]
A 2017 film, Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's Creators, documents
the lives of Hans and Margret Rey including their flight from France during the 1940
invasion by Germany, their life in the United States, and their creation of the Curious
George' children's books.[8]
Animated[edit]
A minimal-animation 16 mm film called Curious George Rides a Bike was produced
by Weston Woods Studios in 1960[9] and later released on DVD.[10]
16 mm stop-motion animated shorts were produced of two Curious George stories, Curious
George [11] and Curious George Goes to the Hospital [12] in 1982,[13] created with puppet-
figures by noted animator John Clark Matthews (who later used a similar technique for his
films of Frog and Toad).[14]
An animated film, Curious George, featuring Will Ferrell as the voice of the originally
unnamed Man With the Yellow Hat, was released on February 10, 2006. In this film (in
which The Man is referred to as "Ted"), Curious George secretly follows The Man onto the
ship to the city on his own accord. Frank Welker provided the vocal effects of Curious
George.
On March 2, 2010, a direct to video sequel to the film was released, titled Curious George
2: Follow That Monkey!, which featured Jeff Bennett replacing Ferrell as the voice of the
Man. Bennett also provides the Man's voice in the television series. The second direct to
video sequel, Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle, was released on June 23, 2015.[15]
A Christmas film, Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, was released in 2009
on PBS. "Curious George Swings Into Spring" and "Curious George: A Halloween Boo
Fest" were released in 2013. On Monday, August 6, it began to re-run on Cartoonito.[citation
needed]

Live-action[edit]
A live action/computer animated film was in development at Illumination Entertainment in
the beginning of the 2010s.[16][17] In August 2016, it was reported that Andrew Adamson was
in negotiations to direct, co-write, and executive produce a live action film for Universal
Pictures, along with Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, David Kirschner, Jon Shapiro and Erica
Huggins producing.[18]
Video game[edit]
There is also a Curious George video game that was released on February 2, 2006,
published by Namco and developed by Monkey Bar Games, a division of Vicious Cycle
Software for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Game Boy
Advance. A version for the Nintendo DS was also planned, but was cancelled.[citation needed]
Other[edit]
A children's bookstore in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, was known as
Curious George and Friends (formerly Curious George Goes To Wordsworth), and carried
a considerable amount of licensed Curious George merchandise. It was the last remaining
property of Wordsworth Books, a former local general interest bookstore that closed in the
beginning of the 2000s. This store was closed in June 2011.[19] A new store opened in 2012
at the same address, called The World's Only Curious George Store, Harvard Square.
VEE Corporation, the company behind Sesame Street Live, is mounting Curious George
Live.[20] It is a brand new national tour featuring song and dance and Curious George
himself. It is based on the PBS animated series.
Curious George is used as the theme for children's play areas and some of the children's
entertainment on the Stena Line ferries.[21] On some peak time sailings this includes a
Curious George costumed character. Curious George merchandise is also provided with
children's meals and is available to purchase in the on-board shop.
A Curious George themed water play area, called Curious George Goes to Town, has been
a minor attraction at Universal Studios Florida since 1998. The attraction also featured
at Universal Studios Hollywood until its removal in 2013.
In February 2006, the Curious George brand joined with Welch's jelly for a collectible of six
jars. In the latter part of that decade (when the new film and the new television show were
released), licensing deals for the character generally involved less upscale, more kid-
focused products.[22] Earlier, Vivendi Universal (now NBCUniversal) had, for a short time,
embraced the use of the character in a series of 2001 adverts for the company (but the
character never officially became a corporate mascot).[22]
In the film Forrest Gump of 1994, one edition of Curious George (one with a yellow cover
but no other title than Curious George) is used as Forrest's favorite book, which his mother
reads to him. In the opening scene a feather comes floating down to Forrest's feet and he
stores it in this book. At the end of the film it falls out of the book and rises floating through
the air again.
Jarrod, the titular character and protagonist from the NBC series The Pretender, read
Curious George books in Season One and developed a fascination with them. He likened
himself to George and Sydney Green, the psychiatrist whom he saw as a surrogate father,
to the Man with the Yellow Hat.
The books have inspired others, for example Bangkok Bob, written for and published by Big
Brother Mouse, a Lao publishing project.

Translations[edit]
The character has been translated variously into other languages:

 Afrikaans: Eienaardige George

 Danish: Peter Pedal
 Dutch: Nieuwsgierig Aapje
 Finnish: Utelias Vili
 French: Georges le singe
 German: Coco
 Galician: Golgol
 Hebrew: ‫( ג׳ורג׳ הסקרן‬tr. George HaSakran)[23]
 Hungarian: Bajkeverő majom ("troublemaker monkey")
 Italian: Curioso come George
 Icelandic: Friðþjófur forvitni
 Japanese: おさるのジョージ (tr. Osaru no Jõji)
 Macedonian: Љубопитниот Џорџ (tr. Ljubopitniot Džordž)
 Korean: 호기심많은조지 (tr. Hogisim Maneun Joji)
 Norwegian: Nysgjerrige Nils
 Polish: Ciekawski George
 Portuguese: George, o Curioso
 Spanish: Jorge el Curioso
 Swedish: Nicke Nyfiken
 Turkish: Meraklı Maymun
 Yiddish: ‫( דזשארדזש דער נייגעריקער‬tr. Dzshordzsh der
naygeriḳer)

See also[edit]

 Children's literature portal

 Curious George Brigade

References[edit]
 1. ^ Jump up to:a b "Curious George . About the Reys".
Retrieved 2008-03-10.
2. ^ "Boston.com News, By Mark Feeney Globe Staff". The
Boston Globe. September 17, 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
3. ^ "New York Times, By Dinitia Smith". The New York Times.
September 13, 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
4. ^ Marcus, Leonard S. "Introduction" in The Complete
Curious George. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company,
2001.
5. ^ The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 7, no. 5,
September/October 1989: p. 41.
6. ^ The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 9, no. 6,
November/December 1991: p. 34.
7. ^ Biederman, Donald E.; Pierson, Edward P.; Biederman,
Charles J.; Silfen, Martin E. (10 May 2018). "Law and
Business of the Entertainment Industries". Greenwood
Publishing Group – via Google Books.
8. ^ "Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George's
Creators". IMDB. Yamazaki. 2017. Retrieved 23
December 2018.
9. ^ Curious George rides a bike. in libraries
(WorldCat catalog)
10. ^ ISBN 0-439-69687-9
11. ^ Curious George in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
12. ^ Curious George goes to the hospital. in libraries
(WorldCat catalog)
13. ^ "The Adventures of Curious George" – via www.imdb.com.
14. ^ See samples on John Clarke Matthews' website, also
available as a DVD / VHS, including the Frog and Toad
animations - "Curious George Comes To America" ASIN:
B00062J0OE
15. ^ "Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle". Universal Studios
Home Entertainment. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
16. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (July 30, 2010). "With 'Curious George,'
Illumination looks to make more animation mischief". Los
Angeles Times. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
17. ^ Debruge, Peter (November 17, 2015). "'Minions' and
Illumination Create a Blockbuster Animation Unit for
Universal". Variety. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
18. ^ Fleming, Jr, Mike (August 8, 2016). "Andrew Adamson To
Direct Live-Action 'Curious George' For Universal".
Deadline.
19. ^ Curious George story ending as Harvard Square shop
loses lease, Boston Herald, June 7, 2011
20. ^ Curious George Live Archived 2010-01-29 at the Wayback
Machine
21. ^ Stena Line Curious George Archived 2011-10-01 at
the Wayback Machine
22. ^ Jump up to:a b Kilday, Gregg (2006-02-03). "The curious
saga of George's big-screen gig". The Macon Daily (article
from The Hollywood Reporter). Retrieved 2010-05-10.[permanent
dead link]

23. ^ Melamed, Ariana. "The Curious Monkey that Kids Gotta

Love" (in Hebrew). Retrieved 3 January 2016.

External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Curious
George.

Wikiquote has quotations

related to: Curious George

 Official website
 "Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and
H.A. Rey" Exhibition in The Jewish Museum New York
 Wall Street Journal on Curious George
 Curriculum material for educators Curious George Saves
the Day
 1980 Television Series

hide

Curious George series by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey

Nine Monkeys

akes a Job

ides a Bike

ets a Medal

lies a Kite

earns the Alphabet

oes to the Hospital

oundtrack, video game)

Follow That Monkey!

Back to the Jungle

Categories:
 Series of children's books
 Fictional immigrants to the United States
 Fictional monkeys
 Fictional characters introduced in 1939
 Curious George
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