I've been a fan of the monkey (and apes) since I was no bigger than a chimpanzee. Monkeys are surprisingly intelligent, versatile, dexterous and just plain cute. I was first exposed to monkeys when I was 3 and my mother helped me read Curious George for the first time. From that moment I was convinced that monkeys were by far the coolest animals on the planet. That belief was reinforced in later years by constant exposure to various types of monkey business on the television including Cheetah (Tarzan), Grape Ape and Magilla Gorilla (Hanna Barbera), Gleek (The All New Super Friends) and, of course, The Monkees (not really apes but they certainly were fun).
On the big screen there was Mighty Joe Young, King Louie (The Jungle Book), King Kong, the winged monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, the entire cast of Planet of the Apes, and more recently, Dexter (Night at the Museum), Rafiki (The Lion King) and everyone's favourite ape with an attitude, Clyde (Every Which Way But Loose).
Being an avid comic book reader, I was also exposed to DC Comic's Congorilla, Gorilla Grodd, Beppo the Super Monkey, Bobo the Detective Chimp and more recently the capuchin Ampersand in Y: The Last Man. And let's not forget the ever-present ads for Sea Monkeys.
But the main reason I'm so fond of monkeys is because of Joey, a squirrel monkey that my parents gave to me when I was 10. He was the most amazing pet a young boy could imagine. We spent almost every minute together. It's almost unbelievable how close a monkey and his boy can become. But unfortunately it wasn't to last. Within the year, my mother developed a serious allergy to Joey and we had to give him up. He went to a new family who made him very welcome. But the lasting connection had been made and I have been ridiculously fond of monkeys ever since. So when I started my own company it just made sense to call it Clever Monkey Creative. I'm sure Joey would approve.
Sincerely, Lionel Morise