Main Cast: Kevin Zegers, Jamie Renee Smith, Russell Ferrier
Release Year: 1999
Country: US/CA
Run Time: 91 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A chimp learns the blue lines rules of hockey (which is more than can be said for many fans) in this family oriented comedy from the creative team behind Air Bud. Jack is a three-year-old chimpanzee who has been the subject of a long-term experiment by Dr. Kendall (Lomax Study), a researcher who been teaching Jack to communicate through sign language. Jack, however, has not been making progress fast enough for Dr. Kendall's sponsor, Dr. Peabody (Oliver Muirhead), who has cut off his funding and sold Jack to a medical research lab. Afraid of what could happen to his simian friend, Dr. Kendall sneaks Jack out of his home in the lab; however, Jack is accidentally sent to Canada, where he gets loose and is discovered by Tara (Jamie Renee Smith), a deaf girl who recognizes Jack's sign language. Jack has an even bigger surprise for Tara's older brother Steven (Kevin Zegers); Jack scrambles onto the ice in the midst of practice for Steven's junior league hockey team, and he and his teammates discover the monkey has a natural talent for the game. With Jack on the team, Steven's team is on their way to a league championship, but Jack's notoriety attracts the unfortunate attention of Dr. Peabody, who are determined to send Jack back to his new owners. Jack is played on screen by three different chimps, Bernie, Mac, and Louie; the suppoirting cast also features former SCTV regular Dave Thomas. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Rick Ducommun - Coach Marlowe; Oliver Muirhead - Dr. Peabody; Lomax Study - Dr. Kendall; Dave Thomas - Willy Drucker; Philip Granger - Mark Westover; Aaron Smolinski - Pete the Captain; Stanley Katz - Einsteen; Ingrid Tesch - Susie Westover; Ray Galletti - Magoo; Shane Vajda - Moose; Trevor Roberts - Larry
Credit
Ellie Kanner - Casting, Lorna Johnson - Casting, Cali Newcomen - Costume Designer, Robert Vince - Director, Kelly Herron - Editor, Robert Vince - Executive Producer, Michael Strange - Executive Producer, Anne Vince - Executive Producer, Brahm Wenger - Composer (Music Score), Brian Davie - Production Designer, Glen Winter - Cinematographer, Robert Vince - Producer, Ian Fodie - Producer, Sebastian Salm - Sound/Sound Designer, Marc Chiasson - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Vince - Screenwriter, Anne Vince - Screenwriter, Scott Ateah - Second Unit Director Of Photography, John Lambert - Visual Effects Supervisor, Marc Chiasson - Supervising Sound Editor
The plot revolves around an ape playing sports. Jack, a three-year-old chimpanzee who is the subject of an experiment involving sign language that is performed by Dr. Kendall. However, Dr. Kendall loses funding for his research and Mr. Kendall's boss, Mr. Peabody, sells Jack to a medical research lab, much to Dr. Kendall's dismay. Unfortunately, Dr. Kendall dies (offscreen) from a heart attack. Dr. Kendall had set up Jack to be taken away from the lab, but Jack was sent to Canada by mistake. In Canada, Jack befriends a lonely teenager named Steven Westover and his deaf sister, Tara . Steven soon discovers that Jack has an uncanny ability to play the sport of ice hockey and Jack joins Steven's junior league hockey team when it is discovered that there is no rule that chimpanzees can't play hockey. However, just before the championship, Dr. Peabody returns to reclaim Jack.
Sequels
The movie generated one theater-released sequel and one direct-to-video sequel. In each film, Jack learns to play a different sport.
Movies
The following is a list of the films in the series:
MVP was the working title of the 1997 film Air Bud, but the subtitle was Most Valuable Pooch, not Most Valuable Primate. Air Bud shares the same producers and they both star Kevin Zegers. Both films feature similar plots about an animal who can play sports, and they each spawned a number of sequels in which the title animal plays a different sport in each.
