Main Cast: Nika Futterman, Tom Kenny, Brian Doyle-Murray, Grey DeLisle, Grey DeLisle
Release Year: 2005
Run Time: 30 minutes
Plot
Created by Tim Cahill and Julie McNally Cahill, the half-hour cartoon series My Gym Partner's a Monkey managed to wrap up its title and its premise in a single package. Thanks to a bureaucratic snafu, 12-year-old human youngster Adam Lyon was transferred to Charles Darwin Middle School, where the teachers and students were all anthropomorphic animals. Regarded as "slow" because he lacked jungle smarts, Adam quickly gained acceptance by virtue of his "book smarts," which were far above those of his fellow students. Adam's best friend and gym partner was class clown Jake Spidermonkey; his classmates included underachiever Slips Python, the shy and gangly Ingrid Giraffe, and school bully Virgil "Bull" Sharkowski, who spoke in an incongruously high-pitched and squeaky voice. Among the adult authority figures were Principal Pixiefrog, gym teacher Coach Gillis (who conducted classes while swimming in a fish bowl), and drama instructor Miss Chameleon. Previewed by Cartoon Network on December 26, 2005, My Gym Partner's a Monkey was slated to join the cable service's weekly lineup on February 24, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
My Gym Partner's a Monkey is an American animated television series created by Timothy and Julie McNally Cahill and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. The first episode of the series premiered on December 26, 2005, as a sneak peek into Cartoon Network's new shows for the following year. Regular showings began on February 20, 2006.
The story revolves around Adam Lyon, a human student at Charles Darwin Middle School. After a clerical error listed his surname as "Lion", he is sent from Chester Arthur Middle School to Charles Darwin Middle School, a school for the local zoo animals. Shortly after his transfer, he is partnered with Jake Spidermonkey in gym, hence the title. While Adam has to deal with the obvious difficulties humans have performing animal-like tasks, Jake likes to just have fun at everyone else's expense. Jake is also quite attached to Adam, going into deep depression when Adam hangs out with other friends or is away for a while. This is exemplified by Jake publicly crying when Adam is sick for a day.
Adam (left) and Jake (right)
Much of Charles Darwin Middle School is modeled after specific habitats. There are fish tubes created so that the fish can breathe and swim around. There are also vines and bodies of water. Some animals like Bull Sharkowski use devices to allow them to live outside of their natural habitat. In Bull's case he uses what looks like headphones full of water that go around his gills. The main characters have been able to breathe in water in the early episodes for some mysterious reason.
Charles Darwin Middle School appears to be the only animal school around, as it is later explained in the episode "Uniformity." In the episode, there are high end east coast schools for animals. Also, there is a school for plants called Creeping Broad-Leaf Sedge Middle School (CBLSMS) where Jake is sent to due to a clerical error calling him a spider plant. The school competes against human schools in athletics and other events. In one episode where Adam signs up to return to his old school for a day transfer, all the teachers and staff seem to replicate their animal counterparts.
Adam Lyon - an average 7th grader, Adam has been transferred to a school for animals due to his surname Lyon mistaken for the animal spelling Lion. The show follows Adam’s adventures in an animal school with his best friend Jake Spidermonkey.
Jacob P. "Jake" Spidermonkey - a hyperactive and occasionally vulgar monkey, Jake’s shenanigans are usually the basis of the show. He is obsessed with his backside.
