Director Oz Perkins explains his thoughts on the toy's origins in The Monkey and the symbolism of how the figure works in the Stephen King movie.

He added: “I wanted to steer away from the more serious movies about possessed toys, which don’t ring true for me.” “The Monkey” hits theaters February 21.

In 1999, Captain Petey Shelborn (Adam Scott, in one of the film’s handful of cameos that excite for more than they’re ultimately worth) tries to return a toy monkey to a novelty store.

I said: Sign me up. It’s also funny. You can’t take a story about a toy monkey murdering people too seriously. What I love about Oz is that he makes you touch on a truth or a sentimentality ...

In Stephen King’s original The Monkey short story, the monkey toy that causes so much gnarly chaos is a classic staple of any vintage toy shelf. Specifically, a cymbal-playing monkey ...

The movie itself focuses on a titular monkey toy, which sports a tiny little drum (a shift from the cymbals of the book). Ahead of the movie's launch, director Osgood Perkin told SFX that he ...