The New Legends of the Handsome Monkey King
A 2018 youth fantasy series inspired by Journey to the West, produced by Australia's ABC and New Zealand's TVNZ in collaboration with Netflix.
The New Legends of Monkey is a youth fantasy adventure series co-produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), New Zealand's TVNZ, and Netflix. With Jacquelin Perske, Craig Irvin, and Samantha Strauss serving as lead writers, the show premiered on ABC ME on January 28, 2018, and was released globally on Netflix. The series consists of two seasons totaling 20 episodes (10 per season), with the second season debuting on August 7, 2020. This show serves as a spiritual successor to the 1978 English-language series Monkey produced by the Japanese network Nippon TV, and is likewise inspired by Journey to the West. Set in a fictional ancient Eastern continent five hundred years after the retreat of gods and demons, the story follows a young nun, Tripitaka (played by Luciane Buchanan), who embarks on a journey to recover lost scriptures under a false identity. She first releases the sealed demon monkey, Monkey (played by Chai Hansen), and subsequently gathers Bajie (played by Josh Thomson) and Sha Wujing (played by Emilie Cocquerel) to form a quartet of travelers to combat the demonic forces ruling the land. With an Australian-New Zealand production team, a diverse cast, and a modern pace, the series reimagines the quest for the scriptures and has earned Emmy recognition for its costume design and sound editing.