All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
A lonely chimp astronaut yearns for Earth in this surreal sci-fi video from ad agency Leo Burnett, singer Ben Lee and the World Wildlife Fund.
The video is definitely not about a monkey gone to heaven. Rather, “Space Monkey” is an earnest, destabilizing appeal to us earthbound types from the broken heart of a chimp sent into orbit by NASA. Riding on Lee’s homesick tune “Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe,” the glacial video centers on probably the most mournful chimp in existence as the simian spaceman lands back in a world, decades after launch, that he cannot recognize.
“The idea of a monkey returning to Earth after 65 years lost in space is definitely not what you expect for an environmental message,” Andy DiLallo, executive creative director of Leo Burnett Sydney, told Taxi. “The right music was crucial to capture the emotion we needed, which is where Ben Lee was perfect in helping to bring the story to life. It’s a story that by nature is very cinematic, so it was a strong fit for both a music video and longer-format film.”
“Space Monkey” is an engaging inversion of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes, and great marketing for environmental awareness, too. If you want to take a deeper spacewalk, check out the cool behind-the-scenes video as well. But first, screen the reel above and let us know in the comments section below if its earnest monkey paw touched your warm human soul.
See Also:
