Movies of the 80s: When Comedy Went Bananas — The Bizarre Legacy of Going Ape! (1981)

The Last Stand of the Monkey Movie

Before the raunchy teen comedies of the 1980s took over multiplexes, before the wave of high-concept blockbusters and big-budget sequels, there was a brief, curious moment when Hollywood genuinely believed that the secret to box office gold was simple: put an ape in it.

The late ’70s had been good to the “monkey movie.” Clint Eastwood had two massive hits with Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and Any Which Way You Can (1980), both featuring his orangutan sidekick Clyde. Disney and Paramount greenlit several goofy animal-led family comedies, often with barely-there plots. Into this bizarre cinematic jungle swung Going Ape! — a 1981 Tony Danza vehicle so committed to its primate premise that it plays like a time capsule from a parallel Hollywood.

The Premise: Tony Danza vs. Three Orangutans

The plot — and I use that word generously — follows Foster (Tony Danza), who must care for his late father’s three orangutans in order to inherit $5 million dollars. With the help of his girlfriend (Stacey Nelkin) and an exasperated trainer (Danny DeVito), Foster tries to keep the apes in line while avoiding shady animal smugglers and slapstick chaos.

That’s it. That’s the movie. The comedy mostly consists of orangutans throwing food, making faces, and occasionally driving vehicles — the sort of “wacky hijinks” that feel ripped from a Benny Hill sketch.

And yet, in its loud, chaotic way, Going Ape! is kind of endearing. It’s pure, unfiltered 1981 studio comedy: noisy, eager to please, blissfully unaware of how weird it is.

Tony Danza’s Pre-Who’s the Boss? Star Experiment

In 1981, Tony Danza was a recognizable face from Taxi, but not yet a household name. Studios were testing whether he could make the leap from TV to movie stardom — a common gamble of the time.

Going Ape! was his first big lead role, released just as Taxi was winding down and before Who’s the Boss? (1984) would make him a fixture of American television. Watching it now, you can sense Danza’s natural charisma fighting against a script that never knows what to do with him. He’s charming, but also trapped in a movie where the orangutans get all the close-ups.

When Hollywood Thought “Monkey = Money”

Going Ape! didn’t come out of nowhere — it was part of a full-blown animal comedy boom. Between 1977 and 1982, studios churned out projects featuring chimps, orangutans, and dogs in human situations. It was the cinematic comfort food of a post-Jaws, pre-Ghostbusters era, when studios were desperate for safe, family-friendly hits.

But by 1981, audiences were changing. Arthur, Stripes, and Cannonball Run dominated that year’s comedy box office, marking the rise of sharper, more adult humor. Going Ape! looked and felt like a holdover from the 1970s — a relic from a simpler, sillier time.

Critics noticed. Roger Ebert famously gave the film one-and-a-half stars, calling it “a movie so simple even the orangutans might have written it.” The film barely made a blip at the box office and quickly vanished from theaters, but it remains a fascinating snapshot of where comedy was — and where it was about to go.

The End of an Era (and a Genre)

After Going Ape!, the “funny primate” genre all but disappeared. Studios shifted toward teen comedies (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), romantic hits (Tootsie), and high-concept blockbusters (Ghostbusters).

When monkeys returned to movies later in the decade — in films like Project X (1987) or Link (1986) — it was as science experiments or horror elements, not sitcom sidekicks. The joke had gone extinct.

Still, there’s something oddly comforting about Going Ape!’s naïveté. It’s a comedy made in total earnestness, convinced that three orangutans and Tony Danza were all an audience needed to laugh for 90 minutes. That belief — misplaced though it was — is part of its strange charm.

Why It’s Worth Remembering

For all its faults, Going Ape! is a time capsule of a transitional moment in Hollywood comedy. It’s the last gasp of the broad, animal-driven slapstick that dominated the 1970s, released on the cusp of a decade that would soon favor irony, edge, and self-awareness.

And if nothing else, it’s the only movie in history where Tony Danza, Danny DeVito, and three orangutans share the same frame — which, in its own weird way, makes it unforgettable.

What was your favorite Monkey/Ape/Chimp/Orangutan Movie? Sound off in the comments. Did you love Going Ape? Every Which Way But Loose? Going Bananas starring Dom Deluise? Shakma? No, wait that was a baboon... still pretty funny though.

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