Monkey Kid now on Amazon Kids+
Posted by Huw,
The Monkey Kid's journey to the west can now be viewed in the west. Season one is available on Amazon Kids+ (which requires an additional subscription fee) from today, and will also be viewable on Amazon Prime later in the year.
Here's the press release:
After hugely successful reception in Asia, the hit animated series inspired by a Chinese legend swings onto screens and into new LEGO sets to entertain new audiences
The LEGO Group announced its first-ever original content distribution relationship and product deal with Amazon and the launch of the animated series LEGO Monkie Kid. The content is part of a multi-territory, multi-year arrangement which includes seasons one and two, two specials, and a new line of LEGO sets available later this fall. On September 9th, Season one of LEGO Monkie Kid will be available via Amazon for viewing in the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany, and Japan on Amazon Kids+, and season two will be available on Amazon Kids+ beginning October 28th.
Fans of LEGO Monkie Kid will have even more fun when Monkie Kid products featuring characters and scenes from the series will be available on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada in time for the holiday season. Sets include Monkey King Warrior Mech and The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain.
“We’re thrilled to bring LEGO Monkie Kid to Amazon audiences to Amazon Kids+,” said Jill Wilfert, Vice President of Entertainment Partners and Content at the LEGO Group. “LEGO Entertainment aims to create brand love by bringing our brand and franchises to life. Amazon allows us to bring new types of content and product to audiences around the world and connect with consumers in a meaningful way. We hope that through Amazon, our fans will fully immerse themselves in the LEGO Monkie Kid story.”
Featuring exciting products, animated specials, and a TV series, LEGO Monkie Kid was first launched by the LEGO Group in China, in May 2020. It is the first-ever LEGO theme to be inspired by a Chinese legend. The legendary Monkey King is one of the most iconic and recognizable heroes in Chinese culture and loved by generations. LEGO Monkie Kid is the LEGO Group’s take on a new, untold chapter of the legendary tale.
“Bringing a series like LEGO Monkie Kid to our toy product lineup and to our Amazon Kids+ service was high on our list of priorities as we continue to expand our content and product offerings for customers,” said Anne Carrihill, Amazon’s Director for Toys & Games. “We are thrilled to bring these legendary tales to life for customers on the digital screen, as well as through imaginative play with new and exciting LEGO sets discoverable in our store.”
LEGO Monkie Kid will join the Amazon Kids+ roster, which already offers more than 20,000 kid-friendly books, Audible books, videos, educational apps, and games on compatible Fire tablet, Echo, Fire TV, Kindle devices and across Android and iOS. The all-in-one subscription provides a world of content to explore, sparking imagination, creativity, and learning for millions of kids.
Additionally, Amazon Kids+ subscribers will be able to access an exclusive Monkie Kid background and avatar on Amazon Fire Kids tablets, including the newly launched Fire 10 Kids Pro tablet. The background and avatar will be available starting in October to complement the content premiere and product availability on Amazon.com.
All Monkie Kid Season one episodes, along with the Special A Hero is Born, will be available September 9th on Amazon Kids+ and this fall Prime Video customers in the U.S., UK, Canada and Japan will also be able to watch Season one at no additional cost to their membership. Monkie Kid Season two will be arrive on Amazon Kids+ on October 28th.
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28 comments on this article
That's nice! Looking forward to it when it's on prime video.
Beware, this is one of those animes with a lot of noise, screaming and fast cuts, where you have to figure out what's going on in short time. Not for everyone.
@jkb said:
"Beware, this is one of those animes with a lot of noise, screaming and fast cuts, where you have to figure out what's going on in short time. Not for everyone."
Ooh, not what I was hoping for... are you speaking from personal experience? The art style suits me, and I'm expecting it to feel premium based on the effort which has gone into the sets
Phworrr yes, very glad to see this finally make its way to to the west - been watching along with the airings abroad and it’s bar none my favourite piece of LEGO animation ever, properly high-quality stuff that deserves more of an audience. Very much recommended if you’ve got a subscription!
I watched the show on 9Now (streaming service in Australia), and really enjoyed the art style and snappy animation! It's good to see it will be more readily available in other areas as well.
Is this just a veiled reworking of Monkey with Pigsy and Sandy... WHERES TRIPITAKA!!!!!!
Hrmmm. Seems a bit late in the day. Also, I'm trying really hard not to line Bezos pockets any more than I already have. I refuse to go prime. Shame :-(
@ComfySofa said:
" @jkb said:
"Beware, this is one of those animes with a lot of noise, screaming and fast cuts, where you have to figure out what's going on in short time. Not for everyone."
Ooh, not what I was hoping for... are you speaking from personal experience? The art style suits me, and I'm expecting it to feel premium based on the effort which has gone into the sets"
It's from the same studio that made the latest version of the Ninja Turtles. It's very energetic to say the least. But it's pretty fun nonetheless. Although it certainly won't help kids on increasing their attention span...
I don't know what took them so long, as by this point, the Monkie Kid's days may already be numbered. They should have made it available worldwide right from the start, because by now, I am pretty sure the line is on the path of being cancelled soon, with the recent news that LEGO Stores in the west are taking the sets off shelves.
The animated series hasn't left any impact on me whatsoever... As others have said, it is basically just a bunch of half backed characters running around screaming and being silly without any meaningful story or character development. It is easily another one of those cases of "Style over substance".
@ComfySofa said:
" @jkb said:
"Beware, this is one of those animes with a lot of noise, screaming and fast cuts, where you have to figure out what's going on in short time. Not for everyone."
Ooh, not what I was hoping for... are you speaking from personal experience? The art style suits me, and I'm expecting it to feel premium based on the effort which has gone into the sets"
It is rather frenetic, but the animation is really amazing IMO. You can really feel a sense of energy and weight that just isn’t there in the other LEGO shows, not to mention the visually appealing art and unique aesthetic. It’s very colorful and fun, and the animator in me geeks out every few minutes at an impressive character movement or expressive motion. I wish every animated LEGO project had been given this much love.
Finally. This show is an absolute blast and even if the hyper-speed pacing isn't for everyone, it's gotta be the most ambitious LEGO show in a while. The art style oozes charm and the animation is some of the best out there right now.
Hopefully the theme will last into 2022 to allow the show to finish it's story.
@Aidypie said:
" @ComfySofa said:
" @jkb said:
"Beware, this is one of those animes with a lot of noise, screaming and fast cuts, where you have to figure out what's going on in short time. Not for everyone."
Ooh, not what I was hoping for... are you speaking from personal experience? The art style suits me, and I'm expecting it to feel premium based on the effort which has gone into the sets"
It is rather frenetic, but the animation is really amazing IMO. You can really feel a sense of energy and weight that just isn’t there in the other LEGO shows, not to mention the visually appealing art and unique aesthetic. It’s very colorful and fun, and the animator in me geeks out every few minutes at an impressive character movement or expressive motion. I wish every animated LEGO project had been given this much love."
Yes, visually, there's nothing to complain about, and I like the colours.
@ComfySofa: I watched the pilot (or first episode) on YouTube, It should still be there.
In the end, everybody should get their own opinion.
I remember having a conversation with a former head of UK marketing, where it was said that Monkie Kid would not be getting a western release, and that was also the reason why the Monkie Kid sets were being retained as 'exclusives' only.
I’ll watch it after I finish the Rebuilds of Evangelion, although I should brace myself for the tonal whiplash (going from Evangelion to Monkie Kid will be a huge jump).
@kingalbino said:
"Is this just a veiled reworking of Monkey with Pigsy and Sandy... WHERES TRIPITAKA!!!!!"
This series is set in the future of the original Journey to the West/Monkey story, and Mr. Tang (the one with the big round glasses) is related to Tripitaka in some way, although they never made it clear as to whether he is the original Tripitaka or a descendant of the original monk.
It's really a shame that the show turned out to be another Teen Titans Go.
@Mr_Cross said:
"Hrmmm. Seems a bit late in the day. Also, I'm trying really hard not to line Bezos pockets any more than I already have. I refuse to go prime. Shame :-("
Hoist the black flag, put on an eye patch and pirate it from him then :)
As far as LEGO shows go, I thought the Hidden Side show was significantly more enjoyable. Thankfully we got a 45 minute Halloween special for that show before the theme was cancelled. With Monkie Kid, I could barely get through an episode before deciding not to watch the rest of it. It kind of reminds me of Xiaolin Showdown but on drugs. Just not my thing.
Thankfully, the sets are much, MUCH better than the show. I bought 80028 The Bone Demon recently and it's an incredible set.
@TomKazutara said:
"lol, I thought the sets are now on Amazon"
they will be this october
@Mr_Cross said:
"Hrmmm. Seems a bit late in the day. Also, I'm trying really hard not to line Bezos pockets any more than I already have. I refuse to go prime. Shame :-("
Definitely fair, but look on the bright side - this means there'll be nice crisp HD copies of the episodes on all your favourite yo-ho-ho sites... :V
Monkie not Monkey
@ToaofPlastic said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"lol, I thought the sets are now on Amazon"
they will be this october"
Sadly not for the UK. This is Lego’s way of getting around regional exclusives if you ask me. I just want to have them at a discount, the bigger sets are great but way out of my price range
I'm excited for this even though it's long overdue, and I'll still be waiting until it's on regular Prime Video (putting it on a kids streaming network that costs an additional fee on TOP of standard Amazon Prime to start seems like a slightly bizarre choice, and one that I can only hope won't limit its visibility too much). Like others I'm not the biggest fan of Amazon as a corporation and would've preferred it to go on an alternative service like Netflix (or even better, to air on standard TV with no streaming exclusivity), but I expect it being exclusive to Amazon is intended to have a sort of synergy with the upcoming Amazon release of the sets.
The good news is that despite this taking a whopping year and a half to be released outside of the Asia/Pacific region, the press release for this still describes it as a multi-year deal, which I can only hope means that despite the foreboding news that the sets would be withdrawn from Lego Brand Retail in Europe, the theme will still be continuing with additional sets and seasons of story.
Son Wukong is voiced by Sean Schemmel in this show and lets just say they knew *exactly* the joke they were making with that casting choice.
A new line of sets this fall? Is this the first confirmation of a Year 3 of sets?
@VBaskin2010 said:
"WHAT?! Monkie Kid should a on a real cable network, not a streamming flop!"
Why? A show on Amazon Prime will probably find a bigger audience than one on conventional TV at this point.
In related news: a designer (Matthew Ashton) for TLG kinda' 'leaked' Monkie Kid into 2023. Just2Good had the 'scoop' on Sunday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9tXTsK44Tc
Personally, hoping for a White Dragon Horse Dragon Mech...
Looking forward to watch this! Would be nice if the sets became available with a discount, though. So far they're pretty mid to high level in terms of pricing.