PetKnows

Face it - you either have a friend, or you are the friend who occasionally jokes about owning a pet monkey. We’ve heard the descriptions detailing how the monkey will do back flips and dance for us at the drop of a hat, or how it will fetch the remote control and cans of beer for us. For most of us, the half-joking dreams remain just that. Today we nod toward those who actually followed up on the dream, and the ten best pet monkeys of all time.

10. Marcel (Owner: Ross Geller on the sitcom Friends)

Notable awesome moments include: pooping in Monica’s shoe; acts of sexual aggression toward Ross’ leg.

9. Bubbles (owner: Michael Jackson)

He is said to have become disagreeable in recent years, but any long term resident of the Never Land Ranch deserves our nod.

8. KoKo (Owner: the Gorilla Foundation)

KoKo learned sign language and communicates with humans. ‘Nuff said.

7. Abu (Owner: Disney’s Aladdin)

Abu came in quite handy for risky situations.

6. Harry (Owner: The Hendersons)

His family accidentally ran into him with a car, but he’s cool. This gentle giant is not your average bigfoot.

5. Mercutio Monkey (Owners: www.mercutiomonkey.com)

Mercutio is the idea of a pet monkey we all have in our minds when we consider monkey ownership. He’s playful, he has his own website, he wears a diaper and … just watch this video.

4. Mojo (Owner: Homer Simpson)

Mojo was originally Homer’s helper monkey, but it wasn’t long before he grew weary of his job and decided to live a little more like his master. The Homer Simpson lifestyle proves to be too much for Mojo, and his classic final scene says it all: Pray for Mojo…

Dishonorable mention: Mr. Teeny, Krusty the Klown’s smoking pet monkey

3. King Kong (Owner: Ann Darrow and Carl Denham [briefly])

While the relationship between pet and owner is blurred by Kong, he is undeniably one of the best monkeys to be friends with. Ann Darrow and the big guy get along so well there’s even a few user generated music videos in their honor.

2. Baby Luv [aka Baby Love] (Owner: Paris Hilton)

Why is Paris Hilton’s pet kinkajou so highly ranked? Not only did this heroic monkey do us all a favor by biting Paris Hilton in mid 2006, she also crashed Kelly Osbourne’s 21st birthday party. Definitely a crowd pleasing monkey.

1. Curious George (Owner: The Man with the Yellow Hat)

Curious George has entertained generations of children and adults alike with his zany and thought provoking adventures. From going to school to visiting the dentist to his visit to the air show, George is always a hit. Keeping the Man with the Yellow Hat and all of his readers entertained hasn’t been easy, and we’d be hard pressed calling another primate the best pet monkey of all time.

Dishonorable mention: Furious George (Owner: The Man in the Yellow Lab Coat)

Here is a good link that explains the financial considerations of owning a pet monkey.

Feel free to go bananas in the comments section with any memorable moments we may have left out, or any unlisted chimpions of the modern age.