Sandy, Monkey, Tripitaka and Pigsy
For inexplicable reasons, I have become a-bit-obsessed with the medieval Chinese adventure story Journey To the West (apparently the East Asian ubiquitous cultural equivalent of the King Arthur legends in the Anglosphere); which I uncomprehendingly and ironically often sampled as an undergraduate* via the (very-) dubbed BBC series Monkey, illustrated above and sampled below:
Apparently, in the 1970s bushy sideburns were sufficient to indicate a monkey - why not?
This series was - mostly - a case of 'so bad it's good' - but also it has many endearing aspects: its heart is in the right place, and there is a genuine folk-wisdom thing going-on. The very amusing narration, in a totally-OTT 'oriental' accent, also includes quite a lot of genuine Buddhist wisdom!
I also watched, with enjoyment, a 2015 movie of the first part of the story called The Monkey King; which includes a remarkable and moving (and monkey-like) performance of Monkey by a certain Donnie Yen.
To give all this some grounding - I am currently well-into Monkey, the classic abridged 1942 translation of Journey to the West by the great Arthur Waley - which opened this universally known story to an English speaking audience.
Gripping, amusing and delightful!
*I must also admit that the actress Masako Natsume, who plays the (male) monk Tripitaka, was another significant reason for watching - since she had one of the loveliest faces I have ever seen. Sadly, she died just a few years later, of leukaemia.