Passes the Bechdel test

Monkeybone

Name: Monkeybone
Released: 2001

2001. Directed by Henry Selick, written by Kaja Blackley and Sam Hamm.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
38 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 139.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

In a coma, Stu Miley a cartoonist who created a comic strip called Monkeybone which features a rascal monkey. He finds himself trapped within his own underground creation and must find a way to get back, while racing against his popular but treacherous character, Monkeybone. Naturally, Monkeybone himself is there, and he and Stu quickly start fighting like cats and dogs. When Stu realizes that his sister, due to a pact they once made, is preparing to pull the plug on him, Stu makes a deal with Hypnos, the god of sleep, to help him steal a golden ticket from Death himself. But when Monkeybone takes over Stu's body and escapes to wreak havoc on the real world, Stu has to find a way to stop him before his sister pulls the plug on reality forever!

Released: 23 Feb 2001
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 4.9 / 10
Metascore: 40 / 100
Awards: 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Stu 139 lines, man
Julie 94 lines, woman
Monkeybone 63 lines, man
Stu-Bone 53 lines, man
Hypnos 30 lines, man
Death 29 lines, woman
Herb 24 lines, man
Alice 17 lines, woman
Kitty 15 lines, woman
Bull 13 lines, man

Full cast, 99 people

Brendan Fraser as Stu Miley
Bridget Fonda as Dr. Julie McElroy
John Turturro as Monkeybone (voice)
Chris Kattan as Organ Donor Stu
Giancarlo Esposito as Hypnos
Rose McGowan as Miss Kitty
Dave Foley as Herb
Megan Mullally as Kimmy Miley
Bob Odenkirk as Head Surgeon
Whoopi Goldberg as Death
Pat Kilbane as Burger God Representative
Lisa Zane as Medusa
Sandra Thigpen as Alice
Wayne Wilderson as Hutch
Amy Higgins as Clarissa
Alan Gelfant as Dr. Edelstein
Kristin Norton as Nurse
Chris Hogan as Bill, Bazoom Toy Representative
Lucy Butler as Guest
John Sylvain as Ambulance Driver
Lou Romano as Cop / Psycharist
Leon Laderach as Surgeon in Nightmare
Scott Rogers as Surgeon
Cris Thomas-Palomino as Surgeon
Tony Panterra as Surgeon
Ted Rooney as Grim Reaper (voice)
Christopher Franciosa as Reaper Who Takes Lulu
Mary Stein as Lulu
Fred Pierce as Reaper in Death's Office
Harper Roisman as Earl Biegler
Kristopher Logan as Patron
Scott Workman as Arnold the Super Reaper
Shawnee Free Jones as Lizzie Borden
Ilia Volok as Rasputin
Edgar Allan Poe IV as Edgar Allan Poe
Claudette Mink as Typhoid Mary
Jon Bruno as Man in the Dungeon / Stephen King
Owen Masterson as Jack the Ripper
Jen Sung as Attila the Hun
Tracy Zahoryin as Model
Sunshine Deia Tutt as Model
Jo Haugen Gash as Model
Lindsay Bryan as Model
Brooke Boisse as Model
Meron Abebe as Model
Mie Kringelbach as Model
Rex Reddick as Museum Guard / Tuxedo Guard
Sybil Azur as Museum Dancer
Anne Fletcher as Museum Dancer
Diane Mizota as Museum Dancer
Etty Lau as All-Girl Band Sax Player
LaTonya Holmes as All-Girl Band Percussionist
Lesli Jean Matta as All-Girl Band Drummer
Dawn Solér as All-Girl Band Member
Miko Watanbe as All-Girl Band Member
Frankie Pine as All-Girl Band Member
Anne King as All-Girl Band Member
Rachen Assapiomonwait as Korean Father
Veena Bidasha as Statue Woman
Michael Anthony Jackson as Bug Man
Doug Jones as Yeti
Arturo Gil as Rat Guard
Jody St. Michael as Centaur
Brian Steele as Jumbo the Elephant God
Leif Tilden as Cyclops
Tom Fisher as Community Service Cigarette Sweeper
Joseph S. Griffo as BBQ Pig
Kim Timbers-Patteri as Wasp Woman
Lisa Ebeyer as Betty the Bovine
Mark Viniello as Assbackward
Nathan Stein as Sea Monster
Ed Holmes as Buffalo Kuchina
Erica Gudis as Party Babe Hybrid #1
Melinda Miamor as Party Babe Hybrid #2
Caroline A. Rice as Party Babe Hybrid #3
Joe Ranft as Streetsquash Rabbit (voice)
Bruce Lanoil as Streetsquash Raccoon (voice)
Debi Durst as Streetsquash Snake (voice)
Phil Brotherton as Subramansa (voice)
Roger L. Jackson as Arnold the Super Reaper (voice)
Jym Dingler as Community Service Cigarette Sweeper (voice)
Leslie Hedger as Assbackward (voice)
Toby Gleason as Buffalo Kachina (voice)
Allan Trautman as BBQ Pig (voice)
Mike Mitchell as Miss Hudiapp (voice)
Randall Bosley as Fred
Brendan Burns as Detective #1
Robert 'Duckie' Carpenter as Record Store Owner / Coma Victim
Thomas Haden Church as Death's Assistant
Jamie Donovan as Reporter #1
Roger Ferreira as Visitor
Wendy Fowler as Beautiful Fan
Paul Guiles as Reporter #2
Harry Jay Knowles as Lucky
Jason Kravits as Guest
Skyler Marshall as Janitor
George Meyers as Bazoom Toy Rep
Michelle Shaffer as Woman with Bat
Tom Tangen as Burger God Representative

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 139

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 3	2	9
4 to 6	0	9
7 to 9	6	12
10 to 12	3	21
13 to 15	8	8
16 to 18	1	4
19 to 21	2	19
22 to 24	6	0
25 to 27	31	5
28 to 30	12	56
31 to 33	6	11
34 to 36	0	2
37 to 39	2	1
40 to 42	4	34
43 to 45	1	32
46 to 48	8	6
49 to 51	11	10
52 to 54	5	7
55 to 57	1	2
58 to 60	0	0
61 to 63	3	1
64 to 66	0	11
67 to 69	3	5
70 to 72	4	29
73 to 75	10	8
76 to 78	5	14
79 to 81	5	10
82 to 84	0	2
85 to 87	0	7
88 to 90	3	18
91 to 93	3	6
94 to 96	2	2
97 to 99	0	2
100 to 102	6	5
103 to 105	7	6
106 to 108	9	7
109 to 111	0	8
112 to 114	0	1
115 to 117	8	1
118 to 120	0	1
121 to 123	9	16
124 to 126	2	14
127 to 129	0	2
130 to 132	0	1
133 to 135	0	1
136 to 138	6	9
139 to 139	3	2

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scenes

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

JULIE: What's the maximum safe dose? ALICE: Most we've ever used is half a CC. JULIE: Five CC's.

JULIE: "4/17: Subject, when unaware of observation, prefers to hold eating utensils...with feet. Successfully carves turkey roll holding eating ute… ALICE: They had a case like that at Johns Hopkins. Wires got crossed between hands and feet. CLARISSA: Great lead. I'll try and find it on the net. JULIE: "4/18: Subject climbs backyard tree...to perform elimination. When confronted with product... blames it on family dog."

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 31 are women's.

197 lines from women, 437 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

38 women and 46 men in the cast. 11 women and 33 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 662. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 54 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 29% of the words (2,110), men 71% (5,207). Women have 31% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Henry Selick (man)
Written by: Sam Hamm (man)
Produced by: Michael Barnathan (man), Mark Radcliffe (man)
Shot by: Andrew Dunn (man)
Edited by: Jon Poll (man), Nicholas C. Smith (man), Mark Warner (man)
Music by: Anne Dudley (woman)
Production design by: Bill Boes (man)
Costumes by: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor (woman)
Cast by: Sheila Jaffe (woman), Johnny Gidcomb (man), Georgianne Walken (woman)