'Monkey Kingdom': A Disney doc for kids

DISNEY'S "Monkey Kingdom" had me wondering if documentary filmmakers have finally run out of cute animals.

The subject of this movie is a Sri Lankan creature called a macaque, which is the noise you make when you have bronchitis and cough up a phlegm ball. The macaque embodies that sound.

Picture a blond chimp with eczema and a bad toupee and you have the macaque, a species that has also built for itself a rather oppressive social order.

"Monkey Kingdom" follows the story of Maya, a female who's a "low born" macaque, and thus excluded from access to the best food, even to interested suitors - when a handsome young bloke expresses interest, he's chased off by the alpha male, who then proceeds to ignore Maya (men!).

"Monkey Kingdom" is a kid-oriented production (sequel of sorts to Disney's "Chimpanzee"), so it casually mentions, halfway through, that Maya is pregnant. Her intervening encounter with Kumar, which the filmmakers have evidently witnessed, as they are able to identify him as the father, is left on the cutting room floor.

The movie then follows Maya as she heroically provides for her newborn son, braving the predations of a monitor lizard, venturing into human territory to steal food.

She even takes part in the big macaque smackdown that concludes the film, an event that has her clan fighting off a rival group, a mildly bloody affair that ultimately provides an opportunity for Maya and Kumar to improve their social standing, which sounds very much like an episode of "Game of Thrones."

"Monkey Kingdom," though, is not so serious.

The narration is by Tina Fey.

Comic musical choices include the theme song from "The Monkees."

Online: ph.ly/Movies