Run, Curious George, run!
The animated monkey was in the original script for “Forrest Gump,” director Robert Zemeckis revealed with stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in the latest of “Entertainment Weekly’s Reunions” video series released Wednesday.
“I remember that first draft that Eric Roth wrote on ‘Gump,’ it was like 179 pages — Eric had all sorts of like angels flying up, and dreamscapes,” Hanks, 68, recalled, as Zemeckis, 72, interjected, “Including Curious George! Curious George was a cartoon monkey on Forrest’s shoulder talking to him.”
“Aww,” Wright, 58, said in response to the revelation about Curious George.
In the 1994 classic, Forrest’s (Hanks) favorite book is an old version of the “Curious George” book series. A Curious George toy appears in the movie — but not an animated version of the beloved monkey, as Roth, 79, originally planned.
“They said, ‘Get that guy who did ‘[Who Framed] Roger Rabbit,’” Zemeckis recalled, referring to his film that came out six years before “Forrest Gump” and merged animated characters with live-action.
“And I read the [Forrest Gump] script, and I said, ‘I love this, but that monkey’s gotta go,’” he added.
Wright then said to the director, “I thought it was a rights thing, that you weren’t allowed to use Curious George.”
However, Zemeckis pointed out that the children’s picture book character is involved in the film.
“Forrest Gump” is about an Alabama man’s adventures in the United States over a 30-year time period.
It was the top-grossing movie in the US in 1994. The film earned 13 Academy Awards nominations and six awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Hanks.
While reminiscing on the film’s 25th anniversary in 2019, Hanks told USA Today that the film “was an absolute crapshoot.”
“It’s a really crazy, unique motion picture without a doubt. And it’s a movie in which the great moments that resonate are going to change depending on when you’re watching it,” he said.
Hanks, Wright and Zemeckis have teamed up again on the new film “Here.” The movie is based on a graphic novel and follows a couple (Hanks and Wright) across decades.
The film uses both AI and a single camera.
Unlike “Forrest Gump,” “Here” has gotten mostly negative reviews from critics.
The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski gave the film two stars and compared it to “watching a lousy stage play in which actors, cranked up to 200%, deliver soapy speeches to a wall.”