Site Navigation
Store Navigation
Links
Links to Site
Curious George Animation Art
Curious George is the protagonist of a series of popular children's books by the same name, written by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey. The books feature a curious chimp named George, who is brought from his home in Africa by "The Man with The Yellow Hat" to live with him in a big city.
In the United Kingdom, George was originally called Zozo, apparently to avoid using the name of the then-king, George VI, for a monkey.
The series was written and drawn by the team of H.A. Rey and Margret Rey, starting in 1941. According to Hans A. Rey's obituary, the couple fled Paris in June 1940 with the "Curious George" manuscript in their luggage. At first only Hans A. Rey was credited for the work in order to differentiate the Reys' books from the large number of children's books written by female authors. Later, Hans Rey was credited for the illustrations and Margret Rey for the writing. The Reys produced many other children's books, but the Curious George series was the most popular. It has been re-edited continuously in the six decades since the first volume came out. The current United States publisher is Houghton Mifflin of Boston.
The only recurring character in the original adventures, other than George himself, is the Man with the Yellow Hat. He was the person who brought George from Africa, and lives with George. The Man often facilitates George's adventures by taking him somewhere, and even more often resolves the tension by appearing just in time to get George out of a tight spot. He is always seen wearing a bright yellow suit and a wide-brimmed yellow hat.
The Man is never mentioned by name in the original adventures, or in any subsequent content over more than six decades. He is always called either "the Man" or fully "the Man with the Yellow Hat". When people speak to George about the Man, they often refer to him as "your friend." This tradition was broken in the 2006 film, in which the Man is referred to as "Ted".
