"The Wizard of Oz" has always been one of my favorite films and basically the only musical I could ever stand (people so rarely break into song in the middle of a conversation, that most of us would quickly slip silently away if they did). :^) One thing about the film that I have always found interesting was the flying monkeys. When I was 5-7 years old, my little friends would talk about how terrifying they were, how they had nightmares about them, some kids couldn't even watch the movie because of them. I thought this was strange, because even though what the monkeys DO, was scary (kidnapping Dorothy and Toto, beating up her friends, even dismembering the Scarecrow), I thought the monkeys themselves were cute, not scary at all...the little vests, the turquoise blue faces, they reminded me of organ grinders' monkeys. So here is my redesign of the flying monkeys, the only design element I'm retaining really is the blue face (and chest). I think it turned out pretty good, and if the flying monkeys in the movie had looked like this, I think I'd still be having nightmares about them. :^)

Oh yeah them damned flying monkees scared my shitless. LOL 8^) I think your gorilla needs a more terrifying weapon though. Like one of those two bladed things the Klingons fight with.

way to destroy a classic with pop culture, groin ;) but i agree.

LOL, the monkeys always seemed to small to me, yet still creepy. This big guy could seriously romp the OZ crew all by himself. Can you give him the traditional "leaning on one fist" with a bit of a menacing look?

No offense, But I think the wings need to be bigger.

I see you have the same thoughts about musicals as i do, and yeah, i for one would run away if an entire city block suddenly would burst into singing & dancing! :) I like your version of the flying monkeys! How about giving him a big double-sided axe...? :)

Hmmmmm, I like the idea of flying monkeys, flying gorillas on the other hand, not sinister enough, but it's a start...:)

Here's version 2, I added textures to the loin cloth and wing membranes (they only had color before as this was a wip), and gave him a more menacing weapon made of hammered copper made by one of his own kind. I thought the wing membranes should be scaly, translucent, and match the color of his face and chest (I think it makes the wings look larger, too, because it makes them more prominent. ICM:This guys ancestors were knuckle-draggers, but he has evolved a bit from there, I'm talkin human-level intelligence. He has opposible thumbs that really work well on all four limbs. My thinking on giving him an upright stance is based in fact. Gorillas, like bears, stand upright when facing a perceived enemy because it makes them look a lot larger and imposing to the enemy. Would General Ursus looked as impressive if he was running around on all fours? (By the way, I never saw the remake of Planet of the Apes as I heard from several sources that it sucks, so I never bothered). And as far as a more menacing look, this is the freebie Daz gorilla LE, and his facial expression dials are very limited. Even so, if I met up with this guy in real life, and he gave me this look, I'm pretty sure I'd have just enough time to wet 'em before he killed me. Groingrinder, draculaz, and Rochr: I hope this weapon is more to your liking, I haven't tried to design weapons very often, but I like this one, it can be used as an axe, or a spear. The original one was just a quick stand-in. I realized at the time it looked dorky. Hope this is more of a crowd pleaser. And if anyone wonders why an intelligent (and gentle by nature, although you can't tell it from this pic) creature would serve the Wicked Witch of the West, they are under her magic spell. It's been a long time since I read the original Frank L. Baum book, but I think this was true in it. Zhann: I don't believe my heart could stand to see anything that you would consider "Sinister enough". :^) Thanks for the suggestions, all! Tjohn

And for size comparison, here he is with a 6 foot, 2 inch tall P4 Dork. (BTW, I'm 6ft2in)

And it just occurred to me, this gives new meaning to the phrase, "When monkeys fly out of my butt!" :^)

Even though it's a gorilla I think you should try to make him a little less fat. That would make him more aerodynamic and a little more scary, I think.

:) Happy new year.

I don't think the monkeys were scarey at all. I think your monkey looks more scarey, he is huge. Wouldn't want to meet him on a dark night. 8) Happy new year tjohn, hope yours is better than last and pain free. Be well. Catlin

Does the ape do flying tours? Would like to fly without having to take my shoes off. Now you have to put him in an OZ scene. You know there were more than one OZ book.

Well, common knowledge (although it is obviously wrong in this instance) says physics can't explain how bumblebees are able to fly. Let's just all close our eyes and pretend that a 500 lb gorilla can fly...I believe...I believe...I believe. There, I know I feel better. :^) Yeah, I know gorillas are apes, (like chimps, baboons, etc.) not monkeys, but I don't have a Poser monkey, and I wanted this guy to look BAD. No matter what you do to a monkey, it's still gonna be a cute widdle monkey. Hey, there's a challenge in there somewhere...if you want a challenge, make a flying monkey that is a monkey, and make him something really scary. I don't think I could, but I'll bet somebody here can! Thanks for all the comments, and Happy Happy New Year!!! Tjohn

Oh, and BTW, cybrbeast, He's not fat, that's all muscle, you know, like the Marvel Comics villain the Kingpin. :^)

And talk about coincidences, the Avatar Lab ad just popped up at the top of the page, you know, the one that asks "Did you ever try to make a monkey moonwalk?" while showing what is obviously a Chimpanzee, which isn't a monkey either. LOL!

"Well, common knowledge (although it is obviously wrong in this instance) says physics can't explain how bumblebees are able to fly." Actually physics has explained how bumblebees can fly :) http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/scienceshack/backcat/experiments/exbumblebees.shtml