As a long-time space enthusiast and avid fan of Saturday Night Live, I must say that the latest skit featuring Beppo, the space chimp, has left me utterly enchanted! The blend of humor, emotion, and a touch of nostalgia for classic space movies was truly a delightful experience.
On the recent weekend, Saturday Night Live took a surprising turn and focused on a moving tale, revolving around an endearing monkey puppet.
On November 2nd, John Mulaney made his sixth appearance as host on SNL, where he debuted a new character: Beppo, an amusing space-exploring chimpanzee whose antics spoofed classic space mission films.
In November 1962, the pre-recorded skit unfolds at NASA Mission Control, featuring John Mulaney as Jim, a technician. His task is to help James Austin Johnson’s character, Beppo, a monkey astronaut, return home after completing his initial orbit around Earth. However, an issue arises with Beppo’s spacecraft, preventing the mission control team from safely bringing him back.
Just as Jim was preparing to destroy Beppo’s spaceship to ensure a swift and painless end, a character portrayed by Ego Nwodim, reminiscent of a character from “Hidden Figures”, walks in. Following some calculations on paper and pencil, Nwodim’s mathematician figure suggests that there might still be a chance to bring Beppo back safely to Earth.
Beppo hits the wrong button and his ship explodes — but the chimp actually uses the explosion to blast his lander module to Earth. Crash landing just outside of the NASA offices, Beppo makes his triumphant return, striding in, dressed in his astronaut suit, as he greeted by boisterous applause from the mission control team.
SNL “Beppo” writers shared footage of the puppet in motion
The movie titled “Beppo” was crafted under the guidance of director Mike Diva, with screenplay contributions from Dan Bulla, Steven Castillo, Jake Nordwind, and Mike DiCenzo.
The sketch used an actual puppet for Beppo, which you can see taking it’s first steps (courtesy of puppeteers Monkey Boys Productions) in a video Castillo posted to his Instagram. You can watch that here.
On a single day, Monkey Boys Productions constructed Beppo and controlled all on-set elements according to Bulla’s Instagram post on November 3. As per his account, the visuals were influenced by the original 1979 Alien film and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As a devoted admirer, I’d like to share that the recently aired skit, titled “Beppo,” falls under the captivating “Midnight Matinee” label – a banner that previously graced the intro of the chilling musical “My Best Friend’s House,” where the extraordinary Ariana Grande shone.
According to the SNL X account on social media: “Beppo is not merely a monkey; he’s an American hero.” Witness his heroic journey unfold in the video above.
Read More
Sorry. No data so far.
2024-11-05 20:01