HBO Docuseries Chimp Crazy Hailed as the New Tiger King

The Tiger King may have been dethroned, With a new documentary series from HBO Another crazy tale of potentially dangerous exotic animal ownership, which debuted with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.Titled Chimpanzee is crazyThe four-part series comes courtesy of Eric Goode, the director behind the Netflix pop culture phenomenon. Tiger KingThe film follows former nurse turned exotic animal broker Tonya Haddix, who spends her days caring for animals in captivity. However, her undying love for one chimpanzee in particular turns into a wild game of cat and mouse with the authorities and an animal rights group…

The series looks just as interesting as the strange tale of Joe Exotic, and early reviews of Chimpanzee is crazy It has been hailed by some as the next must-see series that explores the strange world of exotic animal owners, in this case so-called “chimpanzee mothers.” Margaret Lyons of The New York Times found Chimpanzee is crazy to be an improvement on Tiger King.

“Everyone in this documentary is suffering, some of them are silly. Some of them are chimps. ‘Chimp Crazy’ is more complex than ‘Tiger King,’ in part because of its interest in the plight of animals.”

Meanwhile, THR's Daniel Fienberg felt it was “both better and worse at the same time than Tiger KingBut he praised the less dramatic, more mature approach.

In “Crazy Chimpanzees,” Goode has made a more clear-cut thesis than he did in “Tiger King,” namely that private, local ownership of chimpanzees is bad and should be regulated at the federal level for the benefit of chimpanzees and their owners, who are rarely prepared for the risks inherent in believing that you can domesticate animals that are often very large, very strong, and very un-human in their behavior.

However, Nick Schager of The Daily Beast calls it: Chimpanzee is crazy “New Banana”Tiger King“I've been waiting.”

“Chimp Crazy is a brilliant successor to the hit pandemic-themed film series, another circus extravaganza that reveals a brutal new corner of the exotic animal trade.”

Chimp Crazy offers something deeper than the absurdity of Tiger King.

In contrast, Michel Ghanem of The Cut praised director Eric Goode for depicting the same “gray areas” as we saw in Tiger King With more focus on animal welfare rather than eccentric humans.

“It seems likely that Judd's experience making Tiger King influenced the decisions he made while filming Chimp Crazy, particularly in prioritizing animal welfare and avoiding exploitative depictions of his subjects.”

John Anderson of The Wall Street Journal felt similarly, praising Goode for confronting the ethics of the exotic animal trade alongside the exciting story.

“Scary stories about adult ‘pets’ turning into ferocious beasts are not for the risk-averse. But there are also ethical questions surrounding Mr. Good’s project—though, fortunately, he faces them all the time.”

Finally, Nina Metz of the Chicago Tribune found something surprisingly profound at the heart of Chimpanzee is crazyas the series is expected to be more influential than typical hit series watched online.

“I found that the documentary stayed with me for days after watching it, and it influenced the way I think about all our interactions with animals, both domesticated and wild.”