Although there have been some pretty big chimpanzees in American show-business, I don’t think I can ever remember one that had a bulldog for a best friend. Nor one that looked so good in overalls. For today’s Saturday timewaster, I’d like to share with you my favorite chimpanzee of all time. He lives in a zoo called the “Cuddly Dominion” (doesn’t sound all that cuddly) but has appeared in a lot of television shorts. This is what we will be looking at.

Pankun & James

The thing that’s so entertaining about this pair is that one their TV shows they are often having to do “human” tasks. While it’s pretty cool that a chimp can do a lot of these things, it gets better when Pankun has to take care of his bulldog buddy. For example, in this video Pankun and James go to a firestation to become firefighters. I for one would trust him with my life.

Pankun always seems to be pretty good at the physical challenges. In this one he goes to a school and does sit ups. James is lazy though. James can’t do any.

But, they don’t always give Pankun easy tasks. In this video, they make him cook udon. I feel like someone switched out his udon with someone else’s. If not, then this chimp can cook better than me.

But how’s Pankun’s memory? What would happen if you told him to go get a cake? Let’s find out what happens.

Sadly for us audience members, sometimes Pankun goes it sans his lazy bulldog friend. Obviously, though, he’s the star of the show. You couldn’t have a James-only spinoff because James basically just lays around most of every episode. Of course, even when Pankun goes it alone it is also quite entertaining. Usually this just means more human-Pankun interaction.

So, the question is… how smart is he? Does he understand magic?

If you thought Pankun was about to go into monkey-strength mode and tear that magicians face off three or four times, be sure to let me know in the comments. I know I can’t be the only one suspicious of supposedly “humanized” chimps… Don’t trust ‘em. I mean, they can’t even draw properly.

Pankun was born in 2001, which means he’s 11 years old right now. In captivity, chimps can live around 60 years. Perhaps we’ll be seeing more of Pankun in the future. Currently (if you want to see Pankun in person) he is doing shows at the Cuddly Dominion in Kyushu. Have you seen him before? What’s the show like?

So what do you think? Is Pankun a genius? Will he become the iron fisted monkey ruler of our future? I kind of hope so. With that, I’ll leave you with Pankun riding on a segway. You’re welcome.

♪ Chimpanzee riding on a segwayyy ♫