French Jewish Refugee Creators of "Curious George" are Subject of New Documentary

Ema Ryan Yamazaki, a 27-year-old graduate of New York University’s film school, is working on a documentary about H.A. Rey and Margret Rey, the husband-and-wife team behind the multimillion-selling Curious George children's books. 

The Reys were Jewish refugees during World War II, fleeing from Paris in 1940 on homemade bicycles. Eventually settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts, they would launch a series that has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. (H.A. Rey died in 1977; Margret Rey in 1996.) 

As Hillel Italie wrote in The Times of Israel,

Yamazaki, whose previous credits include directing a short documentary about an 800-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and editing the HBO documentary “Class Divide,” had read “Curious George” in Japanese as a girl and was surprised to learn that no one had made a film about the Reys. Through a mutual friend, she got in touch with the literary estate and received its cooperation.

Yamazaki plans a 75-minute documentary, which has the working title, “Monkey Business: The Adventures of George’s Curious Creators,” and will include original animation of the Reys themselves, and has begun a Kickstarter campaign to help with funding.

In the video below, Yamazaki tells the story of how she got involved with the project, and the story of the Reys' escape.

Enjoy!

(A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.)