Pet-Powered Comedy: Top Animal Moments in Egyptian Cinema
Egyptian comedy films are already hilarious as is, but when you add in little furry pets and animals, the comedy scenes go up a whole lot of notches.
You may not know this, but there are many Egyptian films starring pets and animals of all kinds, and for a little bit of fun, we thought of introducing some of our favorite Egyptian films that include crazy pets and animals:
Abdel Halim Hafez & His Cat Semsem
It is a classic tale of the famous Cinderella trope of two characters from different social backgrounds falling in love. Halim plays a singer in a band who ends up falling in love with the lead famous singer, but when their love is sabotaged by the villainous band director, Halim vows to rise to stardom just like his lover.
At the very start of the film, before his foray into stardom, we first get to see him with his cat Semsem in a hilarious scene where he shows off his new suit before meeting with the band to practice. We watch Halim as he talks to a continuously meowing cat in a scene that is definitely remembered by many.
Ahmed Zaki’s Zoo Chronicles
You usually don’t find many films where several animals play lead roles, but the 1987 flick “Arba’a Fi Muhimma Rasmiya” (Four On An Official Mission) proves otherwise.
This hilarious film features not just one but three animals. It follows a man named Anwar (Ahmed Zaki) who, after finding a job at a government agency, finds his first task in delivering a monkey, donkey, and goat to Cairo.
Such a film is packed with hilarious scenes, but our favorite has to be when it all started. We see a suit-wearing Zaki walking through the train station with a chimp on his back and a donkey pulled on a leash. He doesn’t know what he’s gotten himself into, and let us say, it is a real rollercoaster.
Monkey Training Gone Wrong
Monkeys and chimpanzees seem to be getting a lot of limelight in Egyptian films, as this is yet another comedy flick starring a chimpanzee.
“The Monkey Trainer” is all about a thief and fraudster (Farouk Al-Fishawy) who, after getting out of prison, only continues his antics by learning from his friend (Gamal Ismail), whom he met in prison, how to train a chimpanzee.
Why is he doing that, you may ask? To train the chimp on how to steal. Yeah, you heard that right. From the chimp climbing up pipes and jumping into people’s windows to hauling bags filled with looted jewelry, the two end up making a successful duo.
The Unlikely Friendship Between Man & Goat
Chimpanzees can’t always be the animals taking the spotlight, so for a change, we are introducing you to a film about an unlikely friendship between a man and a goat. In the film Ali, The Goat and Ibrahim, we follow Ali, who loves his goat unconditionally to the point that society ridicules him.
From there, he is sent to a spiritual healer, where he meets Ibrahim. Then, the most unusual plot takes place as Ali, Ibrahim, and the goat go on a spiritual journey of discovery together.
The most hilarious part of the movie is how much Ali respects his goat, to the point where he gets heated when Ibrahim doesn’t call the goat by its first name. As the film progresses, there are many other shenanigans between the three.
Kanghar Hubbena
Next in line is an animal known to be seen bouncing along the outback with its too-big ears and built-in pouch. Yes, you guessed that right—it’s Australia’s kangaroo. Believe it or not, it got to star in its very own Egyptian movie, “Kanghar Hubbena” (The Kangaroo of Our Love).
Just like Zaki in “Arba’a Fi Muhimma Rasmiya”, Ramez Galal ends up stuck with an animal for the entire movie that puts him through some crazy moments. Because of a mixup at the port, a live kangaroo arrives instead of a kangaroo statue, which Galal ends up having to babysit.
That’s when you get to watch Galal chase the kangaroo in his neighborhood or try to pull off the kangaroo as it tries to massage a man’s back in a spa. Hilarity doesn’t even begin to describe the scenes of this film.
From kangaroos and chimpanzees to goats, Egyptian films were lucky enough to be graced by such unique animals, which led to some of the most hilarious scenes gracing our screens.
