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CNN Live At Daybreak

Making the Moos of it: Sock Monkeys Book

Aired September 03, 2003 - 05:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, here's a riddle for you. What mammal is over 100 years old, is loved by children and has never been kept in a zoo? Give up? It's the sock monkey. Bet you guessed that.
Our Jeanne Moos takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think your socks take up a lot of room in your drawers, check out this room full of sock monkeys.

(on camera): We could have a sock monkey avalanche.

(voice-over): From a redhead to a fashion plate, we're talking almost 2,000 sock monkeys.

ARNE SVENSON, PHOTOGRAPHER: I just have him in his lap.

MOOS: And 200 of them had their portraits taken for the sock monkeys book. Meet the cover boy.

RON WARREN: He's totally unadorned. He's just the essence of sock monkey.

MOOS: Ron Warren collects them. Arnie Svenson shoots them.

WARREN: Now, is there a way you can get the diamond eyes to look at me?

MOOS: Arnie takes inanimate objects and animates them, focusing on the eyes. Button eyes, ball eyes, dangling eyes, winking eyes, no eyes at all and a mangled ear. This one even has a belly button that really is a button.

Letterman has been joking about sock monkeys ever since Dave appeared in the movie "Cabin Boy" selling them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CABIN BOY")

DAVID LETTERMAN: Would you like to buy a monkey?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: About 400 bucks is the most Ron Warren has ever paid. His oldest monkey is from the 1920s. Most are made from Rockford Red Heel socks. The brand comes with instructions. It takes two socks to make a monkey.

SVENSON: The big lips of a monkey.

MOOS: Not to mention the red rear-end just like the real thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, nice buns.

MOOS: At book signings, a few fans show up toting sock monkeys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Russell.

MOOS: And while some sock monkeys look happy, many are downright freaky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is something very haunting about sock monkeys.

MOOS: Especially when there are safety pins through the lips. Maybe the kid who owned it had braces or maybe he talked too much. Shot in black and white, sock monkeys come across as...

SVENSON: Lovable but creepy.

MOOS: Grist for a low budget horror flick, sort of Chucky Meets the Sock Monkey. Kids came up with some pretty dark stuff when shown a picture and asked to make up a story about a sock monkey.

SVENSON: Mistakenly he started a war and when he found out what he did, he committed suicide and then came back as a doorknob.

MOOS: But to anyone who dares use terms like deformed or scary, you can kiss my sock monkey.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired September 3, 2003 - 05:56   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, here's a riddle for you. What mammal is over 100 years old, is loved by children and has never been kept in a zoo? Give up? It's the sock monkey. Bet you guessed that.
Our Jeanne Moos takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think your socks take up a lot of room in your drawers, check out this room full of sock monkeys.

(on camera): We could have a sock monkey avalanche.

(voice-over): From a redhead to a fashion plate, we're talking almost 2,000 sock monkeys.

ARNE SVENSON, PHOTOGRAPHER: I just have him in his lap.

MOOS: And 200 of them had their portraits taken for the sock monkeys book. Meet the cover boy.

RON WARREN: He's totally unadorned. He's just the essence of sock monkey.

MOOS: Ron Warren collects them. Arnie Svenson shoots them.

WARREN: Now, is there a way you can get the diamond eyes to look at me?

MOOS: Arnie takes inanimate objects and animates them, focusing on the eyes. Button eyes, ball eyes, dangling eyes, winking eyes, no eyes at all and a mangled ear. This one even has a belly button that really is a button.

Letterman has been joking about sock monkeys ever since Dave appeared in the movie "Cabin Boy" selling them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "CABIN BOY")

DAVID LETTERMAN: Would you like to buy a monkey?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: About 400 bucks is the most Ron Warren has ever paid. His oldest monkey is from the 1920s. Most are made from Rockford Red Heel socks. The brand comes with instructions. It takes two socks to make a monkey.

SVENSON: The big lips of a monkey.

MOOS: Not to mention the red rear-end just like the real thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, nice buns.

MOOS: At book signings, a few fans show up toting sock monkeys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Russell.

MOOS: And while some sock monkeys look happy, many are downright freaky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is something very haunting about sock monkeys.

MOOS: Especially when there are safety pins through the lips. Maybe the kid who owned it had braces or maybe he talked too much. Shot in black and white, sock monkeys come across as...

SVENSON: Lovable but creepy.

MOOS: Grist for a low budget horror flick, sort of Chucky Meets the Sock Monkey. Kids came up with some pretty dark stuff when shown a picture and asked to make up a story about a sock monkey.

SVENSON: Mistakenly he started a war and when he found out what he did, he committed suicide and then came back as a doorknob.

MOOS: But to anyone who dares use terms like deformed or scary, you can kiss my sock monkey.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com