'Why a show called Chimp Crazy is the best thing I’ve watched in 2024.'

I have a morbid fascination with stories of animals getting revenge on the humans who have wronged them.

I inhaled Netflix's Blackfish, a film about the tragic plight of killer whales confined in captivity.

I will tell practical strangers to watch lesser-known documentary Grizzly Man, which told the harrowing tale of the death of grizzly bear activist Timothy Treadwell.

I knew everything there was to know about tiger enthusiast Joe Exotic long before he was an internet celebrity thanks to Netflix's Tiger King. 

And now, a new animal documentary has come along for me to (pardon the pun) sink my teeth into: a four-part docuseries on Binge called Chimp Crazy from Eric Goode, the director of Tiger King.

What is Chimp Crazy?

This series is like a less sensational and sanitised version of Tiger King, and as a result, it's a far more disturbing watch.

In the place of documentary subject Joe Exotic is an equally enigmatic main character, Tonia Haddix, an animal enthusiast who begins the series working as a volunteer at Connie Casey’s Missouri Primate Foundation, a former chimpanzee-breeding facility in Missouri.

Watch the trailer for Chimp Crazy. Post continues after video.

As was the case for Joe's tigers, Casey has taken full advantage of the state's lax laws when it comes to the ownership of exotic animals. At first, it appears like Goode was hoping for Casey to be the focus of the series, but Tonia quickly emerges as a more dynamic figure.

When Tonia isn't nursing baby monkeys, she is getting her lashes done, her lips filled, or a spray tan multiple times a week. Throughout the interviews, she sits in a pink velour tracksuit clutching a monkey plush surrounded by bunk beds in a pale pink room.

Tonia has a deep connection to primates, telling the filmmaker that "You can shape them into being you," and she admits that she loves her animals more than her human children, who feature in the series.

And no animal captures her attention quite like Tonka, a chimpanzee (or 'humanzee' as she calls him) who she considers her son. Tonka exists in the series as his own character: he is a loveable and affectionate ape, who after spending the bulk of his life being made to work in Hollywood, has found himself more connected with human life than that of a wild animal.

From the beginning of the series, it's upsetting to watch these beautiful chimpanzees kept in the cruel confines of cages within Casey's glorified zoo, which in the past has rented out monkeys and chimps for kids' birthday parties and even used these intelligent animals to pose for greeting cards.

For any animal lover, it's all hard to stomach but thankfully this part of the docuseries is short-lived. After Casey and Tonia fail to comply with the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (PETA) request to improve the animal's living conditions, the animals are taken from the zoo and re-homed in a sanctuary.

Tonia Haddix is a fascinating interview subject. Image: Binge. 

An unexpected cameo in the series is Alan Cumming, who worked with PETA to raise awareness for the plight of these chimps, especially Tonka who he met on the set of 1997 movie Buddy.

But the series takes an unexpected turn by the end of episode one — elevating the documentary from a typical animal rights feature to a gripping mystery.

After PETA recovers the animals, they discover something odd: there's one chimp missing, Tonka.

This begins a years-long court battle between Tonia and PETA over the whereabouts of Tonka. Tonia claims the chimp died, while PETA is convinced the ape is being kept in a secret location.

I won't say which party is telling the truth but I will say the whole saga is a delightful rollercoaster.

This isn't to say that the series is without its dark and disturbing moments. In particular, the stories of two cases of chimpanzees turning violent due to being kept in the confines of their owner's home are some of the most harrowing scenes I've ever seen on TV.

Travis and Buck were raised by human owners, but as is the case with all chimpanzees, they might seem cute and cuddly as babies, but as they grow older and their strength increases, these chimps become extremely dangerous.

Travis was a chimp sold by Connie. After years of being kept inside Sandra Herold's home, Travis mauled Charla Nash, a friend of his owner. The injuries were so horrifying that the case made headlines around the world.

Travis was killed by authorities and Charla would go on to receive a full face transplant.

In a similar story, another chimp named Buck was raised by Tamara Brogoitti and was confined mostly to the owner's home. When he got older, she often kept a chain around his neck. One day, Buck turned on Tamara's daughter and attacked her, biting her over her body, before police arrived and shot the chimp dead.

In both these cases, the filmmakers made clear that neither of these apes was vicious or violent in nature — with firsthand accounts of friends and family members defending the chimps — but they emphasised that they were both pushed to their limits in the ways they were mistreated by humans.

Tonka is kept in a glass-caged room by Tonia Haddix. Image: Binge. 

There are a lot of complicated feelings that surface from this series. There is no denying that there is exploitation at play in the way Tonia is involved. Firstly, Tonia only becomes involved in the series due to Goode organising a 'proxy director' to work with her under the assumption she would refuse to work with the man that created Netflix's Tiger King. 

Instead of speaking to Goode, she speaks with Dwayne Cunningham, which raises ethical concerns over whether Tonia had given her informed consent to take part in the series.

For her part, Tonia does have her redemptive moments: she's a genuine person who does seem driven by her passion for these animals.

However, her care for the chimps is largely misplaced: she treats them like her babies which is often more about fulfilling her need to nurture than for any benefit of the animal.

At one stage, she refuses to give an animal food and requests that they 'give her a kiss first', which says a lot about her priorities. Tonia is seen throughout the series feeding the chimps and monkeys inappropriate food like donuts and McDonald's which again, feels more like a mimicking action of a mother rewarding her human child than the legitimate actions of an animal carer.

And all the tears that Tonia sheds in the docuseries and the caring sentiments she shares about Tonka can't take away from the confronting scenes of apes kept in tiny cages, banging their bodies against the bars out of frustration and distress.

"She is not qualified to care for chimpanzees," PETA lawyer Jared Goodman says. "She does not have any formal training. She is simply someone who likes chimpanzees."

This is my main takeaway from the series. In most cases, it is women who become maternal figures for these apes and while they might feel genuine affection for these animals, they have a self-serving view of what's best for them.

You can stream Chimp Crazy on Binge.

Feature image: Binge. 

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