Curious George Rides A Bike: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A children's animated film with the title Curious George Rides A Bike. It consists of a single reel of 16mm color acetate film with optical sound.

The animated film chronicles the activities of George, an inquisitive monkey whose curiosity often distracts him from his plans. At the beginning of the film, George's friend gifts him a bicycle and instructs him not to leave home, however, George disobeys and finds himself delivering newspapers with the paper boy. The paper boy then tasks George to deliver the rest of the newspapers on his own but when George is distracted by a river, he uses the remaining newspapers to make a fleet of paper boats. George then has an accident while on his bicycle and is assisted by men who are travelling to a show. George's curiosity forces him to disobey the men's instructions, but he regains their confidence when he assists them with recovering one of their animals that had escaped.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1958
• Written by: H. A. Rey, German, 1898 - 1977
• Written by: Margaret Rey, German, 1906 - 1996
• Owned by: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
• Type: children's films
• Type: sound films
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 11 Minutes
• Dimensions: Length (Film): 400 Feet
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Animated films
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2017.55.32.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.