The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Old, OLD Articles

For prosperity's sake: This article is almost two decades old and no longer reflects . . . anything. We apologize!

An article by Gabez, posted on September 27. 2004.

Robby "One time I dreamt I was on the Dainty Lady" King. The one, the only, Monkey Island fan boy extraordinaire.

THE FREELOVE FREEWAY

The Monkey Island games inspire the imagination. That�s what we like about them. Whether it�s the eeriness of the Scabb Island cemetery, the serenity of the Plunder Island beach or simply the freedom of the open seas, we all want to be there in real life. Unfortunately the reality would be that you�d get home-sick on day one, scurvy on the day two and be plundered to death on day three � but we�re all allowed to dream, eh?

But to fully understand exactly what makes Robby King�s brain tick, we have to first go back in time, back when Monkey Island was but a twinkle in Ron Gilbert�s eye. Robby King was born on the 7th of November 1983 in Saskatchewan, Canada, before moving over to Toronto where he spent his childhood years. After a brief spell as an extra in a show called �Ready or Not�, Robby vowed to give up show business for ever.

FINDING TIMMY

Floating aimlessly adrift a sea of mindless drivel, Robby King felt both mentally and physically lost. Just when he thought that he would never find his life�s true meaning, something amazing happened, as Robby himself fondly recalls: �I�ll always remember the day I saw the first Monkey Island game. There was no question. I just had to get it!�

And so the obsession begins. That was 1991, when Robby was just 13. Flash forward to the year 2004, and Robby is now 21 � but his Monkey Island obsession has anything but diminished over the years. �I have plans to make a real life SCUMM Bar�, admitted Robby, his face lighting up in delight, �we�re going to be using upturned boats for lights and have a crows nest as a bar.�

This rare photo shows a bit of Robby�s Monkey Island inspired Mural.

The �we� he refers to is none other than his partner in crime, Reilley Whyte, whom Robby has known since childhood. Robby becomes misty eyed with nostalgia as he recollects those years � �as a kid my and Reilley loved playing pirates. We would make a sea of pillows and pretend to attack them�

The two indeed plan to open a real SCUMM Bar, but this is much more than a useless pipedream: land near the Okanagan has already been bought, and the duo have set a realistic opening date of 2006. �When I first thought of the idea me and Reilley stayed up most of the night just talking about it. Then we decided to save up money and after five years we got $700. It�s not much but it helps�

The plan is to make it as Monkey Island-esque as possible, with music from the series blasting through the speakers 24/7, something that Robby King is particularly enthusiastic about. �For me, the music is definitely the best thing about the games�, he told the SCUMM Bar, before adding �I�ve never wanted to stalk Ron Gilbert, but I wouldn�t mind tracking down the music guy and stealing their music collection�.

The proposed location for the real-life SCUMM Bar. Looks nice, no?

WE CAN BE HEROES NOW

The Monkey Island inspiration doesn�t end there though, with the whole place set to be as similar to the virtual location as possible, right down to the Grog. In addition Robby has already bought an old barn and several old boats, in order to get the aged wood look he so desires.

Most people would only fantasise about owning a Monkey Island themed bar, but Robby King and his friend are going that one step further to actually realise their dreams. The Monkey Island obsession doesn�t end with plans to make a SCUMM Bar, however: it has also crept into other areas of Robby�s life.

�I painted a mural in my den that took me 3 months, and it�s not even finished yet� whispered Robbie feverishly � and he has hopes of painting more Monkey Island frescos throughout his house. Indeed his room currently has Monkey Island fan-art adorning ever inch of the walls together with fish nets on the ceiling, resulting in a very piratey place to sleep indeed.

But what of the others in Robby�s life? How have they responded to his rampant addiction? Robby mutters: �At first my friends and family thought my obsession was a little weird, but after a while they thought that it could be a great experience and could become quite popular�. Furthermore, Robby�s obviously working hard on his scheme, also admitting to �spending 12 hours in Planet Threepwood looking for ideas�.

SIMPLY THE BEST, BETTER THAN ALL THE REST

For a man such as Robby, nothing can stand in the way of his Monkey Island love-fling � not even what many fans consider to be a poor sequel. �Oh, I loved EMI� Robby enthused, �I think the 3D really brought it to life�. And what does he think of a Monkey Island 5? �OH GOD YES. I would want it to be longer, though, around 50-100 hours plus�.

The sands of time have had little effect on Robby�s condition � on the contrary, as time goes on he�s set to become even more entwined in the Monkey Island universe. �I�ve had a fascination with pirates since I was a toddler, and I just love the game soooooo much.� And what does Robby do for relaxation? �I play the Monkey Island games and listen to the music, they�re a great way to wind-down.�

So there you have it � Robby King, with a dream to build the SCUMM Bar. Don�t forget to vote for him in our upcoming poll if you think he�s the biggest Monkey Island fan ever!

Or do you think you�re a bigger fan boy than Robby is? If so, send your details on a postcard to the usual address and prepare to be added to the prestigious list of Obsessives at The SCUMM Bar!

     

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