One of the most quoted lines of the Twilight movie is the “Hold on tight spider monkey.” delivered by Robert Pattinson just before he and Kristen Stewart take off into the trees. As die hard Twilight fans realize, that line was not in the book. So, did screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg pen that particular piece of dialogue? The answer is “no”.
Catherine Hardwicke tells MTV, “
“I woke up in the middle of the night. I thought, ‘They’re going to be climbing that tree, and they’re not going to have anything to say. It’s just going to be another scene of them looking into each other’s eyes.’ “
Unfortunately, the Writers’ Strike had begun, and “Twilight” screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg was no longer available to provide dialogue. “So I typed up, like, 10 ideas,” Hardwicke recalled. “And thought, “OK, maybe they could say this …’ “
Yeah! I remember she said in an interview that she gave the list to Rob and he chose that line. I know many people don’t like it but I found it sweet. It’s Edward starting to show a more happy, playful side of him =O)
ANDREA
I agree with Andrea, it definitely shows a lighter side of Edward, but at the time I thought it was a little odd!
I’d Sure Like To See That List!
I remember when I first saw the movie I thought it was a weird line. It’s okay. It does show how Edward gets more comfortable with Bella and is kind of playful instead of serious all the time. Ever since I read in an interview she gave Rob a list to chose from, I’ve wondered what else was listed.
I’ve wanted to see the other options as well! That would be interesting to see!
I’ve always disliked the line. It makes no sense, and adds nothing to the story.
Yet another reason I’m glad Chris is directing NM and not Catherine.
Wait a minute. This isn’t adding up. Didn’t the Writers Strike end on February 13, 2008?
In early February the cast was still in baseball bootcamp learning how to play. By mid February they were still announcing cast members. The ballet studio scene is well documented to have been the first item shot in late February.
The spider monkey scene happened well after the writer’s strike was over. In fact it was a month later, the week of March 11, 2008. So it sounds like Catherine came up with lines on her own.
Maybe Catherine called and Melissa wasn’t available, but the reason wouldn’t have been that the Writers Strike stopped her from doing script updates.
I totally agree, It was more playful and fun. It showed that they could relax a little. Hey if I was on his back, he could call me anything he wants.
For those of you who didn’t realize, you can see what the other lines were if you go to the article. there are 5 of the eight not-chosen lines, and on MTVMoviesBlog are the rest 3 plus a fake one. Just FYI.
Every time I watched the movie (after the first time) I plugged my ears to that line. There were a few other add-in lines that were annoying to me, but I really hate that one.
HEY what about MY MONKEY MAN!!!!!! HAHA!! Hey i thought it was funny, catherine is just in her own little fun world.Clearly she loves the books as much as we do. I enjoy the books and the movies and have fun with both.
Hi LJC.. I love “MY MONKEY MAN” line!!.lol.(Hunky Emmett running up trees is also very good)
And I liked “Hold on tight spider monkey” Yeah it was a bit cheesy but it lighten the mood especially when Bella giggles after he says it!
jodie hey twifriend have a great day..Keep those questions comin lol!!!!
Good point!!! Have a nice day u both Jodie & Ljc
Thank you guys
LJC and M.P. have a great day 2!!
Did I totally imagine it (highly possible) or did I see somewhere that Nikki came up with the “monkey man” line? It was very sassy. Maybe Catherine said that in the movie commentary? In her dir book she said one of the gal’s was originally supposed to climb the tree so I doubt it’d have been in the script. Oh well, I guess I’ll just be forced to go watch the commentary again to be sure…so hard to do
I HATE that line! It is SO cheezy! I wish they never included it.
Doesn’t annoy me as much as, why don’t we just hang out…have fun? pah!!!
Arhhhh I hated that line too! But what about the whole “butt crack santa” thing with Waylon in the diner..lol..
What on earth did that have to do with the Twilight story line??
OMG! “PREPARE FOR LIFT OFF” was another line Catherine wrote for Rob to choose from! LMAO!
THANKS ROB FOR SPIDER MONKEY!
yes..she killed that part..eww. oh and “I don’t just SURF the internet.” yeahhhh really now? Come on CH..we all aren’t on your level of thinking..I’m actually very greatful they got a good director AND you can tell just from the trailer that they actually know how to act now..Kristen..cough cough.
It’s not the only weird thing being said… unfortunately. Dialogues aren’t as brilliant as in the book! They should have stuck to it, IMHO.
I cringe every time I hear that line. Ugh. Some of the alternatives were just as bad and a couple of them would’ve been better…less cheesy.
so catherine came up with it? now it makes sense..
I think that line is one of the most cheesiest parts of the movie.
well, it was either that or “little coward”
that change i don’t mind….but i do wish they did bloodtyping…. it would could have been very cool to see Edward sweep Bella off her feet
I wish they had done the blood typing too. I also wish they had put in that part where Edward grabs her after she tells him that she doesn’t find him scary at all and hurtles her into the couch and pins her there not letting her move . That is one of my favorite parts of the book.
HAHAA! I wanna see what else was on that list!! I’m with Andera. That was a great line I love it. Even if it wasn’t in the book it was so cute and funny! I trust Rob if it was the best off the list. Lol.
This is discussed in the commentary for the movie. Watch that scene and you’ll hear all this. It’s nothing new.
My 3 year old daughter McKenna loves this line! She always asks me to carry her on my back & when I pull her onto me she says ”Hold On Spider Monkey!”
I thought the line was cute. The worse was the “are you being safe” one from Renee, totally wrong for the sweetness of that scene.
What I dont understand is that the book is really wonderful and full with plenty of great lines!So WHY did they feel the need to add there own??
It was kinda the same with scenes!As I loved the bloodtyping chapter in the book and think maybe they should of done that instead of that crazy field trip scene!
loved that scene 2 i wanted to see bella be carried in by edward and when ed said to mike i thought u were taking her body to the woods or somethin like that.I really missed the scene w/carlisles history and the volturi.i guess they did not want 2 go into that part of the story..cant wait new moon…
Hey Twifriend..I agree! I would of loved it if they added all that in to Twilight
I love the film but (like u said) we never heared out about Carlisle’s history or alice’s time in the asylum AND not once did they mention Jaspers gift/Talent! Because more of Jackson in the film wouldnt hurt anyone!
I saw the movie before i read the books and even without all the knowledge of the character that the book gives i knew that spider monke line seemed weird. but then when i read (devoured) the books it seems even more odd. when i read the bloodtyping chpter i was sooo disappointed that they missed a great scene. it doesn’t seem like that part would have been hard to incorporate in to the movie at all. that might be one of my fav chapters
Yeah I totally agree with you!
The bloodtyping chapter is one of my favorite as well!
ALSO while Im in full rant mode about the film..
What was that scene about at the prom where Bella see’s Jessica and then waves her hand across her own chest then mouths “nice” and stick up her thumb?? I thought would Bella really do that??
WHAT DO U GUYS THINK??
JODIE TWIFRIEND!!! We all know that poor bella wouldnt do that!! LOLOL.bella is the quiet girl in school.By the way i would have loved to see the rest of the characters at the prom..I wonder what they would have dressed them in??? I am not a fan of the clothes in the movie at all.Peeps at my school would have stayed away form the cullens simply b/c of the way they were dressed not b/c they were vamps..LOLOl Have a fun day
LJC Hey Twifriend!!
Have a good day! 
I totally agree,She IS too quiet/shy to do that!
And even though Edward really rocked that grey peacoat.LOL.The rest were dressed a little strange?
But maybe that was supposed to add a little mystery to them(I dont know?).LOL. I still love the film!
Also about the others at the prom, I saw a interview with Ashley Greene and she said that her and the others were supposed to be in the prom scene but the timing didnt work out!*sigh*
Twifriend u are right w/the grey peacoat.I love coats and thought maybe it was from j.crew or something and than 2 find out it was made 4 the movie!!!RIGHT about ashley saying something with the time thing and why they were not featured in the scene. Have a fun night
just another thing catherine did that really hurt the quality of the movie. I’m SOOOO glad she’s gone!!!!!
Do anyone of you guys know the other other ideas she gave him?? Love to know about then!!
X Cullen-Lover
A classic WTF moment in the Twilight movie. Like hissing and sniffing vampires, the gyrating teenage torso, Jasper’s hair, and the obnoxious science teacher who got more lines than Alice. Oh yeah, and Kristen Stewart.
They obviously didn’t analyze Edward enough if they didn’t realize that he would NEVER say that stupid line. They should have just gone to the Esme/Carlisle scene.
oh i loved that scene with Carlisle/Esme scene!!that definitely should have replaced “spider monkey” There wasn’t enough of Esme and Carlisle in the movie
It is bad, but not half as much as the “I feel very… protective of you” line… that was truly awful!!!
or the “say it… out loud” line… totally out of character! And then Bella following Edward like she was the predator and he the prey… ” I don’t care! I trust you” OMG!!!!
That line “say it..out loud” was totally out of character I agree with you there! And on that bizzare field trip scene where he snaps at her “could you at least watch where u walk” that sucked!
The lines for the spider monkey scene are discussed in the the director’s comments on the Twilight video. Catherine tells the history of it in her audio comments – and Robert does, too.
I personally liked the line.
I’m so glad Rob picked the spider monkey line because when I read the others they just weren’t so great. I think the spider monkey line is the funniest and most creative of all of them. I’ve always loved that line, although I know how some people thought it was weird and awful line.
I think you made a typo with the spelling of what should be “origins”
Sorry for being so pedantic but spelling mistakes annoy the hell out of me :p *hides in spelling-nazi cave*
Ditto on the spelling error – especially annoying when it is in large font headlines.
Fixed it.
So…Catherine Hardwicke, you couldn’t have that list still… maybe? ‘Cause if you do, make copies of it… there better not be anything better than hold on tight spider monkey.. dude you totally killed the moment you made Robert say that! He sounded like a retarded mental patient…
But it just made Edward sound more hot!!!
One of her other options was..
“PREPARE FOR LIFT OFF” .lol.
What does Catherine think Edward is a vampire/rocket??
LOL vampire/rocket!!
I dont think anyone realises that you can click on the link to mtv to show the other quotes catherine thought up.
I didnt mind the first ones but the others were either to plain or extremly weird.
ORIGINS
personally i love that quote, although it was VERY chezzy. another quote that i absolutely LOVE is the “sex, money, sex, money, cat” qoute, i thought it was hilarious, and one of the highlights of the movie. but overall the movie was, fine. they could have obviously done better,but it was kay for the 1st time. Cant wait for New Moon to come out!!!!
This is one of the many lines included in the movie that prove Melissa and Catherine collectively were on a different wavelength than the books. Sometimes I wonder if they even read them…
Another brilliantly STUPID idea from Catherine Hardwicke. Rob could’ve just said “hold on” and Kristen could’ve just looked scared(because she’s in a freaking tree).
Or they could’ve just not said anything. There didn’t have to be a pause for dialogue after he jumped out the window. So stupid.
Can you tell that I HATE that line? It was so out of character for Edward. He’s too smooth to say something so completely corny like “hold on tight spider monkey!”
But after I heard that Rob had to pick from other options for that line(long before this article came out) I knew he had to have chosen the least horrible one. And after reading this, I know I was right.
the movie did not justify the book at all . the book was awsome .. the movie was .. ehh . alrightt . they left too many good parts out .. im just hoping that the new moon movie is way better .. im just finishing up the book and its great .
oh yea and that line was REALLY WEIRD . i didnt like it . i know they could have found something WAY BETTER to have him say , other than that. they need to remake twilight. cause the movie was horrible compared to the book.
I think they should get together all the lexicon fans and let us do Twilight the remake!!..lol..
We all would do a fantastic job and we would also get to meet the cast..Rob,Kellan,Jackson,Peter,Cam! *swoon*
Ahem, it’s “origin” not “origen” … just sayin’.
And I DESPISE that line in the movie. They could have said so many different things. Yeah, it served the purpose of showing Edward relaxed a little bit more… yada yada yada. But he could have said anything else.. “hold on tight spider monkey” just seems too… unsophisticated (??? I dunno if that’s exactly the word I’m looking for.) for Edward. Even for a playful Edward. He would say something more eloquent, I would think.
I HATE that line. It’s a ridiculous thing to say for a scene that DIDN’T EVEN EXIST IN THE BOOK. When he said that, we looked at each other in the theater and started LAUGHING. So hard. It was such a ridiculous thing to say.
that was in the commentary.
or somewhere
but i really think it was in the commentary
so old news basically
I think the “you’re not scared of heights” one would have been a TON better! He’s already got her in the tree so it’s a little late which makes it funny and he can’t read her mind so he really wouldn’t have any clue. I think that Catherine was obessed w/ monkies or something. While the two lines stood out in the movie, they weren’t the best. The book really did have better lines. I still love the movie, but i REALLY can’t wait for New Moon! (and it also looks like they have better wigs for new moon too! Whew!)
I’m really glad Ms. Hardwicke isn’t directing New Moon. She did a good job with Twilight, but she’s a little too “odd” for my tastes. Just some of her reasoning on why she did the things the way she did (listen to the commentary on special edition DVD) are strange.
Yeah, I hate that line as well…along with Kristen’s little laugh that comes after it. I almost expect her to go “weeeee” while they’re tree hopping. So very much NOT Edward and Bella. This is one of the many reasons that while I re-read these books I don’t see these two in my head. Thank goodness.
i knew it must have been Hardwicke who wrote that line. hahahah.
I’m not gonna lie….I really really hate this line.It’s so not Edward. I hold my ears everytime I watch the movie…which is a lot.
I find it funny that one of the options was, “wrap your legs around me like a spider monkey.” lol what is that supposed to mean?! I think that the, “you’re not scared of heights are you?” line would have gone better, but I’m glad they picked what they did.
I think everyone is forgetting that the movie is NOT supposed to be bringing every single thing from the book on the gig screen! They should stay as true to the book as possible, but if they stick to it too much it’s gonna be boring for someone who’s read it! I think they did an awesome job, Twilight is higher up my list than Harry Potter and maybe even one or two lord of the Rings. There are gonna be parts that are missing and quotes that are replaced, and that’s just NATURAL! There are things that are gonna be changed in a character (for example, acknowledging in the movie that Bella is gorgeous), but those are comparetively minor, because the story stays the same! I’m not sure if I love the “spider monkey” line, maybe “are you scared of heights?” would have been better, but Rob delivered it flawlessly.
And for all of you who are sulking about the Biology scene, CATHERINE SAID THAT THEY WOULD HAVE WANTED TO INCLUDE IT, BUT 2 SCENES IN BIO IS ENOUGH! And I’m sure none of you true fans would have wanted Edward’s hate for Bella or their first conversation to disappear from the movie or in a different scene. How do you think you would react THEN? Catherine worked with as much as she could, and I personally really liked the greenhouse scene.
So I’m sick and tired of the people who love the movie complaining about details, because nothing is perfect and Twilight was GREAT! (this doesn’t apply to people who hated the movie)
Also, why would you cover your ears when something you don’t like shows up? A scream I’d understand. But a line? If you hate it so much, just skip ahead!
I wouldnt say “sulking” is the right word to use for those (myself included) writing about the bio scene, I would say it was merely voicing our own opinion
Any true Twilight fan would understand that.
I love the Twilight books and the film was great! But the best part of being a fan of something,whether its Twilight or Harry.P. is to come on the fan sites and discuss your opinions (bad or good)openly without worries of backlash from other fans.
I respect your views as I kinda agree on what your trying to say. But Twilight is WONDERFUL and even though some parts annoy me I still think its GREAT and I love it warts and all!
And I know some comments on here can make you as crazy as Jasper around a papercut! But just roll with it.LOL.
sure sure (compliments of jacob black) – i agree with you Jodie
Everyone opinion counts whether its bad or good!
Sorry. I haven’t been commenting on fansites for about two years and even then not on ones this big (it was just like a pack of 20 friends, so we all knew each other), so I’ve forgotten what it’s like. Also, I have a bit of temper. And I understand that everyone has their opinion and I completely respect that, I just don’t get why it seems to me that people keep criticizing the movie when they say they love it, concentrating on the bad stuff. If you love something, you should concentrate on why you love it, not slowly ruin it for yourself to the point where you’re like “this thing has so much bad stuff in it, what did I see in it in the first place?”. I know that won’t apply to everyone, but I’ve seen it happen (experienced, too, maybe that’s why I’m so opinionated) and you don’t see it coming. That’s just IMO. Sorry again. Am I forgiven?
JEANNE you have nothin to be forgiven 4.You voiced your thoughts and i think u did it in a respectful way!!! We love TWILIGHT but they didnt get a large budget so they didnt get 2 do certain things w/the movie.The movie is diff. from the books and i still love it .cant wait 4 n.moon bigger budget WOW
Jeanne..Fellow Twi-fan theres no need to say “Sorry” and theres nothing to forgive as you were just voicing your own opinion!
as I was not trying to sound mean to you! I just thought I would say how some people might be afended by your comment. But like I said before I do agree with what your saying about how people will end up ruining the movie for themselfs as the last thing I would want for myself or others as I/we love it so darn much!
So dont be too hard on yourself as us Twilight fans all need to stick together!
I feel bad now
And Im from England so I know a bit about being opinionated.LOL.
“Peace” (classic Aro quote)and Im Sorry can I be forgiven?
JODIE TWIFRIEND!!! OOOH i cant believe we both left a response to JEANNE LOL..OOOH a twifriend from across the pond!!!!Bloody Hell thats great,, to much potter i know..I live outside of new york city hope to see Robert that handsome brit out for a night out on the town.HAHA
HEY Twifriend!Ru stalking me!.LOL.
A New York City Twifriend! WOW!
I really love America,Even though you guys over there always gets everything first!
For Example..Newmoon 20th Nov VS us Brits 27th Nov!(Darn you!)
I live a 4 hours drive from London,BUT Robs never hardly there *sighs* I might have to come over to your side for a few weeks to look for the one named Rob or Jackson or Kellan.. Hell anyone of them will do!.lol.Have a Great afternoon!Twi-American-Friend!
Huh? There’s nothing to forgive, trust me. I feel bad that you feel bad, lol, so don’t feel bad. (“Then don’t you be unhappy! That’s the only thing that’s wrong here!”)
Oh, how I envy you for being from England! I’d give almost anything to have grown up in an English-speaking country, so I’d know all the commonplace (?) words and sayings, etc. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of learning English, but it’s still not my mother language, and that comes in the way, especially if you want to (or are already) write a book in English. Anyway, wish you all the best of luck! (FYI I’m from Latvia, a little country in northeast Europe)
Alright I wont feel bad if you dont feel bad ok
Confused? Iam? .lol.
But Im glad thats all sorted out *Phew*.
I cant believe your from Latvia!I would of never guessed,Your English is great!
And if you ever feel the need to write a book and you need some common English words I will be happy to help you!.lol. Have a Great Day.:)
I may hold you to that
‘Cause I am writing, and though it will never be as good as Twilight (’cause these are like the wittiest books I’ve read “Yes, heaven forbid I not be protected from tanks”), I want it to be as good as is possible. Anyway, thanks! (Not trying to be a jerk or anything, I’m honestly curious 
, do you know anything about Latvia?)
I think the “spider monkey” was a kind of an odd endearment, but it was cute. I agree that it did show Edward’s playful side. I think because it was such a serious movie they had to put some weird, funny lines in there. I too liked when Rosalie called Emmett her “monkey man” haha
I always thought it made Edward sound like a dork. Is that what we’re going for?