MVP: Most Valuable Primate is the 2000 feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 that sparked the MVP franchise. The film's title character, Jack, is a chimpanzee.

Plot

The plot revolves around an ape playing sports. Jack, a three-year-old chimpanzee who is the subject of an experiment involving sign language that is performed by Dr. Kendall. However, Dr. Kendall loses funding for his research and Mr. Kendall's boss, Mr. Peabody, sells Jack to a medical research lab, much to Dr. Kendall's dismay. Unfortunately, Dr. Kendall dies (offscreen) from a heart attack. Dr. Kendall had set up Jack to be taken away from the lab, but Jack was sent to Canada by mistake. In Canada, Jack befriends a lonely teenager named Steven Westover and his deaf sister, Tara . Steven soon discovers that Jack has an uncanny ability to play the sport of ice hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 and Jack joins Steven's junior league hockey team when it is discovered that there is no rule that chimpanzees can't play hockey. However, just before the championship, Dr. Peabody returns to reclaim Jack.

Sequels

The movie generated one theater-released sequel and one direct-to-video

Direct-to-video

Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...

 sequel. In each film, Jack learns to play a different sport.

Movies

The following is a list of the films in the series:

• MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000)
• MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate
  MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate
  MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate is the 2001 film, and the second in the MVP series. The film's title character, Jack, is a fictional chimpanzee...
  
  (2002)
• MXP: Most Xtreme Primate (2003)

Cast

• Russell Ferrier – Darren
• Matty – The Chimp (Big Eyez)
• Bobble – Big Eyez Ojos!
• Lomax Study – Dr. Kendall
• Kevin Zegers
  Kevin Zegers
  Kevin Joseph Zegers is a Canadian actor and model. He is best known for his leading roles as Josh Framm in the Air Bud series, as well as playing Damien Dalgaard in the Gossip Girl series and the protagonist in Rock Mafia's The Big Bang...
  
   – Steven Westover
• Jamie Renée Smith
  Jamie Renee Smith
  Jamie Renée Smith is an American actress.-Biography:Born in New York City, Smith began her acting career at the age of six when, at her first audition, she landed a guest-starring role on an episode of Saved by the Bell: The College Years...
  
   – Tara Westover
• Alexa Fox – Jane
• Jane Sowerby – Julie Beston
• Ingrid Tesch – Susie Westover
• Philip Granger – Mark Westover
• Rick Ducommon – Coach Marlow
• Bernie, Mack, and Louie
  Bernie, Mack, and Louie
  Berny, Mac and Louie are Chimpanzee actors in MVP: Most Valuable Primate, MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate and MXP: Most Xtreme Primate....
  
   – Jack
• Oliver Muirhead
  Oliver Muirhead
  Oliver Muirhead is an English character actor known for often portraying pompous country gentlemen. In 1986, he also directed the musical pantomime A Christmas Held Captive. In addition to acting, Muirhead has also lent his voice to various animated series such as P.J...
  
   – Dr. Peabody

Title

• MVP was the working title of the 1997
  1997 in film
  -Events:* The original Star Wars trilogy's Special Editions are released.* Production begins on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.* Titanic becomes the first film to gross US$1,000,000,000 at the box office making it the highest grossing film in history until Avatar broke the record in 2010.*...
  
   film Air Bud
  Air Bud
  Air Bud is a 1997 American family/dramedy film that sparked the franchise centered on the real-life dog, Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The film's title may in fact be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. It is the first film to be distributed together by...
  
  , but the subtitle was Most Valuable Pooch, not Most Valuable Primate. Air Bud shares the same producers and they both star Kevin Zegers. Both films feature similar plots about an animal who can play sports, and they each spawned a number of sequels in which the title animal plays a different sport in each.