About KoKo - Mangrove Monkey's World Famous Smilin' Monkey

KoKo has become global celebrity. He has received correspondence from Tokyo, New York and London to name a few. Outside of the USA, KoKo’s most enthusiastic followers seek him out from Japan. Mangrove Monkey® is often asked the story behind KoKo’s inspiration and character development. As much as we would like to detail a painstaking process it was in fact quite the opposite. Concept, design and electronically formatting were achieved inside of two days. Matt Ives, KoKo’s creator, recalls, “Upon hearing close-friend Don Kelley characterize a fellow Windley Key resident as a “Mangrove Monkey”, KoKo’s churlish grin was seared into my brain almost instantaneously. Later that evening, while enjoying a balmy Islamorada breeze, I penciled-out KoKo on the back of a beer coaster. Before the end of the following day I had our world-famous smilin’ monkey web-ready.”