Kevin James plays a beast called a montle in his...

Kevin James plays a beast called a montle in his video spoof of nature documentaries. Credit: Getty Images for SiriusXM / Cindy Ord

Frequent collaborators Kevin James and Adam Sandler have teamed up for "Nature Planet," a comedy short on the Long Island-born James' YouTube channel.

The 5-minute, 21-second parody of such wildlife documentary series as PBS' "Nature" or the BBC's "Natural World" features Brooklyn native "Sir Adam Sandler" narrating on the plight of "the silver-breasted montle," a near-extinct species of forest herbivores that are "naturally playful and incredibly curious." Played by the Mineola-born and Stony Brook-raised James, 55, in an open-faced bearlike costume, the montle lounges in the woods, scratches its back on tree bark and tries to avoid its only known predator: birds of prey, which can pluck montles from the forest floor and carry them away.

James, who appears on-screen as up to five montles at a time, portrays the fictional gentle beast gamely, at points running to avoid capture and even standing in a body of water and, drenched faux fur suit and all, dipping under it. The video even includes the miracle of birth, featuring James as a pint-size baby montle.

The short is the latest of James’ several comedy videos shot by the Rhode Island-based production company the Kinnane Brothers, who for months have been quarantining with James on Long Island to produce content. After being introduced to him by a friend, the brothers were in talks with the comic about collaborations when COVID-19 quarantining began in March.

James, forced to put off a comedy tour and other projects, said, " 'Hey, if you guys want to do this safely, we could quarantine together,' " Charles Kinnane told The Hollywood Reporter in August. The brothers lodged at an Airbnb near James' Long Island home and worked as a "self-contained unit," he said, on what has proved to be a popular series of shorts.

James, who starred as a retired cop living with his family in Massapequa in the 2016-18 CBS sitcom "Kevin Can Wait," shot at Gold Coast Studios in Bethpage, has co-starred with the Brooklyn-born Sandler, 54, in numerous movies, including "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" (2007), "Grown Ups" (2010) and its 2013 sequel, "Pixels" (2015) and Netflix's just-released "Hubie Halloween."

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