Planet of the Apes
From The Sacred Scrolls
Planet of the Apes is the name commonly used to describe a science fiction franchise, which gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1963 French novelist Pierre Boulle published a science fiction novel entitled La Planète des Singes. Boulle's novel revealed a dystopic future environment governed by evolved talking apes. Humans were considered second class citizens.
In 1968, 20th Century Fox and producer Arthur P. Jacobs adapted Boulle's story for the big screen. Screenwriters Michael Wilson and Rod Serling (of Twilight Zone fame) altered several key elements of the original story and the first Planet of the Apes movie was released to American audiences on April 6th. The film proved wildly successful and spawned four sequels: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).
In 1974, CBS began airing a short-lived live-action Planet of the Apes television series. Set in an alternate future, from that of the films, the series featured Alan Virdon and Peter Burke as the time-lost astronauts trapped in the future. Veteren ape actor Roddy McDowall returned to the franchise, this time playing the meek chimpanzee, Galen. The series lasted only one season, spanning a total of thirteen episodes.
In 1975, NBC produced the first Planet of the Apes animated series, entitled Return to the Planet of the Apes. The series maintained the same central plot elements as its predecessors, including a group of protagonist human characters who find themselves lost in time. The animated series revised the movie characters of Zira, Cornelius and Zaius, and also featured the mutated humans first shown in 1970's Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Return to the Planet of the Apes lasted on thirteen episodes and was eventually cancelled in 1976.
Before Planet of the Apes, science-fiction films had a poor reputation established by a string of risible B-movies such as Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. It was a genre aimed at rowdy, popcorn-throwing, cat-calling audiences rather than those who wanted to be emotionally wrung, intellectually challenged or scared witless. The success of Planet of the Apes, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, however, prompted studios to consider other big-budget sci-fi films. It is no accident that it was 20th Century Fox, the studio that made Planet of the Apes, which backed Star Wars and Alien. Planet of the Apes also laid the foundations of modern film merchandising. It's blitz of toys and other items only really took off at the end of the series, but it whetted the appetite for George Lucas’s light sabres a few years later. It is no exaggeration to suggest that without Planet of the Apes, the Star Wars phenomenon and cinema's sci-fi boom might never have happened.[1]
In 2001, movie director Tim Burton released a re-imagined version of the Planet of the Apes mythos. Burton's film differed greatly from previous incarnations of the franchise and was met with mixed reviews.
[edit] See also
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
- Planet of the Apes (TV Series)
- Return to the Planet of the Apes (TV Series)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
