PLANET OF THE APES: Everything You Need to Know About the 1968–2001 Saga
WARNING – SPOILERS
Planet of the Apes, 1968
In 1963, nine years after writing the war epic The Bridge on the River Kwai, French writer Pierre Boulle published the science fiction novel Planet of the Apes. Fans of the genre weren’t particularly impressed. For Boulle, the sci-fi setting served merely as a tool to critique contemporary social relations. His satire on society and the political mechanisms governing it was grotesquely distorted and magnified through the lens of an ape civilization. The rest of the fantastic elements were treated superficially and haphazardly. The literary Planet of the Apes lacked serious use of the classic sci-fi elements: space travel or time paradoxes. It was simply a philosophical fantasy without genre ambitions.
In the 1960s, American film producer Arthur P. Jacobs produced Doctor Dolittle, a fairy-tale story about a man who talks to animals. Inspired by this film, he wanted to create another production about human-animal dialogue, but in a far more serious form. His friend, Richard Zanuck, then head of 20th Century Fox, pointed Jacobs to Pierre Boulle’s recently published novel Planet of the Apes. Jacobs purchased the adaptation rights together with John Lee Thompson, the intended director of the film. The screenplay adaptation was entrusted to Rod Serling, then-famous creator of the iconic horror series The Twilight Zone. However, the finished script, supported by a huge stack of concept sketches, was rejected by all major studios, as talking apes were too strongly associated with B-grade silliness. Jacobs then played his trump card: he convinced one of Hollywood’s brightest stars at the time, Charlton Heston, to take the lead role. Heston recommended Franklin J. Schaffner as director.
Even with such major names on board, Arthur P. Jacobs managed to convince only Richard Zanuck at Fox. Zanuck agreed on one condition: that the ape makeup had to be convincing and natural. At the beginning of 1966, after test footage was shot, Zanuck decided to finance Planet of the Apes. A year later, under the guidance of experienced television makeup artist John Chambers, work on the ape masks—the most crucial and costly aspect of production—began. With a million-dollar budget and only four months, Chambers invented a new type of makeup: latex masks that perfectly matched the natural expressions of the actors. This innovation brought authenticity to the appearance and behavior of over 200 actors portraying three evolved ape species: chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas.
Before filming began, significant changes were made to the film’s setting. In Boulle’s novel and Serling’s screenplay, ape civilization was highly advanced, which required the team to create a believable world filled with futuristic elements on screen. Schaffner didn’t have enough funds for this, so screenwriter Michael Wilson was hired to scale the ape world down to an early, pre-technological civilization. Filming took place from May 21 to August 10, 1967. The budget was $5.8 million—a more than respectable amount at the time.
A crew of four astronauts, led by George Taylor, travels through space. After six months of sublight-speed flight (during which 2,006 years have passed on Earth), on November 25, 3978, they unexpectedly land on an unknown planet resembling Earth. Due to a landing malfunction, the only female crew member does not survive. Taylor, Landon, and Dodge leave their wrecked ship submerged in a lake and traverse a desert wasteland dotted here and there with strange scarecrows. Eventually, they reach areas inhabited by primitive, speechless humans. The astronauts’ anthropocentric worldview is soon shattered upon discovering a civilization of humanoid apes that hunt humans like livestock. Dodge is killed, Landon lobotomized, and Taylor ends up imprisoned.
In this ape society, divided into gorilla warriors, chimpanzee scientists, and the ruling class of orangutans, Taylor sees a terrifying, twisted inversion of Earth’s order. Winning the favor of two young chimpanzee scientists, Cornelius and Zira, Taylor proves to them his ability to speak and think. This, however, meets fierce resistance from the orangutans, who, led by Dr. Zaius, are willing to do anything to preserve the ancient ape order, enshrined in the Sacred Scrolls. After several escape attempts, Taylor and his mute companion Nova, with the help of Cornelius and Zira, finally flee the ape city to the seashore, where Taylor discovers remnants of human civilization, older than the ape society. At the end of his journey, he finds a rusty Statue of Liberty protruding from the sand…
Unlike the author of the original novel, the film’s creators took a serious approach to their work, shifting the focus of Planet of the Apes. Serling and Wilson simplified the novel’s allegorical and philosophical layers, concentrating on elements crucial for the film medium. The cinematic Planet of the Apes became a vivid, spectacular adventure, crafted with full awareness of the genre’s requirements. Pierre Boulle’s narrative traps were skillfully translated into a storyline packed with fantastic adventures, fast-paced action, and vivid characters. Charlton Heston as astronaut Taylor begins as a cynical adventurer, dismissive of the humanity he left behind. The audience’s sympathy for him grows almost automatically as his character endures various abuses from sadistic gorillas and hardheaded orangutans. Heston’s skill in dramatically portraying suffering—something he mastered, as shown by his Oscar-winning performance in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959)—served him well here, as critics have pointed out over generations.
The film’s most endearing characters are two love-struck chimpanzees, the married couple Cornelius and Zira (played by Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter). These characters also bring a touch of humor to the film. Their acting in John Chambers’ prosthetic makeup was both a challenge and a source of comedic moments, such as in the brief, charming kiss scene. Meanwhile, the sole draw for the male audience was Nova, portrayed by 21-year-old Linda Harrison, the beautiful wife of studio head Richard Zanuck. The film’s success was also bolstered by exotic locations such as Utah’s canyons, Malibu Creek State Park (once owned entirely by Fox), and Malibu beaches, where the final scenes were filmed. Dr. Zaius was initially meant to be played by the renowned Edward G. Robinson, who filmed screen tests but declined due to health concerns about the hot, restrictive ape makeup. Maurice Evans replaced him. Robinson would reunite with Heston five years later on the set of his final film, Soylent Green (1973) directed by Richard Fleischer.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes, 1970
Arthur P. Jacobs and his co-producer Mort Abrahams faced the difficult task of finding a compelling counterpart to the phenomenal ending of the first film. Rod Serling made an unsuccessful attempt with a script titled The Dark Side of the Earth, and Pierre Boulle, the original author, proposed a concept called Planet of Men. Finally, Mort Abrahams turned to renowned screenwriter Paul Dehn (known for Goldfinger from the James Bond series), who quickly delivered a draft with the working title Planet of the Apes Revisited. It was September 1968. Since rehiring Franklin J. Schaffner was not possible (he was directing Patton), Ted Post was chosen to direct the sequel, which was ultimately titled Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
Paul Dehn’s main storyline had to be significantly adjusted to accommodate Charlton Heston, who initially categorically refused to reprise his role as Taylor. The actor eventually agreed to appear in two small scenes, without regard for his salary. His only condition was that Taylor must be killed off. Due to these casting constraints, the film’s weight fell on James Franciscus, who played astronaut Brent (a role originally turned down by Burt Reynolds). The choice of this actor was based on his physical resemblance to Charlton Heston, which, according to the producers, would compensate for the absence of Taylor for much of the film. Another blow came with the halving of the planned budget, which led to the departure of the initially intended director, Don Medford, who was replaced by Ted Post. 20th Century Fox was facing financial difficulties, which affected all the films being produced at the time. Jacobs began filming in February 1969, with a budget of only $3 million. With each subsequent film in the Planet of the Apes series, the trend of reducing costs would continue.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes begins with a repetition of the last scene from the previous film. After the final conversation with Zaius, Taylor and Nova ride along the coast, where they encounter the ruined Statue of Liberty. They venture into the desert, where Taylor makes plans to start a family. Unexpected atmospheric phenomena and a rift in the earth cause Taylor to disappear into a phantom rock wall. Nova, left alone, meets Brent, the only surviving member of the Earth expedition launched to rescue Taylor’s crew. Brent finds Taylor’s dog tag with Nova. Together, they head to the ape city, where the gorillas escalate the problem of the “final solution to the human question.” Thanks to Zira and Cornelius, Brent and Nova make it to the Forbidden Zone and descend underground. There, upon seeing the buried remains of New York, Brent finally learns the horrifying truth. They are captured by a strange group of mutated humans, who possess telepathic powers and worship the atomic bomb. They also find a captured Taylor. Meanwhile, the ape crusade against humans reaches the underground. The ensuing battle results in the death of the humans, including Taylor, who, in his final effort, detonates the atomic bomb. This marks the end of all life on Earth…
Critics were unimpressed, but audiences enjoyed it. The second film in the Planet of the Apes series inevitably lacked the originality and freshness of the first. The surreal sect of human mutants worshipping an atomic bomb seemed like a sidestep from the titular apes. Nonetheless, the screenplay was fairly well-written, particularly the excellent sequences in which Brent explores the underground remains of New York, which helped mask the limitations in imaginative scope. A notable new element was the explicit reference to the Vietnam War, reflected in the protests of young chimpanzees attempting to prevent the gorillas’ extermination of humans. The apocalyptic ending was Charlton Heston’s idea, intended as a way to avoid future sequels. However, this ending lacked a fully realized visual impact.
Budget constraints were apparent, even in the highly regarded ape makeup. In crowd scenes, extras in the background wore stiff, immobile masks instead of proper prosthetic makeup. However, the ape city sets (left over from the first film) and the mutant’s underground lair (reused and modified from the Hello Dolly! musical set) were effectively repurposed without diminishing the film. Unfortunately, Roddy McDowall did not reprise his role as Cornelius due to other commitments, and was replaced by David Watson—whose performance, despite the ape makeup, could not disguise the difference. Orson Welles was also offered a role as gorilla commander General Ursus but declined. This film, however, introduced Arthur P. Jacobs’ wife, Natalie Trundy. She would be the only actor to portray both human and ape characters across all the theatrical films in the series—a casting choice that wasn’t surprising, given her status as the boss’s wife.
Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1971
Paul Dehn bent logic beyond even the most flexible bounds of plausibility. He cleverly used a loophole by noting the absence of certain apes in the final sequence of the second film and brought back Taylor’s forgotten spaceship, which had been lying at the bottom of the lake in the Forbidden Zone. Adding a highly intriguing time paradox that allowed for open interpretation, Dehn had his solution. Filming for the third installment, titled Escape from the Planet of the Apes, began on November 30, 1970, with Don Taylor directing. The film was released in U.S. theaters on May 21, 1971.
The film’s action begins in the modern-day U.S. as a spaceship is retrieved from the ocean, and the assembled military brass are stunned to meet… three humanoid apes in spacesuits. These are Cornelius, Zira, and Dr. Milo, who found and repaired Taylor’s ship just in time to escape before the nuclear blast destroyed life on Earth. Temporal fluctuations have brought them to contemporary America. With no protocol for handling visitors from the future, authorities place them in a zoo, where Dr. Milo is soon killed by a neighboring gorilla. Cornelius and Zira, initially playing coy with their caretakers, eventually reveal their identities and become a worldwide sensation. The chimpanzee couple appears before a government panel, sparking disbelief among scientists, public fascination, and outrage from the church.
Their cheerful assimilation into human life, filled with lighthearted encounters with modern society, is shattered when news breaks that Zira is pregnant. Presidential advisor Dr. Otto Hasslein (mentioned by Taylor in the space prologue of the first film) interrogates Zira to learn about the impending ape dominance over Earth. Faced with the threat of an intelligent ape race taking root, the White House orders Zira’s pregnancy terminated and Cornelius sterilized. The situation worsens when, in a fit of rage, Cornelius accidentally kills a man who insulted Zira. With help from two sympathetic scientists, the ape couple escapes. Zira gives birth, and they find temporary refuge with Armando, a circus owner. But in a tragic final showdown with police and military forces, Cornelius and Zira are brutally killed. The film ends hauntingly, with their orphaned child repeating the words “mama, mama” from within a cage.
Of the last three forced cinematic sequels to Planet of the Apes, this installment is by far the most interesting. It employs the reliable formula of the original film but in reverse: now, it’s the apes who find themselves as strangers in the human world. Initially welcomed warmly as a natural curiosity, they gradually come to be seen as a mortal threat. The concept of killing the parents to prevent the birth of the first member of a new species—one that could threaten humanity—clearly echoes (beyond obvious references to Jesus and Herod) James Cameron’s The Terminator, released more than a decade later. For such a strained sequel, everything here holds together surprisingly well, albeit within the confines of the ape universe.
The film skillfully executes a dramatic shift from an engaging and, at times, very humorous first half to a tragic, ruthlessly pessimistic conclusion. Yet, this film was produced under increasingly poor conditions; they even abandoned stereophonic sound. The budget was slashed by $500,000 compared to its predecessor, though fortunately, this cutback was hardly noticeable due to the reduction of ape characters to three, and later just two, actors. Dehn quickly wrote out Dr. Milo, as actor Sal Mineo found the ape prosthetics particularly uncomfortable. For the second and final time, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter performed together. One of the most important supporting roles, Dr. Stephanie Branton, was played by Natalie Trundy, who had appeared as one of the telepathic mutants in the previous film.
However, this was not the end of the ape adventure for McDowall. Though his character perished, the resourceful Paul Dehn found ways to work around such obstacles. McDowall still had two more films ahead, in which he would play Cornelius’s son, the leader of the ape rebellion, Caesar…
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, 1972
Without waiting for box office results—which were becoming less critical given the shrinking budgets of each installment—Arthur P. Jacobs commissioned Dehn to write the next continuation of the ape saga. Once again, the screenwriter showcased a rather bold imagination, although the starting point for the fourth installment is somewhat absurd. Filming began on January 31, 1972, with director John Lee Thompson on board. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes hit screens on June 29, 1972.
This film stands apart from the earlier installments. Despite the strained and somewhat laughable premise, the tone is dark, serious, and laced with bitterness. The increase in violence—unprecedented in previous Planet of the Apes films—was a surprise to its teenage audience. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes fit well within the new, often shocking aesthetic of intense modern cinema, represented by The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Dirty Harry.
This film featured Natalie Trundy for the third time, this time as the chimpanzee Lisa, Caesar’s love interest. Roddy McDowall finally had the opportunity to showcase a much broader range of acting, as his Caesar was not as gentle or sympathetic as his father, Cornelius. Financially, this was the cheapest production of the series, with a microscopic budget of only $1.7 million.
Despite this, the film still looks relatively modern, thanks to the new, very impressive architecture of Century City, one of the neighborhoods in L.A., which was almost built right next to the studio’s headquarters. This naturally limited the setting of the action to a few streets, squares, and passages, which strangely contradicted the global scope of the ape rebellion. After the premiere, no one was under the illusion that this was the end of the ape cycle. John Lee Thompson almost immediately took the director’s chair again.
Battle for the Planet of the Apes, 1973
The film begins in the year 2670, when apes and humans live in perfect harmony. The elderly Lawgiver of the Sacred Scrolls reads a story from ancient times, when two apes from the future gave birth to Caesar. He freed the apes from the yoke of man and unleashed the most terrible war in human history, from the ashes of which he began to build a new order. After this prologue, the action shifts to several years after the nuclear war, where the surviving remnants of humans and apes live in relative balance. However, tensions begin to rise, fueled by militant gorillas, supported politically by cunning orangutans. Caesar organizes an expedition to the ruined human city, where the irradiated remnants of humanity still live.
For the leader of the gorillas, General Aldo, the armed reaction of the humans from the Forbidden City is a perfect opportunity to eradicate the last remnants of humanity. He is also Caesar’s enemy, which conflicts with the official doctrine that forbids a monkey from killing another monkey. In Caesar’s absence, Aldo kills his son. Meanwhile, a long battle breaks out between the apes and the humans from the Forbidden City, who are ultimately defeated. Caesar faces General Aldo and kills him. A reconciliation between humans and apes follows. The film ends with a narrative frame, where the Lawgiver is surrounded by children of both humans and apes. In the final shot, standing on a hill, a statue of Caesar sheds a tear.
The last film in the ape series is a logical continuation of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. However, the overall tone shifted from rebellious to pacifist. The return to adventure cinema, requested by the studio, is especially noticeable in the character of Caesar (once again played by Roddy McDowall). The main character has softened, been ennobled, and simply matured under the influence of his wife, Lisa (again Natalie Trundy, making her fourth appearance in the series), and their son, named after his grandfather, Cornelius. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox once again skimped on the budget, which was especially evident in the battle sequence. Instead of a global-scale battle (as the title might suggest), we get a small, modest skirmish between humans and apes, supported by poor pyrotechnics. The Forbidden City sequence was filmed in the underground waterworks of Los Angeles. The exterior view was created by dressing a junkyard and using a simple optical overlay in wide shots. Casting-wise, the film was enriched by the legendary John Huston in a brief role as the Lawgiver, as well as the well-known singer Paul Williams.
Overall, however, there is a sense of exhaustion with the formula and a desire to wrap up the ape saga as quickly as possible. Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which premiered on June 15, 1973, was advertised as the definitive conclusion of the saga. And it was, at least for the theatrical films, although there were plans to make another sequel. Ultimately, it was decided that Planet of the Apes would return, but only on the small screen.
Planet of the Apes, TV Series 1974
Arthur P. Jacobs had planned to bring the Planet of the Apes series to television as early as 1971. However, the popularity of the subsequent theatrical sequels surprised him. The idea resurfaced after the fifth and final theatrical film, but Jacobs did not live to see the TV series. He passed away in 1973 from a heart attack. His legacy was taken over by two producers from Fox, Herbert Hirschman and Stanley Hough.
Writers Arthur Wallace and Anthony Wilson chose a similar premise to the first film as the starting point for their story. A crew of astronauts, launched from Earth in 1988 with the goal of reaching Alpha Centauri (!), traveling at faster-than-light speeds, ends up landing back on Earth (specifically in what was once California) in the year 3085 due to the Einsteinian time paradox. Astronauts Alan Virdon and Pete Burke are captured by a post-nuclear civilization of apes and brought before the stern Dr. Zaius, familiar from the first film. They are helped to escape by Galen, a chimpanzee assistant to Zaius. The fugitives discover human settlements, who, unlike the ape slaves, are civilized. Unfortunately, the astronauts are relentlessly pursued by General Urko, a fierce gorilla.
The first episode was presented on CBS on September 13, 1974. By the end of the year, 14 one-hour episodes had been aired. Roddy McDowall returned to the series, playing Galen, the chimpanzee allied with humans. However, even his presence couldn’t save the show from being taken off the air, despite its unexpected success with the children’s audience. A fun fact: the model of the spacecraft in the first episode was the same one that appeared in the first and third Planet of the Apes films.
Return to the Planet of the Apes, 1975-76
Planet of the Apes, 2001
In the early 1990s, there were murmurs about a new version of Planet of the Apes. High hopes were placed on the genius duo of Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron. However, the creator of The Terminator chose True Lies, and then delved into the depths of the Atlantic in search of the Titanic. For a while, there were rumors that Oliver Stone would sit in the director’s chair. Work on the film, temporarily titled The Visitor, began in 2000. Finally, on July 27, 2001, Planet of the Apes came to light under the promising direction of Tim Burton.
The year is 2029, aboard the Oberon space station, where experiments with apes are being conducted. Captain Leo Davidson, in an attempt to rescue Pericles, a monkey in a capsule caught in a time vortex, himself becomes a victim of the anomaly. He lands in a distant future on an unknown planet. The planet is ruled by intelligent apes who hunt humans. Leo is captured. With the help of a charming chimpanzee named Ari, who fights for human rights (and is loved by the military radical, General Thade), Leo manages to escape and reach the Forbidden Zone. There, he finds the remains of his space station, which, due to the time vortex, crashed on this planet hundreds of years ago. This place was the cradle of the ape civilization. Meanwhile, an army led by the revenge-obsessed General Thade launches an assault on the humans led by Davidson. The great battle is interrupted by the landing of the capsule with Pericles onboard. The apes believe Pericles to be Semos, the sacred founder of their civilization. After dealing with Thade, Leo escapes in the Pericles capsule, and thanks to the time vortex, lands in Washington, DC, in 2029. However, upon arrival, it is revealed that the distant future on the unknown planet was, in fact, Earth’s past, and instead of Abraham Lincoln, the statue in the memorial proudly features a likeness of General Thade.
This summary may seem a bit dry and impersonal, but unfortunately, that’s how Tim Burton approached the film as well. This sensitive and original poet of the screen surprised audiences with every film. The same happened with Planet of the Apes, but in the worst possible way. Burton’s spirit ended with the stunning opening credits. Visuals are one of the few strengths of the film. The costumes, locations, music, and the amazing makeup by Rick Baker stand out. Special praise goes to actors Tim Roth and Paul Giamatti. A novel approach in the script was the treatment of humans, who are no longer mindless savages, although it’s hard to understand what arguments the apes used to enslave speaking and thinking humans. Was the agility of climbing trees enough?
The biggest casting mistake was Mark Wahlberg, who attempted to mimic the rich expressions of Steven Seagal. Helena Bonham Carter, the English rose who dazzled in Branagh’s Frankenstein, here just makes strange faces and looks like Janet Jackson’s sister in her makeup. Tim Burton, with a budget that Jacobs could never have dreamed of (100 million dollars), created a lavish but dull and unstylish spectacle, from which probably only the excellent and surprising epilogue stands out, turning the entire story upside down. But that was just a stiff remake of Schaffner’s film. The creators couldn’t rely on the relevance of Pierre Boulle’s novel. All the social references that had partially nourished previous films in the ape series had disappeared. What remained was relying on nostalgia and repeats.
In one quite good scene, Charlton Heston appeared. The actor, unrecognizable due to makeup, played Zaius (!), the dying father of General Thade. For a few seconds, Linda Harrison, who played Nova in the first two films, flashed on the screen. The name Nova was also given to one of the apes, played by Lisa Marie, Tim Burton’s ex-wife. Michael Clarke Duncan’s first words (the memorable giant convict from The Green Mile) upon seeing Leo Davidson were Take your filthy hands off me, you damn dirty human, which was a paraphrase of Heston’s line from the first film (Take your filthy hands off me, you damn dirty ape). At the end, Leo kisses Ari, much like Taylor got close to Zira in the first film. And that’s it… Oh, and the helmet of one of the apes in the film’s finale was from Starship Troopers by Paul Verhoeven.
Just some trivia. The rest was supposed to rely on spectacle and the magic of famous names. Only the spectacle remained, but that’s the norm in today’s cinema and no longer anything new. To think that Tim Roth turned down the role of Professor Snape in Harry Potter to work with Burton. He did play the role sharply and with nerve, but what’s the point… Tim Burton supposedly once said in an interview that he’s afraid of monkeys. Perhaps not in the right way, though, since he overcame his fear to direct the worst film of his career.
The open ending of the new Planet of the Apes, which invites further exploration of the topic, should serve as a warning of an unexpected dead end. Instead, let’s enjoy the pastiches and parodies of the classic Planet of the Apes. And with this optimistic note, I thank you for your attention.
Adrian Szczypiński