I recall seeing an ape movie in which the apes were driving full-size early 1970s sedans. I don’t know whether it was a ripoff of Planet of the Apes or a sequel. Does anyone else remember this?
It is probably “Time of the Apes”… a Japanese POTA knock off… well actually it was a movie made from cobble-ing pieces of a tv series together. It was on MST3K… It was hilarious. I have managed to see the regular version as well… That movie makes NO sense…
That is one way of reading the ending… But if memory serves the original takes place some 2000 years in the future… And the epilogue at the end of movie 5 with the Lawgiver and the human and ape children learning together takes place only a 1000 in the future. A lot could happen in terms of Human/Ape relations in that time.
I love the entire series.
Each one is so different than the other. The first two are sci-fi. Escape is largely a comedy until the last 30 minutes, Conquest is a political film, and Battle is a kids adventure flick.
You gave me flashbacks to the summer before my eight birthday. The kids in my neighborhood went 5 times a week to watch them. In our neck of the woods, it was ‘The Go Ape Festival’.
As I look back on the series, after Beneath (Part II - Which I liked but for some reason received a Golden Turkey Award ) the final 3 episodes sucked. the plots are just too stupid and unbelievable.
It was beyond wretched. It probably wouldn’t have been such a letdown had Burton used a screenplay that closely followed Pierre Boulle’s book, ‘Monkey Planet’ (Where Taylor escapes back to Earth). It would’ve been different enough from the original FILM and just might’ve worked.
I own a copy of Rod Serling’s 2nd Draft, dated December 23, 1964. It indeed does have an ape society on the level of 1964 humans. Quite an interesting read. George Thomas (George Taylor in the final film, though I don’t remember if the “George” was ever spoken on-screen) spots the Statue of Liberty as he flies away in a helicopter. He already knows it is Earth because Serling actually has him, bit by bit, piece together the oddly familiar star patterns and speculate that it probably is Earth.
FTR, in this early draft, Thomas’ first words after regaining his voice (he is prodded by an ape in the lab) are: “No! Get away! Let me alone!”
Sir Rhosis
I second this. I’ve only read Boulle’s novel in English translation, but it was very different from either the original or the 2001 remake. Only thing I like about the latter was the makeup.
Did anyone ever see the short test clip made, to try out ape makeup? James Brolin and the gal who ended up playing Nova were Cornelius and Zira, with Edward G. Robinson as Zaius and Heston as Taylor(but a very different one). The documentary said that when the short was shown to the studio execs, if they didn’t laugh, the filmmakers would get their backing. The chimp makeup was very rudimentary, but the orangutan was good, although different from what it became in the actual film. I forget his name, but the guy who designed it got his start in film makeup after working in veteran’s hospitals, designing prosthetic replacements for ears, noses, and such. Guy knew his way around a face, and ended up in the movies.
I have that test (it is on a documentary made back in 98 or so, hosted by McDowell just a year or so before his death). It is a scene from Serling’s screenplay, and Heston is referred to as “Mr. Thomas” by Zaius.
Sir Rhosis
How many damn dirty apes does it take to change a light bulb?
Three.
One damn dirty ape to change the light bulb, and two damn dirty apes to throw feces at each other. 
Is this one of those damn dirty jokes?
Welcome to Fantasy Island… you inhuman bastards!
I thought the first one was good, campy fun, but dammit, I was disappointed every time they didn’t burst into song. Someone really should turn this into a real musical. I’d watch it. Or Streetcar!
I heard it this way:
How many damn dirty apes does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Damn dirty apes don’t screw in lightbulbs.
They screw in piles of their own feces.
Okay, that one comes out pretty gross.
I stole it from Family Guy, but your version’s funnier. Disgusting, but funny.
It was originally about college boys.
Oh, yeah, and pools of their own vomit.
Glad I could brighten your day…
I don’t know that I’d describe James Franciscus as a “nobody” exactly.
*Battle * is the only one I saw in a theater. *Escape * is my second favorite after the first.
I used to have all the issues of Marvel’s B&W POTA magazine. They did some pretty good original stories, especially the ones by Doug Moench and Mike Ploog.
They showed Beneath the Planet of the Apes at the Salt Lake City SF Filmfest several years ago. The hosts were the film critic from the salt Lake Trib and Orson Scott Card. Their comment was that James Franciscus was sort of “Charlton Heston Lite”, and when the big CH himself shows up at the end of the film, he just blows Franciscus away.
I have a book of POTA trivia and in it it claims that “Franciscused” is a popular ‘geek’ term for replacing a popular actor with a less popular actor… I have never heard this term used anywhere outside of this book.