Return to the Planet of the Apes

In 1973,Mad magazine spoofed a seemingly endless movie series in a sequence titled "The Milking of The Planet of the Apes." Little did the people at Mad magazine know or little did they know that they haven't seen the last of the efforts to milk the success of this sci-fi story line involving a futuristic Earth run by simians and other hairy primates which first surfaced as a novel by Pierre Boulle and a 1968 movie titled "The Planet of the Apes",which was followed by four more sequels that were released theatrically in 1970,1971,1972,and 1973. Following high ratings for the TV showings of the sequels(there were five "Apes" movies that were released in theatres between 1968 through 1973),CBS-TV made a live-action hour long television series that was short-lived,also titled "Planet of the Apes" that CBS put onto its prime-time schedule on Friday nights,where it produced 16 episodes and ran from September 13,1974 until December 27,1974. After the cancellation of the series,the producers and the head of operations at 20th Century-Fox figured that was not the end of the simian saga. Also to point out Fox re-released all five "Apes" back in theatres during the summer of 1974.

In September of 1975,NBC made it into a Saturday morning cartoon entry that produced 13 episodes and was produced for DePatie-Freleng Productions in association with 20th Century-Fox Television. The series ran from September 6,1975 until September 4, 1976. However,NBC reaired all 13 episodes during part of the 1976-1977 season. The animated series based on Pierre Boulle's novel and the movies of the same title,was the replacement for the animated version of "Star Trek" which was cancelled in 1975 after two seasons.

This animated retelling was set in the year 3810,nearly 1,000 years after the date given in earlier renditions. There were two new passengers in this adventure-youngsters Jeff and Judy,who crash-landed with Bill in an area where Dr.Zaius was the scientific leader of the planet,as he was in the original series and the theatrical features. And as in the movies,General Urko was the military commander and what made this good,is that the simians were technologically advanced. The other characters were Cornelius and Zira(from the theatrical version),and Nova,young chimp buddies and rough counterparts to Jeff and Judy(who went missing during the first half of this animated series). The animation was superb,since it was done by Doug Wildey,the creator of Jonny Quest. The musical score for this piece was done by jazz musician and conductor Dean Elliott. This was a series that have a lot of potential,but it was slow in the development stages. Worth seeing if you're a fan of classic Saturday Morning cartoons from the mid-1970's.

Planet of the Apes turned into a cartoon series.

Instead of watching all 13 episodes I would just watch the opening episode and leave it at that. I am no expert on animation, but I personally thought the show looked and sounded (good music cues) rather professional.

In the second episode we get more involved in the new premise of this cartoon world (the apes are driving cars, etc) and I found myself out of my comfort zone.

But perhaps the bigger problem is that the show is flogging a dead horse. By 1975 we had seen both a Apes film series and live action TV series - we had seen enough!

i just sat through all 13 episodes. what wasted potential. i love the apes movies, and it IS good for a Saturday morning cartoon show. it seems to have been written for a more adult audience, and actually came on after the live-action show was cancelled. on a positive note, it runs as one continuous storyline, rather than each episode being self-contained. it's the adventures of 3 astronauts (bill, jeff and judy) who crash land on future earth, apparently after the events of "beneath the planet of the apes". "brent" is even mentioned when they come across nova, who is still wearing brent's dogtags. but the future is different now. the apes suddenly have a complete technological civilization, including a huge built-up city, automobiles and radio & TV stations (i loved the scene with the ape farmer driving his hay truck through the country listening to "i'm going humanoid over you" on the radio).judy is nabbed and held by the psychic human "underdwellers", while jeff and bill try to rescue her and help the primitive humanoids living aboveground escape from the gorilla armies. but, it just drags so painfully in places, and the animation is just dreadful. in most scenes, all that moves is the mouth of the character speaking. there are also only 4 or 5 people doing all of the voices, which gets tiresome fast. hearing henry corden (the 2nd voice of fred flintstone) doing all of the gorilla voices is kind of funny, however.

I remember seeing this show as a kid in the mid-70's,and I remember it came on Saturday Mornings on NBC. The cartoon series by the way premiered in 1975 right after the success of the short-lived TV series and the movies of the same title. It may have been exciting to watch,but nowadays it is very cheesy and laughable and sometimes politically correct according to the standards of today. Neither the less,the show kept viewers on the edge of what to expect and it was fun to watch. The cartoon series focuses on three stranded astronauts who are chased across four corners of the earth by a planet of superior and intelligent apes. The show also had apes as advanced beings,including some who can fly planes,drive cars,and control tanks and were scienfically advanced.

One episode in particular had an ape in scuba gear,and one in particular knew how to used a laser gun! Incredible! Only in a cartoon! Great Show!

This was a great cartoon series (for its time) and a fine sequel to the original series. As in the original novel by Pierre Boulle, the apes have a technologically advanced society, with tv, radio, and self-propelled vehicles. The episodes were generally exciting and well written. Unlike most cartoon series, the characters evolved as the series progressed. There were continuity links to previous episodes. The art direction was outstanding; a given as it was handled by Doug Wildey, creator of Jonny Quest.

If there is a fault with the series, aside from some of the dialogue, it was the voice acting. It often came across as flat and emotionless. But, the plots often made up for this flaw. It was certainly the equal of the live tv series; better in some ways, as it wasn't constrained by construction budgets. They could realize an advanced world, without having to build the sets.

This is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of the Ape series. Now, if only it would be released, officially, on DVD.