Return To The Planet Of The Apes!

I crushed through the entire animated series yesterday. This is one smart cartoon. I wrote about it here many months ago when I first purchased it. And finally I've gotten around to watching them all.

Planet of the Apes defined science fiction in the 70's until Star Wars came along. Apocalyptic visions of man's bleak future were commonplace, and POTA was arguably the best of the bunch. I've really gotten more respect for the movies as the years have gone by. I was knocked out as a kid by the original, but the increasingly shoddy nature of the sequels (as the production money dwindled) made me cool to them. I've changed that opinion in recent years, finding more direct connection to POTA's satire.

That said, I've never seen the cartoon all the way through. The stories are set on an ape world unlike any seen in the movies or the live-action TV show. This is an ape culture which is thoroughly modern with city streets, mass communication, motorized vehicles, and the like. No horses here, just lots of rich satire.


The story is familiar. Three astronauts, this time allowing the woman to survive, land on the Planet of the Apes and do the usual trek across the barren waste before finding apekind. The woman gets lost early, but she returns half way through the series. Cornelius and Kira are on board as is Dr.Zaius. But none of these apes seem to have met Charlton Heston or anyone looking like him.

This cartoon was designed by Doug Wildey and it has his textured look. The animation itself is pretty primitive, but the backgrounds are lush and beautiful. As the series developed a greater range of artwork was used allowing for more of a distinctive quality.

The series though is smart for one simple reason, the episodes connect. What happens in one carries through into another. There are glitches of course, but by and large this is an unfolding saga and the things the characters do seem to matter during the course of later events.

This is a smart and clever cartoon. The story moves and we reach a point of equilibrium by the end of the last episode. And while they for sure could've used a a few more to close things down a bit, the story doesn't end abruptly and the way forward for all the characters seems mostly positive.

Nice stuff. Get this one if you can find it.

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