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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Monkey Madness Part II


Footnotes.

The booklets for the regular case and digipack are different. The regular release had a two page insert. The digipack has a three page pull out panel with additional artwork and more information on the special features.

There was a death in the production. Scenic artist, Paul Trachtenberg died while working on a floor-to-ceiling backdrop. He fell. This happened on October 30th, 2000.

On a more lighter note...

Bestiality!

Timmy boy wanted a love affair between our astronaut Captain Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) and the chimp, Ari (Helena Bonham Carter). *shakes head* Allegedly there was a 'creative difference' on that subject with the studio, they won. Good. Who the hell wants to see that (minus the freaks)? By the way, Ari was suppose to be an ape princess. Whatever dude.



You know, this isn't the first time the idea has been dicked around. The last time was in '69. SIXTY-NINE! I so entertain myself.

There was a make-up test on the first sequel, Beneath The Planet of the Apes (1970). The hybrid child was played by Tom Doran (above pix). It was part of the aborted ending. At one point they didn't want a shocker, the ending was very optimistic; apes and humans living in peace as equals. The bomb did go off, but not the planet killer that was shown in the final film.

My mind doesn't want to wrap itself around that concept. Ahhhh... ape sex. What does a female chimp's lady business look like? And NO I'm not Googling it (web search or dirty metaphor). Man, you people have your minds in the gutter, don't you?

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Tangent.

In November of 2011 I was at Barnes & Noble, browsing through the sci-fi section. And I found something, something quite intriguing. Did not buy, but once home went online for info.

The reviews were almost overwhelmingly positive. I have forgotten about this for years until revamping this post. I need pick this up. What am I talking about? I'm speaking of the novel, "Conspiracy Of The Planet Of The Apes".

After his spacecraft smashes into a dead sea of a seemingly alien planet, a man is separated from his fellow astronauts when a raiding party of intelligent apes attacks them. Captured, he finds himself a prisoner in a world turned upside down, with apes as the rulers and man in its zoos. His only hope is to communicate with a couple of chimpanzees who just might be open minded and compassionate enough to be sympathetic to his cause. But the man called John Landon will discover that intelligent minds, be they ape or man, all fear the unknown, and his destiny is not to become part of this new world... but instead to find himself under the knife of a simian brain surgeon on the Planet Of The Apes.

- back cover

*jaw agape*

This is an official book written by Andrew "Drew" E. C. Gaska, not random fan fiction. The somber continuity tale is published by Archaia Entertainment (272 pages) and came out in August of 2011. Available in softback and hardcover. Add to the mix, the book is beautifully illustrated by over 50 top artists, quite beautiful.

It fills in the plot hole of how the chimp, Dr. Milo (Sal Mineo) retrieved the sunken Icarus in the Forbidden Zone and made it flight worthy. He had help from Landon (Robert Gunner)! And the events go into the conclusion of Beneath The Planet of the Apes.

It makes sense, there is an undisclosed amount of time in between Col. George Taylor (Charlton Heston) having ape surgery to remove the bullet in his throat to where he speaks again (healed). That could've been weeks.

Weeks.

Dr. Milo is the chimpanzee who managed to fix Taylor’s ship and get himself, Cornelius, and Zira back in time to 1973 during the third film, Escape From The Planet Of The Apes, only to meet an untimely demise at a zoo, of all places. His character has begged for extrapolation from the beginning. He was clearly introduced in Escape in order to get Cornelius and Zira back in time, but a science ape of his level of genius must have had a story to tell, not the least of which was how he found Taylor and Landon’s ship, and fixed it up enough to get it back in the air.

Astronaut John Landon is the guy who gets all the bad breaks. He signed up for a mission that he didn’t really understand, gets ridden by Taylor during a ruthless trek through the desert, is beaten up by apes and lobotomized. His story is going to make it clear just how lucky Taylor was to have found allies in Cornelius and Zira.

General Ursus, an ape of some power who was important to Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, was absent from the first film. You will find he was involved with aspects of Conspiracy while the cameras were rolling elsewhere in Ape City.

Chief Marcus was originally supposed to be an integral part of the original movie, but was mostly cut out. The most information fans have had on him to date comes form a movie poster showing the gorilla and saying “This is Marcus. His specialties are violence and torture.” In Conspiracy you will find out that the chief is also a family ape, and a loving and caring father.

Dr. Galen, the surgeon who fixed Taylor’s throat and argued with Zira in the original film, is a major antagonist, as is Dr. Zaius.

- Drew Gaska (interview with Horror Comic Book News, 2011)

This makes the conversation between Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) and Taylor after his trial (first film) quite different. Zaius was trying to find out where the another astro-nauts were.

There was, WAS to have been a second 'what-if' book by the author. Was to have happened in the latter part of 2013. But it didn't happen or rather, not yet. I can hope.

This would be about Col. Taylor; the missing time where he was kidnapped/separated from Nova (Linda Harrison) in Beneath The Planet Of The Apes.

What happened to him? And where does Brent (James Franciscus) fit in all of this? I wanna know.

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Easter Eggs.

A brief look at the feature from a monkey's perspective.

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> Commentaries -> highlight "Back" press up; highlight ape - ENTER.

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Estella Warren first audition video.

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> Cast & Crew Profiles -> Cast -> Estella Warren -> highlight "Return" press up; highlight 'Play Icon' - ENTER.

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Erick Avari first audition video.

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> Cast & Crew Profiles -> Cast -> Erick Avari -> highlight "Return" press up; highlight 'Play Icon' - ENTER.

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Luke Eberl first audition video.

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> Cast & Crew Profiles -> Cast -> Luke Eberl -> highlight "Return" press up; highlight 'Play Icon' - ENTER.

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DVD Production Credits.

Disc 1 -> Language Selection -> highlight "Resume Film" press right; highlight ape helmet - ENTER.

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One last thing before I put this monkey to bed. No, not like that. Pervs.



There is a great compendium on all the ape movies and the two TV series (live action and cartoon Return To The Planet Of The Apes [1975]). Plus some mention of the then upcoming Tim Burton reboot.

The book is "Planet Of The Apes Revisited: The Behind-The-Scenes Story Of The Classic Science Fiction Saga" by Joe Russo, Larry Landsman and Edward Gross. The softback was published in 2001 by St. Martin's Griffin, 320 pages. I own this. It's a good read; how things almost went and the hard long road to get the movie made in the first place.

I do have a complaint - some of the installments are barely mentioned. I wanted more details. Oh well.

Come back here on December 3rd, 2015 for another statement in collectordom and encounter the beasts that live in the dark below the surface - and not Morlocks.

And folks, have a good Thanksgiving or at least the best you can - crappy relatives. And good luck, should you venture out - Black Friday, which is more of a Thursday now. I will later today (Wal-Mart).