A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Whenever a cult U.S. science fiction series gets cancelled, fans bombard the studios with letters demanding its reinstatement. The animated spin-off was a way of giving them what they wanted without actually having to go so far as to commission a new season. 'Star Trek' was the first to go down this route. 'Return To The Planet Of The Apes' debuted one year after the short-lived live-action version with Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper and James Naughton. It was from DePatie/Freleng Enterprises, also responsible for 'The Pink Panther' cartoons. It chose not to continue Virdon, Burke and Galen's quest for a way to escape General Urko's gorilla army, but brought in new heroes - astronauts Bill Hudson and Jeff Allen, both of whom look as though they have fallen out of the pages of a Jack Kirby comic. There is also a female - Judy Franklin - who gets captured early on by 'under dwellers' ( similar to those seen in 'Beneath The Planet Of The Apes' ) who rename her 'Ooosa' and treat her like a god. Only one series character made it into the cartoon - Urko ( voiced by Henry Corden ). No 'Galen', but 'Cornelius' is back, as is his wife 'Zira'.The first episode - 'Flames Of Doom' - follows the beginning of the first film fairly closely ( for some reason Dr.Hasslein is renamed Stanton ). Our heroes fall through a time warp into the year 3979 A.D. and find a world dominated by apes, and where humans are slaves. Fearing that the humans will instigate a rebellion against the old order, Dr.Zaius commands General Urko to recapture them at all costs. The show expanded the concept considerably. 'Ape City' in the movies/T.V. show consisted of makeshift huts and dwellings, whereas this one is reminiscent of Ancient Rome with its statues, ionic columns and coliseums. The apes have modern technology such as cars, planes and television ( in one episode, there is a reference to a new movie called 'The Ape Father'! ). Before they got about on horseback, now they drive tanks and motorbikes. In some ways this is closer to Pierre Boulle's original conception than previous versions. Grotesque monsters such as a sea serpent and an ape skull appearing out of nowhere in the night sky were added to the mix.Like the live action show, the films' social commentary was eschewed in favour of straightforward action adventure. The quality of the animation is alas so basic that at times one is reminded of 'Cheapo Cartoon Man' from L.W.T.'s 'End Of Part One'. Whenever someone runs, you can see the same background flying past every few seconds. As for the voice artistes, it is a pity that neither Roddy McDowall nor Mark Lenard were brought back. Their replacements are simply awful. Austin Stoker's 'Jeff' sounds like Leslie Nielsen, 'Cornelius' appears to be voiced by Stan Laurel, and Claudette Nevins' 'Nova' modelled on Marilyn Monroe.Watching this again recently I was slightly surprised at how disturbing some of it was. The opening titles start with a slow pan across desert towards what seems to be humans staked out to be eaten by vultures. Then there's a close-up of a gorilla leering into the camera to the accompaniment of lightning flashes.13 episodes were made. I.T.V. showed it shortly after its U.S. debut but it did not make the same impact here as its predecessor. Many people thought it a cynical attempt to get more milk out of the cash cow. For all its faults, I do like the show, and it is vastly superior to Tim Burton's 'reimagining' ( isn't that an annoying word, by the way? ).

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.

I saw this back in the '70s myself. The animation, as one reviewer said, sucks. That's because it was hand-drawn in the '70s and not computer generated. That didn't come about until seven years later with the Disney science fiction movie Tron. Jeff's last name is Allen, and not Carter. I think that's Bill's last name. I've never read the Pierre Boulle novel Monkey Planet, which was what the French title Planet of the Apes translates to in English. Three astronauts, Bill, Jeff, and Judy, are on a top secret mission when their spaceship is sent through a time vortex to the year 3979. The apes have a high degree of civilization. They have cars and trucks. They even have their own culture. In one episode, Urko finds an old World War II era P-40 and repairs it to use against the "humanoids." The language is simplistic and un-PC in 2007. The cartoon, like the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes, is very much maligned. The Underdwellers are from Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Another reviewer said that it was a worthy sequel. I agree. It's a worthy sequel. I never saw it on video so I hope there's a DVD release soon. I'd buy it.

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!