Return to the Planet of the Apes

Scifind.co.uk rating - 3 - out of 5.

Reviewed By: John Ainsworth

Starring: Richard Blackburn, Henry Corden, Philipa Harris, Edwin Mills, Claudette Nevins, Tom Williams,

Return to the Planet of the Apes

Voice Cast Richard Blackburn, Henry Corden, Philipa Harris, Edwin Mills, Claudette Nevins, Tom Williams

Directors Doug Wildey

Year 1975/76

Format 2 Discs, 13 Episodes

Distributor 20^th Century Fox

Price TBA

The Episodes

Having previously been released as part of the Planet of the Apes – The Ultimate DVD Collection, the seldom seen cartoon series, Return to the Planet of the Apes finally gets its own separate release. Prior to the Tim Burton movie, Return to the Planet of the Apes was the final chapter in the Apes franchise begun in 1968 with the original Planet of the Apes movie. With four cinematic sequels as well as a live-action TV series preceding it, the cartoon show had a rich heritage to draw on for its inspiration.

Fascinatingly, Return to the Planet of the Apes is a strange hybrid of all the previous incarnations of the Apes story – including Pierre Boulle’s original novel. The opening scenario is a familiar one with a group of astronauts – Bill, Judy and Jeff - crash-landing in a desolate wasteland, oblivious to the fact that they are in fact on Earth in the far future. After losing Judy in an earthquake, Bill and Jeff discover that the planet is inhabited by mute humans ruled over by apes. Doctor Zaius from both the movies and the TV series is the ape leader with General Urko (voiced by Henry ‘Fred Flintstone’ Corden) head of the guerrilla army - also from the TV show. In the third episode it is revealed that Judy’s disappearance is due to a group of mutant humans (or ‘humanoids’ as the Apes call them) who live underground in the remains of man’s civilization. Clearly these mutants are based on those seen in the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes, but here they have the advantage of being able to shoot laser beams from their eyes and worship a tree rather than a nuclear missile.

Perhaps most interestingly of all though, is that unlike the movies and the live-action TV series, but in keeping with Boulle’s novel, the Apes here possess an advanced technology on a par with Twentieth Century Earth. This includes jeeps and tanks as well as television and skyscrapers.

Return to the Planet of the Apes is an interesting curiosity when viewed as part of the whole Apes franchise. However, as an entertaining piece of kids cartoon drama it is sadly lacking. Produced by animators, DePatie-Freleng, Return to the Planet of the Apes is quite typical of their prolific output in that the animation is extremely basic, relying heavily on camera movement rather than actual animation. Having said that, some of the visuals of the decaying remains of human architecture are quite striking. The dialogue is a little dry but competently delivered by the voice-cast and enhanced by a music score that often evokes Jerry Goldsmith’s distinctive soundtrack from the original movie. Although the plots of the episodes are simple, solid, if unambitious story-telling, the pace is often horribly slow.

If you’re a child of the Seventies and remember this series fondly, you’ll probably snap this up in an instant. Fans have been eager to see this series for a very long time and it’s release is long overdue. Unfortunately some may find that the memory has cheated a little and that Return to the Planet of the Apes isn’t quite the gem that they remember.

Extras

Perhaps not surprisingly, no extras have been included on this release.

John Ainsworth