Planet of the Apes (2001)

Next week, the exhibition 'The World of Tim Burton' makes its Italian debut at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin. One of our favourite directors in one of the most wonderful film museums in the world, the Mole Antonelliana. For the occasion, EFSP has a post on his Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001), the sixth instalment in the Planet of the Apes film series. The film is loosely based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle and serves as a remake of the 1968 film version. It tells the story of astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) crash-landing on a planet inhabited by intelligent apes. The apes treat humans as slaves, but with the help of an ape named Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), Leo starts a rebellion. Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Kris Kristofferson, Estella Warren, and Paul Giamatti also star and there are cameos by Charlton Heston and Linda Harrison who both participated in Planet of the Apes (1968) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).


Australian freecard by Avanti. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Mark Wahlberg in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Mark Wahlberg as Leo Davidson - American Astronaut.


Australian freecard by Avanti, 2001, no. 5865. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Michael Clark Duncan in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Rule the planet. Michael Clark Duncan as Attar - Gorilla Warrior.

A strange unknown planet in the year 5021

Development for a Planet of the Apes remake started as far back as 1988 with Adam Rifkin. His project nearly reached the pre-production stage before being cancelled. Terry Hayes's script, titled Return of the Apes, would have starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, under the direction of Phillip Noyce. Oliver Stone, Don Murphy, and Jane Hamsher were set to produce.

Creative differences ensued between Hayes and distributor 20th Century Fox. Chris Columbus, Sam Hamm, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, and the Hughes brothers later became involved. With Broyles Jr.'s script, Tim Burton was hired as director, and the film was put into active development. Konner and Rosenthal rewrote the script, and filming took place from November 2000 to April 2001.

It is the year 2029. The spaceship Oberon, in which astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) is working, encounters a magnetic storm. On board the ship are live monkeys trained to investigate. Leo's favourite monkey Pericles goes to find out what happened. However, he loses contact with the Oberon.

Leo then also goes to investigate but ends up in a wormhole, after which he ends up on a strange unknown planet, where people live in the year 5021. His cruiser, the machine he crashed on the planet with, is damaged beyond repair. The strange thing is that on the planet, not humans are in charge, but monkeys. The apes capture all humans on that planet, regarding them as animals. A number of humans, including Leo, are captured by the apes and put behind bars at the orangutan Limbo's (Paul Giamatti) monkey trading centre. The idea is that they will be bought by directors of companies that need slaves.

The arrested meet Ari (Helena Bonham Carter), an activist fighting for human rights. Ari buys Leo. However, Leo manages to escape and he goes to Limbo's building where all the other people are imprisoned. He lets them escape and they take off. Ari, however, sees them. Leo tells Ari to escape with them so he can show her something. Together, they all try to escape. Some other monkeys they come across also take them with them. Meanwhile, Ari's father, Senator Sandar (David Warner), a very powerful monkey, thinks she has been kidnapped. He enlists General Thade's (Tim Roth) giant ape army to stop Leo and his group.


Australian freecard by Avanti, 2001, no. 5864. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Estella Warren in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Rule the planet, Estella Warren as Daena.


Australian freecard by Avanti, 2001, no. 5864. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Tim Roth in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Rule the planet, Tim Roth as Thade - General of the Ape Army.

Using real actors in costumes

Fox considered using computer animation to portray the monkeys as much as possible, but director Tim Burton insisted on using real actors in costumes. Rick Baker was hired to help develop the grime and costumes. On his hiring, Baker explained, "I did the Dino De Laurentiis version of King Kong in 1976 and was always disappointed because I wasn't able to do it as realistically as I wanted. I thought Apes would be a good way to make up for that." The grime for 1 actor took about 4.5 hours to apply, and another 1.5 hours to remove again.

Tim Burton hired regular collaborator Danny Elfman as a composer. Elfman had already previously attached when Adam Rifkin planned to do his own remake in 1989. Elfman noted that his work on Planet of the Apes contained more percussion instruments than usual. Planet of the Apes was the last film Burton worked on with his former fiancée Lisa Marie. After their relationship broke up, Burton started a relationship with Helena Bonham Carter, who portrayed Ari.

Planet of the Apes was released in the United States on 27 July 2001, by 20th Century Fox. The film was nominated for two BAFTA Awards, one for Best Make-up held by Rick Baker, and the other for Best Costume Design by Colleen Atwood. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who criticised the confusing plot and ending but praised Rick Baker's prosthetic makeup designs, visual aspects, and Elfman's musical score.

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote: "Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes wants to be all things to all men, and all apes. It's an action picture and a satire of an action picture. It's a comedy and then it gets serious. It's a social satire and then backs away from pushing that angle too far. It even has a weird intra-species romantic triangle in it. And it has a surprise ending that I loved(...) The movie could have been more. It could have been a parable of men and animals, as daring as Animal Farm. It could have dealt in social commentary with a sting, and satire that hurt. It could have supported, or attacked, the animal rights movement. It could have dealt with the intriguing question of whether a man and a gorilla having sex is open-mindedness, or bestiality (and, if bestiality, in both directions?). It could have, but it doesn't. It's a cautious movie, earning every letter and numeral of its PG-13 rating. Intellectually, it's science fiction for junior high school boys."

Fox initially stated that if Planet of the Apes was a financial success, then a sequel would be commissioned. Planet of the Apes raised $362,211,740 worldwide, making it the 9th most successful film in North America at the time. Despite its financial success, Fox chose not to produce a sequel. Reportedly, Tim Burton said that he would rather jump out of a window than direct a sequel to this film. Fox later rebooted the film series with Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt, 2011).


British postcard by GB Posters, Sheffield, no. PC0444. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Michael Clark Duncan as in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Planet of the Apes attar frame.


Vintage postcard in the Cinemascope Collection, no. 449. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Mark Wahlberg in Planet of the Apes (Tim Burton, 2001). Caption: Rule the Planet - Planet of the Apes - The Visitor.

Source: Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert.com), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.

The World of Tim Burton

'The World of Tim Burton' was conceived and co-curated by Jenny He in collaboration with Tim Burton and was adapted by Domenico De Gaetano for the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. Split into 9 thematic sections, it features over 500 examples of rarely or never-before-seen original artworks from Burton's early ages through to the most recent projects across mediums of sketches, paintings, drawings, photographs, concept art, storyboards, costumes, moving-image works, maquettes, puppets and life-sized sculptural installations. You can visit the exhibition at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin till 7 April 2024.