Planet of the Apes - Original Timeline (ANIMATED)
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After crash landing on a mysterious planet, Astronauts George Taylor, Landon and Dodge, encounter primitive humans… and talking Gorillas!? This is the original Planet of the Apes timeline...animated! including the original film, Beneath, Escape, Conquest, Battle, the live-action TV series, and the Return to the Planet of the Apes cartoon series.
In the first film, while Taylor’s co-astronauts are easily decommissioned, his vocal cords are injured and he’s thrown into captivity, although he’s given Nova, a female companion. Zira, a scientist Chimpanzee, is eager to study this uniquely intelligent human. Still, the Minister of Science and Faith, Dr. Zaius insists on termination…even more so after Taylor speaks aloud. “Take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!” With help from Zira, her husband Cornelius, and their nephew Lucious, Taylor and Nova escape, together finding proof that humans once ruled this planet. “Momma….” While Zaius ignores the evidence, he lets Taylor and Nova go, only for Taylor to discover he landed on Earth in the distant future.
The sequel follows another crashed Astronaut, Brent, searching for Taylor. He finds Nova who leads him to Ape City, meeting Zira and Cornelius, who provide directions to Taylor’s last known location. Gorilla Warriors chase Brent and Nova and discover underground telepathic mutants that worship an atomic bomb. They then imprison Brent and Nova with the now-found Taylor. Meanwhile, Military leader, General Ursus, rallies his Gorilla army to invade the forbidden zone, driving away the mutants. While our heroes are mortally injured, Taylor manages to detonate the doomsday bomb, destroying Earth.
But in the third film, it’s revealed Taylor’s scavenged ship escaped the planet, and thanks to time travel stuff, land on Earth in 1973. The pilots – Zira, Cornelius, and Dr. Milo – are initially treated like animals. But after Dr. Milo perishes in captivity, the remaining ape-o-nauts are publicly questioned about their origins, resulting in them becoming instant celebrities. However, after Zira reveals she’s pregnant, science advisor, Dr. Hasslein, plans on terminating the child to prevent an Ape-led future. While the apes go on the run, Hasslein tracks them down, snuffing out the entire family. However, it’s revealed that the baby, Milo, was switched with a circus chimp.
In between films, dogs and cats were wiped out by a space-borne virus brought by the Ape-o-nauts. In their wake, apes were taken in as pets, but quickly became servants to humans. During the fourth film, Milo – now renamed Caesar – and his foster father, Armando, travel to the city. But when Caesar sees Ape injustice, he speaks out: “Lousy human bastards!” While Armando is questioned, he refuses to reveal Caesar’s identity and loses his life to keep the secret. Meanwhile, Caesar blends in with the other apes and is bought by the authoritarian Governor Breck. He forms a friendship with Breck’s assistant, MacDonald, who turns a blind eye when Caesar leads an ape army, starting a revolution to topple their human masters. However, his love interest, Lisa, convinces Caesar to rule with compassion.
Following a nuclear war, in the concluding film, Caesar’s ape society results in humankind being treated as lesser. Caesar, together with his friend Virgil and MacDonald’s brother, travel to old city ruins, learning of Earth’s unfortunate future, while attracting the attention of unruly mutants. In Ape city, General Aldo plans a coup, which Caesar's son, Cornelius, overhears. Aldo then fatally wounds him. While Caesar tends to his ailing son, Aldo arms his cohorts with weaponry and imprisons Ape City’s people. Then the Apes all engage in a war against the invading mutants. After winning the battle, Caesar learns it was Aldo who caused his son's death, resulting in Caesar executing the General, coming to the conclusion that apes and humans are actually much alike and should live as equals. 600 years later, a Lawgiver teaches Caesar’s story to a mixed-species class.
Taking place prior to Taylor’s landing, the live-action show follows two astronauts, Colonel Alan and Major Peter. They befriend an ape, Galen – who may be distantly related to Cornelius and Caesar – and together they go on the run, evading militant Gorillas and high-powered leaders.
The animated series features three more crashed astronauts, Bill, Judy, and Jeff encountering many familiar apes and characters from the franchise, along with a giant spider, a pterodactyl, and a massive Yeti. Plus, some of the apes have human-like moustaches now. However, both of these Ape shows aren’t really connected to the films and were prematurely cancelled…
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There are many more Sci-Fi Animations on the channel. Tell us what other Sci-Fi series you’d like us to cover. This is our 50th animation so there are many to enjoy!
Check out these cool blu-ray collections on Amazon too if you’d like to add the Apes to your collection: Original 5 Movies, 9 movie run, and this huge collection.
After crash landing on a mysterious planet, Astronauts George Taylor, Landon and Dodge, encounter primitive humans… and talking Gorillas!? This is the original Planet of the Apes timeline...animated!