Wordiezett So much average

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

ShadeGrenade 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? ).

davidm-14 i just sat through all 13 episodes. what wasted potential. i love the apes movies, and it IS good for a Saturday morning cartoon show. it seems to have been written for a more adult audience, and actually came on after the live-action show was cancelled. on a positive note, it runs as one continuous storyline, rather than each episode being self-contained. it's the adventures of 3 astronauts (bill, jeff and judy) who crash land on future earth, apparently after the events of "beneath the planet of the apes". "brent" is even mentioned when they come across nova, who is still wearing brent's dogtags. but the future is different now. the apes suddenly have a complete technological civilization, including a huge built-up city, automobiles and radio & TV stations (i loved the scene with the ape farmer driving his hay truck through the country listening to "i'm going humanoid over you" on the radio).judy is nabbed and held by the psychic human "underdwellers", while jeff and bill try to rescue her and help the primitive humanoids living aboveground escape from the gorilla armies. but, it just drags so painfully in places, and the animation is just dreadful. in most scenes, all that moves is the mouth of the character speaking. there are also only 4 or 5 people doing all of the voices, which gets tiresome fast. hearing henry corden (the 2nd voice of fred flintstone) doing all of the gorilla voices is kind of funny, however.

bard-32 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.

paoguy I remember watching this series. It was OK.I have every other Planet of the Apes product on DVD. I'm waiting for this to be released now. Let's hope it's not too long.I remember one of the female astronauts was worshiped by the mutants. She was called "USA" because a statue of her had been erected and underneath it said, "U.S.A." It was an interesting plot twist and added to the spice of the series.I'm hoping we'll see a new live-action series soon. Hopefully, it will avoid the pitfalls that the doomed the original series. Here's hoping they get it right next time.