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Return to the Planet of the Apes was a short-lived animated series, by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in association with 20th Century Fox Television, set in the Planet of the Apes universe, originally seen in the 1968 film starring Charlton Heston and based upon the novel of the same name by Pierre Boulle. Unlike the film, its sequels, and the 1974 live-action television series, which involved a primitive ape civilization, Return to the Planet of the Apes depicted a technologically advanced society, complete with automobiles, film, and television; as such it more closely resembled both Boulle's original novel and early concepts for the first Apes movie which were changed due to budgetary limitations in the late 1960s.

Although short-lived and supposedly targeted at children, Return to the Planet of the Apes has become part of Planet of the Apes lore, remembered fondly by those who saw it for its intelligent writing and thoughtful stories.

Produced following the last of the big-screen features and a short-lived live action TV series, this series was among the last entries into the "original" Apes' universe for several years, aside from a number of comic books from Marvel Comics and Adventure Comics, and a series of audio adventures from Power Records. The next project based upon Boulle's concepts would be Tim Burton's reimagining a quarter century later.

Airing on NBC, the series premiered September 6, 1975 and was broadcast until September 4, 1976, although only thirteen episodes were produced. The series aired Saturday mornings at 11 a.m.

Music for the series was provided by Dean Elliott and Eric Rogers.

• Bill Hudson .......Tom Williams/Richard Blackburn
• Judy Franklin .....Claudette Nevins
• Jeff Allen ........Austin Stoker
• Cornelius .........Henry Corden/Edwin Mills
• Dr. Zira ..........Phillipa Harris
• General Urko ......Henry Corden
• Dr. Zaius
• Nova
• Ronald Brent
• Krador
• The Underdwellers

As with the film and the live-action series, Return to the Planet of the Apes involved a handful of astronauts from Earth who were hurtled into the future and found themselves stuck in a world populated by advanced apes and primitive humans. Over the course of the thirteen episodes the astronauts attempted to keep one step ahead of the apes while at the same time trying to make some sense of what had happened. Additionally, they did their best to safeguard the human population from the apes.

Each episode was mostly self-contained. The story threads weaved in and out, with characters and plots from earlier episodes popping up in later ones. In order for the series to make any sense, the episodes need to be viewed in order.

The animated series does not chronologically fit with the rest of the Apes universe. However, it borrows characters and elements from the movies, the TV series, and the original novels. General Urko is borrowed from the TV series. Along with Zaius, Zira, and Cornelius, Brent (renamed here as Ron Brent) and Nova are from the movie series. Kraidor and the Underdwellers in the animated series are loosely based on the mutants in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

1. Flames of Doom
2. Escape from Ape City
3. The Unearthly Prophecy
4. Tunnel of Fear
5. Lagoon of Peril
6. Terror on Ice Mountain
7. River of Flames
8. Screaming Wings
9. Trail to the Unknown
10. Attack from the Clouds
11. Mission of Mercy
12. Invasion of the Underdwellers
13. Battle of the Titans

The series has been criticized for poor production value. Reuse of backgrounds and lack of movement made the action on screen dull and slow. The voicework has also been criticized for being unemotional and equally monotonous.

Additionally, there are those who reject the animated series for not fitting into the overall Planet of the Apes universe. The fact that characters from the films and the live-action television series were brought together in Return to the Planet of the Apes, and the advanced nature of the ape civilization, bother some Planet of the Apes fans.

Characters in the animated series frequently mentioned prominent Apes noticeably named after human historical figures by appropriately inserting the word "ape" into their name. A notable example included "William Apespeare" who is obviously an Ape analog of William Shakespeare. Another scene showed a couple of Ape soldiers chatting about a new movie called The Apefather, an apparent analog of The Godfather. Many found this silly and excessively cartoony as this does not appear in other Planet of the Apes stories. However many adults appreciated these references as things they would understand, even though they would go over the heads of the children the show was supposedly targeted for.

Despite the limited animation, the series was noted for the highly detailed backgrounds and character designs and clever camera effects, due in part to veteran cartoonist Doug Wildey. While the animation was among the worst of limited animation due to the budget and time constraints for cartoons of the time, the still artwork was incredibly detailed with extensive shading - looking more like a decent comic book than a cartoon.

For the most part the scripts were quite decent with detailed stories and internal continuity.

The animated series also spawned a series of novels based on the events in the series.

Austin Stoker, the voice of Jeff, had previously played Mr. McDonald in Battle for the Planet of the Apes. He was the only cast member of the animated series to have played a part in the live action movies or series

The Planet of the Apes series was released as a part of the Ultimate DVD Collection in early 2006 by FOX Home Entertainment. The Complete Animated Series' release on DVD was delayed until October 3, 2006. ^[1] This was the first time the series was released stand-alone on DVD.

The episode list on the back of the DVD case has many errors. Most of the episodes are listed out of order, two are shown as having the same airdate, and one is listed as being on the wrong disc.

The episode guide was taken from TV Tome, and other bits and pieces were taken from the IMDb; see below for links.

1. ^ Return to the Planet of the Apes - Animated Series Returns to the Schedule

• Planet of the Apes Yahoo Group -- The internet's largest community of PLANET OF THE APES fans.
• Planet of the Apes Yahoo Discussion Group -- A meeting place for Return to the POTA fans.
• IMDb - Cast and crew overview
• TV.com - Episode guide
• The Forbidden Zone - All about the 1975-76 animated series on NBC, including extensive episode summaries from Epi-Log magazine.

• DePatie-Freleng Enterprises Filmography: TV Shows - including Return to the Planet of the Apes.

Planet of the Apes

Movies

Planet of the Apes | Beneath the Planet of the Apes | Escape from the Planet of the Apes | Conquest of the Planet of the Apes | Battle for the Planet of the Apes | Planet of the Apes (2001 remake)

TV

Planet of the Apes | Return to the Planet of the Apes

Characters

Aldo | Armando | Governor Breck | Brent | Caesar | Cornelius | Dr. Hasslein | The Lawgiver | Lisa | Mr. MacDonald | Dr. Milo | Taylor | General Ursus | Dr. Zaius | Zira

Miscellaneous

Forbidden Zone | Icarus | List of Return to the Planet of the Apes episodes | Planet of the Apes: The Fall | Planet of the Apes comic books