''Behind the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1998 American television

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Kevin Burns and David Comtois who also co-wrote it with Brian Anthony and produced by Foxstar Productions. It premiered on AMC on September 6, 1998 as part of their two-day 30th anniversary Planet of the Apes marathon.https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1998/09/06/amc-goes-apes-with-adoption-program/62269842007/

Premise

It focuses on the five films in the original ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...

'' series, and is hosted and narrated by

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his n ...

, who played Cornelius in the 1968 film ''

'' and '' Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' and his son Caesar in ''

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes ''Conquest of the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1972 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by Paul Dehn. The film is the sequel to '' Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' (1971) and the fourth installment in the ori ...

'' and '' Battle for the Planet of the Apes''. The documentary premiered on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the first 1968 film. The documentary discusses the ideas and works that led to the production of the films and franchise, including two television series, one live action and one animated for children. The documentary begins with the original novel written by author

Pierre Boulle Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French author. He is best known for two works, '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (1952) and '' Planet of the Apes'' (1963), that were both made into award-winning ...

and how it caught the interest of producer Arthur P. Jacobs, who brought it to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. The development and production of each film is discussed, including casting, costume design, filming locations and behind the scenes footage.

Release

The documentary was included in the 2001 DVD box set of the classic films. The documentary was again included in the 2008, 40 Year Evolution Blu-ray set, and was again included in the 2011 reissue of the set.

References

External links

* 1998 films 1998 television films 1998 documentary films Documentary films about films Planet of the Apes {{documentary-tv-film-stub