''Behind the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1998 American television documentary directed by Kevin Burns and David Comtois who also co-wrote it with Brian Anthony and produced by

Foxstar Productions Foxstar Productions was a television production subsidiary of News Corporation. It was founded in 1993 to make TV movies and mini-series under Steve Bell (the former network production president of 20th Century Fox Television) and producer Kevi ...

. (IMDB lists feature's length as 2 hours and 7 minutes. )

Premise

It focuses on the five films in the original ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is an American science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control. The franchise is based on Frenc ...

'' series, and is hosted and narrated by

Roddy McDowall Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 4 October 1998) was a British actor, photographer and film director. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1 ...

, who played Cornelius in the 1968 film ''

'' and ''

Escape from the Planet of the Apes ''Escape from the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1971 American science fiction film directed by Don Taylor and written by Paul Dehn. It stars Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman and Ricardo Montalbán. It is the third of five films in the or ...

'' 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. It is the fourth of five films in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' series produced by Arthur P. Jacobs. The ...

'' and ''

Battle for the Planet of the Apes ''Battle for the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson. It is the fifth and final installment in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' series, produced by Arthur P. Jacobs, following ''Conquest of ...

''. 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 novelist 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 films. ...

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

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. 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