A little over a decade after French author Pierre Boulle wrote the classic The Bridge over the River Kwai, he graced fans with another classic in Planet of the Apes (as it's, of course, known in the USA). A brilliant work with vernacular easily accessible by a modern audience, it kicked off a franchise that goes on to this day.
And, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes on the horizon, it's interesting to look back on the one that started it all. This means both Boulle's work and the subsequent adaptation, released five years later, starring Charlton Heston (co-written by Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone).
Now, if any of the movies gets close to the content of Boulle's novel, it's the original, but Tim Burton's misguided 2001 adaptation transfers some elements as well. These include those elements that were not featured in the classic film. But, what about the elements of the book that were not incorporated into those two films?
6 An Unexplored Profession
The protagonists of the original film were astronauts. The protagonist of the second film, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, was an astronaut. The human protagonist in Escape from the Planet of the Apes was a psychiatrist. And, as for the fourth and fifth films, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes, it's less about the human characters and more about the ape rebellion and subsequent, well, battle, against humanity.
What's the Profession of the Book's Protagonist?
But in the book, the protagonist, Ulysse Mérou, is a journalist. This allows the reader to tag along as he discovers more and more, his curious mind guiding the narrative as much as the interspecies conflict. The closest the films have come to replicating this character is Bradford Dillman's Dr. Lewis Dixon in Escape.
That is, in terms of personality. In other words, while many of the same things that happen to Mérou also happen to Heston's Taylor in the original film, their ways of handling the ordeal differ, resulting in a fairly separate experience. Furthermore, the trajectory of the three crash-landed individuals (none of whom are astronauts) is similar in the book as it is to the movie. Specifically, that one of them is shot by an ape in their first act capture raid, while the other becomes subject to experiments.
5 Apes Have the Same Tech as Humans
In the original Planet of the Apes, Roddy McDowall's Cornelius states, "Flight is a scientific impossibility." So, in the original film at least, they've yet to have their own version of the Wright Brothers. In the book, however, they've had flying technology for a while. In fact, when Cornelius brings Ulysse along for an archaeological expedition (which is only briefly mentioned early on in the 1968 film until it incorporates the talking doll in the cave in the third act), they fly there.
What Type of Craft?
And, given Ulysse's lack of a distinct reaction to the tech, it stands to reason their crafts are extremely similar to those of the humans of the past. Not to mention, in lieu of the iconic State of Liberty finale, the novel is bookended by two individuals on an intergalactic flight. In the beginning, it's not explicitly stated they're chimpanzees (though it's obvious they're apes when one of them is shocked by the concept of intelligent Man), but it is explicitly stated in the end.
Admittedly, given the somewhat obvious nature of the twist's foreshadowing, it's undoubted the movie nailed that aspect far more than the source material. But, even still, in the book, the apes are capable of interplanetary travel, much less a cross-country trip.
4 Apes, Apes Everywhere
As mentioned, the novel is bookended by two apes on an intergalactic trip (more or less on a romantic voyage, just to get away from it all). This framing device is fueled by their reading of Ulysse's account of the event, which they find in a bottle, floating through space. And how does that account end? By Ulysse and his two companions, which we'll get to later, arriving back on Earth only to find it also populated by apes.
Not Just Earth
It's a bit of a rushed ending, and it certainly works better to have everything occur on Earth (via a twist). But, as it stands, the book has humans on multiple planets and on those planets they all used monkeys as test subjects. And, as a result, on each of those planets, the apes got fed up with the dynamic and took over.
3 Pavlov's...Man
Just as in the book, humans are kept in cages and, also as in the book, they're rewarded with sugar cubes when they deserve a treat. But the film more or less glosses over the Pavlovian element of the apes' learning about humans. That is, at least in terms of what knowledge the Orangutans allow.
The book outright mentions Pavlov and his iconic experiment with the dogs. It also goes into more detail about how Ulysse hides his intelligence from Dr. Zaius, who is portrayed as even more ignorant and illogical in the book as he is in the film. Furthermore, unlike in the film, Zira takes a bit to truly come to terms with the fact the protagonist isn't just mimicking ape behavior, he's free-thinking.
Details of Experimentation
In the movie, once Taylor's throat has cleared up a bit, that's when he's able to speak and Zira immediately grasps his language just as he's grasped hers. In the book, however, it's more of a mutual learning process. Ulysse more or less needs to draw Zira a picture signifying his journey to get her to truly understand.
There are certainly similarities between ape dialect and that of men (at least in terms of Ulysse and his companions), but there's a lengthier learning period. The book also goes into a bit more detail on the apes' study of humans' mating process. But, of course, the movie doesn't exactly have Charlton Heston act like a peacock once Nova is put into his cage...the movie's content to have Zira put Nova in his cage and allow subtext to speak for itself.
2 Nova vs. Hector
The only Planet of the Apes movie to really incorporate an astronaut ape is Tim Burton's 2001 remake. But, in that film, Pericles (as he's called by Mark Wahlberg's Leo Davidson) lasts throughout the entirety of the narrative. In the original film, there's no ape companion by Charlton Heston's side at all. Though, interestingly enough, the novel makes frequent mention of the star Betelgeuse... which might be a somewhat recognizable name for the Burton fans of the world.
Humans Together Strong
However, had the 1968 movie directly adapted the novel, there would be an ape companion, and his name would be Hector. Docile, supportive, and more of an astronaut than any of the three protagonists, Hector makes an impression in the first act. But, once the human trio have discovered Nova bathing nude next to a waterfall (which the three astronauts utilize in the film, though Nova is on the shore alongside other mute humans) it isn't long before Hector shows his face.
He's just being playful when he leaps out of a bush, but Nova doesn't see it that way. Ulysse and his companions have yet to see the dominant species on the planet, and it's a terrifically effective bit of foreshadowing when she reacts as hastily (and hostilely) as she does. Specifically, via strangling and drowning the poor little fella, much to the horror of his human companions.
It doesn't matter the ape's behavior, Nova just sees a being that intends to enslave her, if not kill her. Kill or be killed, that's how the humans on Soror (as the planet in the book is called by Ulysse) have been conditioned.
1 There Was a Star Man, Flying Through the Sky, Sent There by Apes, No Different from You or I
Just as in the 1968 film, the novel has Cornelius and Zira taking the protagonist in front of the ape council. And, true to form, the Orangutans are forward-thinking in neither. Every step forward Taylor or Ulysse takes, they just chalk it up to mimicking. And, as Ulysse points out in the book, to "Ape" someone means to mimic them on Earth, and by displaying complex thought, he's shown that he's more than a mimic.
Orange Stonewalls
But, of course, the furry powers that be simply won't hear of any of it. But, the reversal doesn't just stop at mimicry-related terminology. As Dr. Zaius points out in the book, the apes have used humans as the test subjects for their space flight tests. Of course, that's what humans have done with apes in the past. There's no mention of that in the films because, again, the cinema apes have not yet advanced to the point of flight, much less intergalactic travel.
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