Another Planet of the Apes question

[Hector]

In the original POTA flicks...

Why are gorillas, generals & soldiers...and not the chimps?

The present day meat-eating chimps are way more vicious and warlike. The vegetarian gorillas are for the most part...very gentle creatures.

In this respect...Tim Burton was more on the money with his General Thade character...than the original POTA movies.

[Werewolf]

It's a holdover from the original Pierre Boulle novel Monkey Planet which the Planet of the Apes movies are loosely based on. But you are right, it doesn't actually make a lot of sense now. But back then Gorillas were seen as big and scary and Chimps were cute and cuddly. We of course know now that isn't the case and once male chimps reach sexual maturity they are down right vicious.

[Hector]

Exactly.

[LonnieFisher]

Maybe they change after their slavery which drove them to revolt and take over. After all, they are evolved. Maybe the humans who kept them captive fed them meat before they evolved.

[ctc]

>Maybe they change after their slavery which drove them to revolt and take over.

Makes sense. They could have changed during captivity, if the humans used apes for more physical, lowbrow stuff, and chimps more as pets.

Don C.

[LadyZod]

Look, we're talking about a planet where cats and dogs get wiped out, and chimps are the size of humans... Gorillas acting out of character are the LEAST of the worries on that Earth.

Who's to say that whatever caused the cats and dogs to die off and mutate the primates didn't affect their aggression or lack of aggression. I mean, humans trained them to be servants?!

[Hector]

Having chimps as pets past puberty is not the smartest thing in the world.

[LadyZod]

Having children in the house past puberty isn't the smartest thing in the world either... but some people do.

[Hector]

Look, we're talking about a planet where cats and dogs get wiped out, and chimps are the size of humans... Gorillas acting out of character are the LEAST of the worries on that Earth.

Who's to say that whatever caused the cats and dogs (not remotely related) to die off and mutate the primates didn't affect their aggression or lack of aggression. I mean, humans trained them to be servants?!

That's one thing I didn't buy about POTA...that the death of all cats and dogs (not related whatsoever)...led us to adopt chimps as pets (which is lunacy to begin with)...that's just silly.

I don't remember. what caused the death of two totally different species (canines and felines) who number in the hundreds of millions...and the population explosion of the endangered mountain gorillas (the other two subspecies are much greater in numbers)...who happen to have a long gestation period and have a very low birth rate. The chimps are more numerous than gorillas...but still insignificant in numbers.

"The world's gorilla population is relatively small and still declining. All three gorilla subspecies are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and by the Convention on International Trade for Endangered Species. There are currently about 50,000 western lowland gorillas living in the wild in West Central Africa. This gorilla is also the type most often seen in zoos. The eastern lowland gorilla population has declined significantly in recent decades. An estimated 5,000-15,000 lived in the eastern Congolese rainforest around 1960. Today only about 2,500 remain in the wild, and only a few dozen live in the world's zoos. The mountain gorillas are the rarest of all and are on the verge of extinction. Only about 600 of these magnificent animals are left in the wild, about 320 in the Virunga Mountains and another 300 in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda. None are found in captivity. "

[Hector]

Having children in the house past puberty isn't the smartest thing in the world either... but some people do.

[Werewolf]

led us to adopt chimps as pets (which is lunacy to begin with)...that's just silly.

I totally agree, it makes no sense.

Just putting aside the whole no more dogs and cats thing, chimps as house pets just isn't gonna happen. I think a lot of people maybe don't realize when they see those cute little chimps in movies and TV shows, that those are babies. Adult chimps are freakin' huge. They can get up to five and a half feet tall and they are nasty as hell and crazy strong. No way they are going to be house pets.

Realistically people would switch to hamsters, ferrets and bunnies as the dominate house pets. Chimps and apes, not a chance. Still a good movie though and it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of it.

[Hector]

I totally agree, it makes no sense.

Just putting aside the whole no more dogs and cats thing, chimps as house pets just isn't gonna happen. I think a lot of people maybe don't realize when they see those cute little chimps in movies and TV shows, that those are babies. Adult chimps are freakin' huge. They can get up to five and a half feet tall and they are nasty as hell and crazy strong. No way they are going to be house pets.

Realistically people would switch to hamsters, ferrets and bunnies as the dominate house pets. Chimps and apes, not a chance. Still a good movie though and it doesn't ruin my enjoyment of it.

Couldn't agree with you more, my dear Wolfie...

[thunderbolt]

Planet of the Ferrets just doens't have the same catchiness to it.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

It is all J Fred Mugg's fault

http://www.tvparty.com/50stoday2.html

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I'd always assumed that the apes had been modified to make for better pets. That's why the chimps are about three times too big, the apes half too small and the orangutans didn't have big red butts. It'd also explain their increased socialization and subsequent rapid domestication.

>Planet of the Ferrets just doens't have the same catchiness to it.

Very true.

Don C.