Sunday, October 3, 2010

1968 Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes was released on February 8, 1968 in the United States and was a commercial success, gaining $32,589,624 at the international box office. The film was ground-breaking for its prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers, and was well received by critics and audiences, launching a film franchise,[4] including four sequels, as well as a short lived television show, animated series, comic books, various merchandising, and eventually a remake in 2001 and a new film to be released in 2011. Roddy McDowall, in particular, had a long-running relationship with the Apes series, appearing in the original series of five films (one only via stock footage from an earlier film), and also in the television series.

In 2001, Planet of the Apes was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".