ESCAPING FROM THE PLANET THAT WENT APE

ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971)
dir: Don Taylor

ESCAPING FROM THE PLANET THAT WENT APE
MAD #157, March 1973
w: Arnie Kogen
a: Mort Drucker

From article The Milking of The Planet That Went Ape, which parodied all five movies up to that point. This was the third of the series.

The previous movie ends with the destruction of Earth, which would presume to end the franchise, but a sequel was made where three of the apes have escaped and landed on present-day Earth, to the surprise of military officials. The remaining three are Cornelius (Roddy McDowall, returning after dropping out for the second), his wife Zira (Kim Hunter), and Milo (Sal Mineo), part of a diplomatic, peaceful race of chimpanzees from the future.

They are brought to the Los Angeles Zoo to be studied. Milo is accidentally killed by one of the zoo's gorillas while in captivity, When the visitors are found to be articulate, they are brought before a Presidential commission and questioned. They charm the audience and end up staying at the Beverly Wilshire hotel and groomed to be "human". Zira reveals herself to be pregnant to Dr. Hasslein (Eric Braeden), the President's scientist. While she is drunk she also reveals in the future the apes dominate mankind, and he secretly records her. The government decides on a "kill baby Hitler"/Terminator-type scenario and the 'good' doctors observing the apes help them get away. The apes are hidden with Armando, a circus owner (Ricardo Montalban, who didn't have a beard in this) who will soon depart to Florida and agrees to take them with him.

Smoking bananas was a rumor started by Abbie Hoffman as something hippies would do, involving grating the insides of peels and smoking them like tobacco or marijuana, causing a hallucinogenic sensation. This was picked up by the public as a real thing. This was further hinted at by the public thinking the song "Mellow Yellow" hinted at it..

Zira and Cornelius are shot on an oil rig after being hunted by the government and the baby thought to be killed turns out to have been switched and given to Armando to live with his circus.

ESCAPE FROM THE BOREDOM OF THE APES
Cracked # 97, November 1971
a: John Severin

   -Hair was a Broadway musical from the 60s and movie that was an anthem to hippie culture.
   -J. Fred Muggs was a chimp sidekick on the original Today Show. He did a cover for MAD that was previously posted on this blog.
   -monkeys and apes are two different species, a common misnomer.

Lewis (Bradford Dillman) was the doctor's first name but he was referred to as Dr. Dixon in the movie. His assistant was Stevie (Natalie Trundy).

Here the President is Ronald Reagan. He was then Governor of California but had not yet been elected President. F. Lee Bailey was considered the country's top lawyer at the time.