Director Tim Burton on the set of PLANET OF THE APES
© 2001 20th Century Fox

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Getting down to Monkey Business

Making a movie is definitely not monkey business for director Tim Burton, especially if it's a remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic PLANET OF THE APES. Did I say remake? I meant to say "re-envisioning." After all, the quirky director known for such visually stunning (if not bizarre) films as EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and SLEEPY HOLLOW couldn't just shoot a straight remake. Inevitably, those Burton-esque elements fans have grown to love would manage to seep their way into any of his features. Hence his latest project which focuses on a planet inhabited by intelligent, evolved apes has the director's idiosyncratic sensibilities written all over it.

"Once we got over the fact that it wasn't a remake, I was relieved," says Burton. "I wouldn't have done it if it were a remake because [the original is] a perfect movie in a way not only a classic, but a classic of its time. All the elements of that time [put together with] Charlton Heston, you couldn't redo that. It should just be left and admired as is. So once [I got] over that, it was easier to free up and look at other avenues with it."

Tim Burton instructs Helena Bonham Carter on the finer points of playing a chimp

© 2001 20th Century Fox

And examine other avenues he has. While the basic premise for the film remains intact (through some sort of cosmic disturbance, a human astronaut is tossed to a world where cruel apes are the dominant species), several elements, like the behavior of the simian actors themselves, are noticeably different.

"We wanted to weave in more ape behavior [for the planet's inhabitants, as opposed to straight] human behavior," says Burton. "One of the things that came up was, 'All apes CG.' Well, no! The energy of this movie is great actors actors portraying apes. When I was 10 years old I didn't know anything about movies, but I was excited. I knew that actors were behind [the masks], so it's almost twisted in its own way, humans portraying apes. Those kinds of issues we felt were crucial to keeping the spirit of PLANET OF THE APES."

An important part of making the apes "feel" real onscreen was to make them look more menacing. While the makeup used in the 1968 film (and all of its subsequent sequels) was revolutionary for its time, today's technology allows for a more accurate depiction of the simian species.

Tim Burton on set with a couple of apes (the chimp is played by the director's girlfriend Lisa Marie)

© 2001 20th Century Fox

"One of things that I'm proud of is to show the real side of chimpanzees," says Burton. "Even my girlfriend Lisa, she loves chimpanzees. She goes, 'Oh, they're so cute.' And I say, 'This is the scariest f***ing thing I've ever seen, these chimps.' They're frightening. They look at you and they draw you in with their cuteness, but they can bite your head off or rip off your arm. And they go psycho this sort of possessive and aggressive behavior, I find that frightening. Helena [Bonham Carter] gets the good side of chimps that real sensitive, tactile, smelling, touching, possessive sweetness. She got that beautifully. [Tim Roth] got how I really feel about them."

A second striking difference in the re-imagined APES is the fact that the planet's homo sapiens can actually talk. If you recall, the original portrayed humans more as animals (much like how apes are seen today), hunted and caged for sport by intelligent (almost human) apes. In Burton's film, the dichotomy between the two species presents a truer political allegory a more spot-on metaphor for social injustice.

Tim Burton at home behind the camera for PLANET OF THE APES

© 2001 20th Century Fox

"When you look at the original movie, the lines were so clearly drawn you knew [exactly what] the issues were," says Burton. "I, or any of my friends, could rattle off the issues of the late '60s in a second. And that's interesting to me because its like fragmentation, globalization, instant information is great, but it does something else to us. It does make it harder to define the issues clearly in some ways, so we try to sort of represent that in [the film]. Coming to this planet [at this point in] its evolution where the apes are still retaining some of their primal instincts, even if they're at odds with themselves you have some apes that are kind of moving more humanesque, you've got apes that are wanting to maintain their apedom and you've got people who still talk. Eventually, the history of this planet will probably go the way [of the original], but the human's self-esteem is still being beaten out of them at this stage."

And who can forget Charlton Heston's brilliant portrayal of George Taylor the embittered human astronaut whose contempt for mankind triples when he realizes they were responsible for their own destruction?

"Nobody can replace Chuck," says Burton. "Again, that's part of the reason why we chose not to do [a straight remake]. He's unique. So therefore based on this world where it's a slightly weirder, more 'apey' kind of a thing, I just felt it needed somebody with a look [somebody who] can with a look go, 'Where the hell am I? Get me out of here.' I kind of liken it back to an old style of movie acting that I always appreciated, but you don't see much more. It's that real simple, calm and no-nonsense performance."

Mark Wahlberg leads a human revolt in PLANET OF THE APES

© 2001 20th Century Fox

The answer to Burton's casting call came in the form of Mark Wahlberg. Making a name for himself with such hit films as BOOGIE NIGHTS and THREE KINGS, Wahlberg fit all the criteria the eccentric director was looking for and then some.

"This is the most normal character I've ever done, but in this world he's the abnormal one," says Burton. "So again, it's just a weird reversal on that theme. You can't just ask someone to do that sort of thing. They either have it or they don't, and I just think [Wahlberg] has a real strength and is really great that way."

Ultimately, what audiences will be most interested in is the new film's ending. Acknowledging that there is no way he can out-do Heston's eerie discovery at the base of a destroyed Statue of Liberty, Burton focused on creating a finale that captured the overall essence of the APES mythology.

"Part of what I love about PLANET OF THE APES is that it puts an image to the unanswerable questions, which is great," says Burton. "It's like a fairy tale and that's the beauty of this material. Obviously, you can't top the Statue of Liberty that was what it was. So I kind of went back to the overall story and considered the mythology of PLANET OF THE APES. I noticed there's this circular motion and there's this kind of coming around on itself, which again goes back to that, 'Did we come from apes Darwinism versus religious beliefs?' There's all these different theories out there and these time travel, 'parallel universey' kind of ideas. Throughout the whole movie, you're never quite sure where you are. Just when you think you're going somewhere, you might go somewhere else, which is a real metaphor for the material and life itself. So I tried to go to that overall material and come up with something that I felt was at least symbolically pure to that general symbolism."

Tim Burton sets up a shot for the climactic conclusion to the PLANET OF THE APES

© 2001 20th Century Fox

Of course, who can resist planting the seed, however small, for a possible APES sequel? 20th Century Fox has made it clear that they would love to launch a franchise if the new film is successful. Even Burton, who typically does not buy into sequel fever, can get caught up in the hype of a follow-up.

"I don't ordinarily think this about movies I don't think sequels but in this property you think about things you don't put in the movie just to give yourself a big picture of it," says Burton. "It was important to me to kind of go, 'Okay, you're going to show this thing. I want to make sure there's definitely a whole circular pattern to it.' In the old movies, they would've done a big question mark, which we decided against."