Question: Did they give John Lithgow's character Alzheimer's disease in remembrance of Charlton Heston?
Question: I'm no expert on apes so can someone tell me if the conversation in sign language that Caesar has with the orangutan is possible? We know that apes can be taught to sign and hereby communicate basic concepts and identify objects. But the orangutan, which has not had the benefit at this point in the film of the mind altering drug, communicates that humans do not like smart apes and, by extension, it has kept its ability to sign secret. This is complex behaviour that requires the ape to understand human motivations and decide to deceive its captors. Is this possible?
Answer: It's not necessarily a sign that the orangutan understands human motivations. It could be, and probably more likely *is*, a sign that the ape has shown its intelligence previously during its stay in the habitat, was abused by the humans as a direct or indirect result, and was subsequently conditioned to play dumb.
Question: Why didn't the ape-keeper, Rodney, simply shoot Caesar? He was in the sniping platform, he was aiming the tranquilizer rifle, he had a clear shot, but he just lowered his rifle and fled when Caesar yelled "No!" for the first time. If Rodney had pulled the trigger, the ape rebellion would have been nipped in the bud.
Chosen answer: Rodney was against the cruelty that fellow ape-keeper Dodge displays toward the apes and was likely hesitant to shoot Caeser at first. When Caesar yelled "No!", Rodney lowered his rifle from shock. Caesar then starts running around chanting "No!", and because he's running around Rodney no longer has a clear shot, and then he panics and flees having just seen an ape speak.
Chosen answer: No they most certainly did not. That wouldn't remotely be considered a particularly respectful homage! They picked Alzheimers because it's specifically a brain condition, which can then be explored in the movie as a plausible way of explaining the intelligence raising properties of the drug used.
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