Question: Why do the humans in "Planet Of The Apes" all wear clothes? I am fully aware that the film was made in 1968, for a general release, permitting it to be shown in cinemas or on television, and 20th Century Fox would never have been allowed to make a movie in which humans all ran around naked. But, since the film is supposed to be set in a post-apocalyptic world, where humans have regressed back to being wild creatures, without language, lacking the skills to make or create anything, where do they get their clothes from? (And their clothes fit, too.) Did anybody ever come up with an answer to this, apart from the obvious reply that they wanted to get the film past the censor?
Rob Halliday
3rd Aug 2020
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Answer: The humans have become mute, but not regressed to being "wild animals." The apes are the superior species but humans still have a high-level of intelligence, live in a complex, interactive social group, communicate non-verbally, and would have the ability to make simple tools and protective clothing. At the very least they would be equal to Neanderthals, but seem more advanced. The real answer is, of course, it's a 1968 movie when there were more stringent rules regarding nudity in films. If there was any, it likely would have been "X" rated, therefore limiting its audience and in which theaters it could have been shown in.
3rd Jul 2018
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Trivia: Something that I found rather amusing. In the 1968 'Planet Of The Apes' film, its immediate sequels, and the spin-off television series, apes have acquired a high level of intelligence, but lack technology. They can construct simple houses and buildings, write books, cultivate the land for food, organise governmental systems, but they cannot make machines, or run factories. Yet the apes possess vast quantities of guns, and have an unlimited supply of ammunition, which they apply to keep humans under control. Like or loathe firearms, it requires a great level of technical skill and resource to make a gun. Soon many people began to ask: how can the apes have so many guns, when they have no factories in which to make them? It was not long before somebody found a simple answer to what seemed like an unanswerable conundrum. All the weapons were left over from World War III, and discovered by the apes after they evolved.
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Answer: Unlike other primates, humans walk upright which exposes their genitals. They would instinctively cover them for protection. Humans also have very little body hair, so would cover themselves against the elements. Finally (spoiler alert) as these humans devolved from actual humans, it's likely something they did because their ancestors did it and it's been continued through the generations.