Planet of the Apes film footage without CGI shows bizarre way actors learned to walk like apes

When I first watched Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a relatively young teenager, there was a part of me that was convinced that they’d just used some really really well-trained chimps.

The level of detail in the Planet of the Apes films is so ridiculous, you could be forgiven for thinking that training chimps would be the easier option.

Despite this, when you look at the actual way they managed to get actors in mocap suits walking like apes, it’d almost be easier to teach the chimps to act.

From Rise of the Planet of the Apes through to this year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the same digital company has been used to create the incredible effects.

Weta Digital, a New Zealand company set up by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, is behind not only the apes films, but some of the greatest CGI masterpieces ever made.

As well as the apes films, Weta Digital also worked on all three Lords of the Rings films, as well as both Avatar films and even all the Avengers films.

In a visit to Weta Digital, however, a reporter was given an insight into the bizarre way actors would learn to walk like apes.

A behind the scenes shot of Serkis. (Twentieth Century Fox)

For an ABC news report, they were taken to New Zealand and shown how to walk like an ape, and were even CGI’d into a scene.

The report occurred around the release of War of the Planet of the Apes, the last of the series to feature Andy Serkis as the now iconic Caesar.

Motion capture performers showed how Serkis and others were able to walk like apes, by having extensions attached to their arms that allowed them to walk on all fours.

This is also shown in behind the scenes footage of the film without CGI, where actors are shown bounding around with the arm extensions.

Actors would before each film be sent on six-week long ‘ape camps’ where they studied apes and learned to act like them as much as possible.

Whilst you’d expect it to be all swinging from trees, that’s reportedly not quite how it goes.

Terry Notary, who played Rocket in the first three Planet of the Apes films said it was always a shock for new actors to the franchise.

He told the New York Post: “They’re expecting me to show them what to do to become an ape.

No, real monkeys weren't used in the films. (Twentieth Century Fox)

“I love that aspect of it, because you know what they’re thinking, which is, ‘I’m gonna learn how to be an ape. I’m gonna get on the arm extensions and I’m gonna be running around like an ape today.’

“And that’s the farthest thing [from what] they get to do.”

He went on to state that, instead, they spend the first few days simply talking about what makes humans and what makes apes.

Topics: Film and TV