Supplemental Post 4: Planet of the Apes Phenomenon - Benjamin Noble

          I got to see Planet of the Apes this past Friday, as a part of USC and Fox's collaboration to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Planet of the Apes franchise. What was remarkable was that, not only did we get to see a panel full of creative workers, such as the original make up artist and set designer's from the first Planet of the Apes (William Creber and Dan Striepeke) and the directors of the newest Planet of the Apes Trilogy (Rupert Wyatt and Matt Reeves), but we also got to see a very special guest: Dr. Zaius himself. He gave wonderful anecdotes about his experience working on the film, providing very funny commentary about current issues as well. When the panel was asked what the main takeaway from the original film should be, Dr. Zaius replied that "If anything, you should learn never to trust an orange leader". While, of course, this wasn't the real Dr. Zaius, it was extremely entertaining to watch this character interacting with people in real life.
          Ever since 1998, a re-enactment troupe called Apemania has specialized in recreating the characters from the classic Planet of the Apes series, creating characters that are almost identical to those that we see on the big screen. Of course, these 'creatures' are merely just actors, mirroring the performances of the original cast of the franchise; Maurice Evans, the original Dr. Zaius, has since passed away. But this is why this performance is so fascinating; these actors, along with a very talented make-up crew, continue to make the characters from this film franchise last longer, in a way. If anything, this demonstrates just how much the power of a star performance can do for an audience over time, to the point that we have actors pretending to be the original actors performing as the original characters from the original movie.
          There is a certain joy to seeing our favorite characters off screen, telling jokes and convincing us, for a short amount of time, that they might actually be real instead of fictitious. The desire to bring these characters into reality demonstrates the love that this story has produced over the course of 50 years, with a troupe of actors who consistently go through heavy make up to perform as these beloved characters who have existed for over half a century. All in all, it's just so much fun to see a tradition being continued, all for the sake of continuing the story of a franchise that has become so popular and entrenched in entertainment culture.
          I was wondering if anybody else had seen any similar events in the past few years, whether it was an anniversary celebration of a movie franchise, a Comic-Con festival, or any other event that celebrated the story and characters of a classic and well-known film (franchise). Have you ever seen people re-enact famous characters, to the point of dressing up and even acting like them?