Orangutans in popular culture

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Orangutans have often attracted attention in popular culture. They are mentioned extensively in works of fiction and video games, while some captive individuals have drawn much attention in real life.

Contents

Individuals

Orangutans in specific works of fiction

Orangutans in video games

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orangutan</span> Genus of Asian apes

Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species. From 1996, they were divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan. A third species, the Tapanuli orangutan, was identified definitively in 2017. The orangutans are the only surviving species of the subfamily Ponginae, which diverged genetically from the other hominids between 19.3 and 15.7 million years ago.

<i>Beneath the Planet of the Apes</i> 1970 American science fiction film

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a 1970 American science fiction film directed by Ted Post from a screenplay by Paul Dehn, based on a story by Dehn and Mort Abrahams. The film is the sequel to Planet of the Apes (1968) and the second installment in the original Planet of the Apes film series. It stars James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, and Linda Harrison, and features Charlton Heston in a supporting role. In the film, another spacecraft arrives on the planet ruled by apes, carrying astronaut Brent (Franciscus), who searches for Taylor (Heston).

<i>Planet of the Apes</i> (novel) 1963 French novel by Pierre Boulle

La Planète des singes, known in English as Planet of the Apes in the US and Monkey Planet in the UK, is a 1963 science fiction novel by French author Pierre Boulle. It was adapted into the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, launching the Planet of the Apes media franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snowflake (gorilla)</span> Worlds only known gorilla with albinism to date (1964–2003)

Snowflake was a western lowland gorilla who is the world's only known albino gorilla to date. He was kept at Barcelona Zoo in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, from 1966 until his death in 2003.

<i>Conquest of the Planet of the Apes</i> 1972 science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is a 1972 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson and written by Paul Dehn. The film is the sequel to Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and the fourth installment in the original Planet of the Apes film series. It stars Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalbán, Natalie Trundy, and Hari Rhodes. In the film, set in a world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar (McDowall), the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces out of hiding from the authorities and prepares for a rebellion against humanity.

<i>Battle for the Planet of the Apes</i> 1973 film directed by J. Lee Thompson

Battle for the Planet of the Apes is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington, based on a story by Paul Dehn. The film is the sequel to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and the fifth and final installment in the original Planet of the Apes film series. It stars Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, Severn Darden, Lew Ayres, Paul Williams, and John Huston. In the film, after conquering the oppressive humans, Caesar (McDowall) tries to keep the peace amongst the humans and apes, but uprisings endure.

Chantek, born at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, was a male hybrid Sumatran/Bornean orangutan who acquired the use of a number of intellectual skills, including some modified American Sign Language (ASL), taught by American anthropologists Lyn Miles and Ann Southcombe. In Malay and Indonesian, cantik means "lovely" or "beautiful".

The Sierra Nevada Zoological Park, formerly the Sierra Safari Zoo, was a zoo north of Reno, Nevada, United States. Opening in 1989, it grew to become the zoo that housed more exotics in the state. The zoo housed a wide variety of exotic animals from around the world, including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, big cats, reptiles, sloths, and others. The nonprofit zoo at times has received community support through in-kind donations such as meat from hunters to help support the animals in the zoo.

Mangani is the name of a fictional species of great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and of the invented language used by these apes. In the invented language, Mangani is the apes' word for their own kind, although the term is also applied to humans. The Mangani are represented as the apes who foster and raise Tarzan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorillas in popular culture</span>

Representations of gorillas are common in popular culture in the Western world with the full range of electronic media having gorillas as mascots, gorillas behaving like humans, and humans behaving like gorillas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Great Apes</span> United States chimpanzee sanctuary

The Center for Great Apes is an animal sanctuary for great apes located east of Wauchula, Florida. Founded as a nonprofit organization in 1993, the sanctuary has about 70 orangutans and chimpanzees who were formerly used in entertainment, scientific research, or the exotic pet trade. The sanctuary sits on 100 acres of land in rural Florida, southwest of Orlando.

<i>Planet of the Apes</i> American science fiction media franchise

Planet of the Apes is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes clash for control as the dominant species. The franchise started with French author Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel La Planète des singes, translated into English as Planet of the Apes or Monkey Planet. Its 1968 film adaptation, Planet of the Apes, was a critical and commercial hit, initiating a series of sequels, tie-ins, and derivative works. Arthur P. Jacobs produced the first five Apes films through APJAC Productions for distributor 20th Century Fox; following his death in 1973, Fox controlled the franchise, before its acquisition by Disney in 2019.

<i>Rise of the Planet of the Apes</i> 2011 film by Rupert Wyatt

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction action film directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by the writing team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is a reboot of the Planet of the Apes film series and is the seventh installment overall and the first in the reboot series. The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, and Andy Serkis. In the film, Caesar (Serkis), a chimpanzee genetically enhanced and raised by chemist Will Rodman (Franco), goes from living in captivity to eventually leading an ape uprising against humanity.

<i>War for the Planet of the Apes</i> 2017 film by Matt Reeves

War for the Planet of the Apes is a 2017 American science fiction action film directed by Matt Reeves, who co-wrote it with Mark Bomback. The sequel to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), it is the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series and the ninth film overall. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn. The film takes place two years after the events of Dawn and follows the conflict between apes and humans as it has escalated into full war, while Caesar sets out to avenge those he has lost.

Sandra is an orangutan, currently living in the Center for Great Apes in Florida after being moved from the Buenos Aires Zoo in 2019. Sandra is a zoo-born, hybrid orangutan of the two separate species of Borneo and Sumatra orangutans. In Germany, Sandra, then called Marisa, was transferred to a second zoo in Germany (Ruhr-Zoo), then transferred to Argentina on September 17, 1994. At the Buenos Aires Zoo, the name of the orangutan was changed to Sandra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Grossfeldt</span> Zoo keeper, primate husbandry specialist

Louise (Lou) Grossfeldt is a zoo keeper, primate husbandry specialist and conservationist, based in Australia. For over 20 years, she worked with primates at Sydney's Taronga Zoo. In 2015, Lou commenced work as a curator at Mogo Zoo on the New South Wales South Coast. In 2017 she became Mogo Zoo's Manager Life Sciences. In January 2019, she was appointed as the Manager of Primates at Sydney Zoo in Western Sydney.

Caesar (<i>Planet of the Apes</i>) Fictional character

Caesar is a fictional character in the 20th Century Fox's Planet of the Apes franchise. He is the leader of the apes in both the original and reboot series. Caesar is portrayed by Roddy McDowall in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973); his likeness is reprised in the comic series Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes (2016). Andy Serkis portrayed the character in the reboot series, consisting of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).

<i>Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes</i> 2024 American film by Wes Ball

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a 2024 American science fiction action film directed by Wes Ball and written by Josh Friedman. It is the fourth installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot film series and the tenth film overall, serving as a standalone sequel to War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). The film stars Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy. It takes place many generations after the events of War and follows Noa (Teague), a young chimpanzee hunter who embarks on a journey alongside Mae (Allan), a human woman, to determine the future for apes and humans alike.

References

  1. Orangutan from the San Diego Zoo.
  2. Meet Tom the coolest orangutan
  3. Armless orangutan 'graduates' from forest school
  4. In Argentina, a Court Grants Sandra the Orangutan Basic Rights
  5. Unknown (2015-10-25). "the intimate ape: Read the judge's decision that the orangutan Sandra is a "non-human person"". the intimate ape. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  6. Center for Great Apes Welcomes Sandra to the Sanctuary, PR Newswire
  7. "le monke" on Know Your Meme
  8. Soister, John T. (2012). American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929. Henry Nicolella, Steve Joyce. Jefferson: McFarland & amp; Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 576–577. ISBN   978-0-7864-8790-5. OCLC   797916368.
  9. Metal Slug 3 review with a brief comment about the orangutan in the game

Further reading