“Apes Are Getting Smarter” Series

Apes Will Rise? Remember the blogging I did about going to the Rise of the Apes summit? Here’s a few videos that are of interest. The idea is that, a) the 2001 film that was a remake of the film should just be wiped from your memories. b) The upcoming film releasing August 5th will be something more “real”. The Peter Jackson WETA team, the folks who brought you Avatar, went into overdrive and now had to create something that looks believable. Remember these apes won’t be talking, it’s all about gestures. The research done by the WETA team and director, Rupert Wyatt, include some of these videos. They’re releasing them to show that apes are closer to humans in some abilities that we may think.

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This chimp is playing Far Cry 2, a first person shooter that has an open world. Yeah, I’m sure the chimp isn’t very good at it, but at least he looks into it.

 

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Here’s footage of a gorilla who decided to stand up and walk. His name is Ambam and is at a zoo in Kent, England.

 

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Here’s the Planet of the Apes Trailer.

The PR person himself said that the word rise and apes is used twice but it still works. I also wouldn’t promote it if I didn’t think it’s interesting. Yes, I did get to attend the summit at their expense, I ate some of their food, and got to sit through interesting lectures, and I can also say this looks like crap, but there’s no need. It looks like fun.