Dan Richter

In 1968 the movie "Planet of the Apes" won the Oscar for best makeup that year even though "2001: Space Odyssey" was also released that year. Anyone who has seen the "Dawn of Man" sequence from the beginning of 2001 must wonder how the stunning man-apes in 2001 can even be compared to the stiff rubber ape masks in planet of the apes. The old joke (probably with some truth to it) is that the academy assumed Kubrick used real apes for the "Dawn of Man". This is the story of the choreographer and performer of the leader man-ape (Moonwatcher). Dan Richter was a struggling (and heroine addicted!) mime who was recruited to make the apes in 2001 as realistic as possible. The book is filled with great stories about the process of designing the costumes and the research to depict how primitive humans would have behaved. He also talks about his interactions with Kubrick and his relentless perfectionism. This is a must read for any fan of Kubrick and the move 2001.… (altro)