Virgil



Virgil was a genius orangutan character, from Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the final original Apes movie from 1973. He was played onscreen by actor/musician Paul Williams.A former student of orangutan pacifist Mandemus, Virgil went on to become Ape City's resident scientist and theoretical thinker, and an advisor and friend of Caesar. Apes and humans were both among his students, and he felt sorry for the humans' second-class status in Ape City, and opposed the violence and greed of the gorillas towards Caesar. Caesar called Virgil away from his teaching work, to accompany him and Mr. MacDonald on a trip back to the Forbidden City, to search for recordings of his parents Cornelius and Zira, and information about Earth's future. Carrying a Geiger counter into the Forbidden City, Virgil warned Caesar plainly about the radioactivity and accompanying dangers. (He also authorized MacDonald to bring a pistol, in case he may "wish to shoot, cook, and eat a rabbit" during the trip; something humans were normally not allowed to do.) Returning from the Forbidden City (after barely escaping with their lives, from mutated human survivors who stayed underground), Caesar and Virgil reluctantly prepared Ape City for a possible attack. General Aldo, called to action, saw the chance to take power instead. When Caesar's son Cornelius was gravely injured in a fall from a tree, MacDonald discovered the ends of the broken branch, determining they were cut, and he and Virgil deduced that Aldo was the culprit. Virgil fought and led the apes when the mutant humans did attack, calling Caesar out to take charge. After the battle, he was the one who had to tell Caesar that Cornelius was murdered by Aldo. Later, he helped to rebuild Ape City, with its new status of ape and human equality. He set the standard for subsequent orangutans as the wise elders of ape society. NotesEditJacob, son of Virgil, was a central character in Malibu Graphics Planet of the Apes comics. Jacob's nephew Bartholomew, possibly a grandson of Virgil, also featured.The early scripts for Battle suggested that The Lawgiver from the framing sequences should resemble Virgil.Behind the ScenesEdit"Something less than two years ago I spoke with Paul Williams, the pop singer, who was filled with stories of the wonder of his first major acting assignment: playing an orangutan in the film Battle for the Planet of the Apes. During the shooting, Mr. Williams rose at 3:30 a.m., then stayed in makeup for three hours. During one such session, the makeup man, Kenny Chase, began discussing at length the merits of what was the favorite drink of both of them, the margarita. 'He drove me crazy talking about margaritas', Mr. Williams said. 'By noon I couldn’t take it anymore. I was really freaked out. I grabbed Kenny and pulled him into my car'. The car was a 1935 Bugati, 'not an inconspicuous car in any case, but here is this Bugati driving down Pico Boulevard at lunchtime with an orangutan behind the wheel. We drove to the Casa Escabar and went inside. Kenny took me by the arm and went up to the maitre d’. He asked him, ‘Can we have a table in a dark corner? We want to be alone’.'"- CUE (November 18-24 1974).[1]