TV Show Novelization Manuscript
Return to the Planet of the Apes 3: Man, the Hunted Animal
Publication: 1976.
Notes: The heavily revised manuscript of this novelization of three episodes of the animated Return to the Planet of the Apes TV series which ran on NBC for a few months in 1975.
Rostler, Hugo Award-winning fan artist, found periodic work writing novelizations, including two tie-in books to the 1970s cartoon reboot of the Planet of the Apes franchise. The cartoon version returned to a world closer to novelist Pierre Boule's original vision, with the apes living in a high-tech society. The plot of this novel, based on the River of Flames, Screaming Wings and Trail to the Unknown episodes, involves using a space laser to repair a nuclear reactor. While the TV show ran on Saturday mornings, the storylines were more adult than most weekend cartoons and the novelizations were written for adults.
Ballantine Books, which commissioned the books, found Rostler's prose lacking and two editors, one working in pencil and on a typewriter and another marking up the pages in blue ink, made dozens of changes to every page, although they generally kept the plot in place. Rostler, unhappy with the changes, added a note on the cover page, "Warning! This is a disaster area. This shows what a copy-editor can do, without your knowledge or consent, and without letting you see the copy-edited mss. Wiliam Rostler."
288 leaves; original ribbon-copy typescript. The pagination is complicated due to the extensive editing, but the manuscript is complete: [i], [1]–217, with the following additions: 14a, 28a, 53a, 68a, 87a, 96a, 117a, 149a, 149b, 151a, 151b, 151c, 155a, 176a, 182a, 183a, 187a, 187b, 190a, 193a, and 211a. Leaves 162, 163, 164, and 169 are not included in the pagination, but there are no gaps and one of the editors helpfully noted this prior to the jumps.
Edition + Condition: Very good in the original mailing envelope, which misspells Rostler's surname (which I am sure also rankled). The last leaf has a couple of tears, not affecting any text.
Item No: #365044
Price: $600