During the 1920s and 30s, Clare Winger Harris was part of a small group of all-star lady science fiction writers in the pulps. Her story, “The Ape Cycle” from 1930, has some striking similarities to the Planet of the Apes franchise. Could it have been the original inspiration? In the Rocketeer Podcast #104, we take a closer look.
A sidebar about names in the story
Wilhoit’s trouble-making, intelligent ape overseer is called Rex. “Rex” means king in Latin.
The leader of the ape rebellion in “Planet of the Apes” is called “Caesar.” He was also (albeit in a roundabout way) the product of an ape-breeding program. “Caesar” refers to an imperial character, such as Julius Caesar.
The ape-human hybrid character is called “Gunther”. In Old High German the name means “bold in war” or “warrior”. The word gun is etymologically related to the name Gunther because both derive from the Proto-Germanic root gund-, meaning “war” or “battle.”
The name Wilhoit, usually a surname, is primarily of Germanic origin, deriving from the Old High German Willihald meaning “resolute and bold” or “one who desires to be brave.”
Mrs. Harris did not pick her character names at random or because they sounded nice.
