An industry professional who personally inspected the “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty prop at the “The Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show” convention has come forward with information and evidence that it was actually custom designed and sculpted for the film, The Terminal (2004), which would confirm that it has absolutely no connection whatsoever with Planet of the Apes.
The Statue of Liberty prop head, claimed to have been used in the filming of Planet of the Apes (1968), was previously consigned for sale with Profiles in History (est. $30,000-$40,000) and Heritage Auction Galleries, as well as offered for sale on eBay, was this past weekend prominently advertised in conjunction with “The Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show” featuring “for a fee” photo opportunities.
There have been a number of articles published on the Original Prop Blog going back to August 2007, raising questions about the attribution of this piece to the classic movie, Planet of the Apes, released in 1968:
Today I have been in communications with Mr. Daren R. Dochterman, who was employed as Conceptual Artist for Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal (see credits, IMDb), who gave me permission to publish the following statement on his behalf:
I hadn’t heard about this prop “restoration” before… probably because I don’t usually travel in the collector’s circles… but I just saw this on display at the Hollywood Show over the weekend… and I recognized it immediately… it’s from a film I worked on back in 2003, Steven Spielberg’s “The Terminal”… I did the concept art for this… and remember it being sculpted in the shop next to the large Terminal set in Palmdale, CA. The scene, which I’m not sure is in the final film or not, had Tom Hanks’ character in a souvenir shop in the NYC Airport Terminal, and this Statue of Liberty head was made to fit a closed circuit television fed by a camera imbedded inbetween the eyes… so he could see himself in the crown windows. This is why the crown line is distorted… to fit a standard monitor size.
Below is collateral provided by Mr. Dochterman showing the composite illustration he created for the film, The Terminal (TOP), as well as “sculpting in progress” photos of the prop itself (MIDDLE), and a photo of the shop set in which the scene would have been filmed (BOTTOM):
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the post-restoration “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty prop offered at auction (LEFT) and the very distinctly custom sculpted prop specially designed for The Terminal circa late 2003 (RIGHT):
Also note, in this photo of “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty from the Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show held this weekend (LEFT), the back of the piece is completely flat, so as to be pushed up against a wall. Then compare with the on set photo from The Terminal (RIGHT) to see how the piece was designed to fit flush against the wall in the store (with raised ceiling to account for the crown spikes):
Note also that both pieces are self-standing, with flat, horizontal bases.
I did review the film, The Terminal, and did not find the prop used in the final cut of the film, though Mr. Dochterman’s account is absolutely consistent with the film and the use of monitors and closed circuit television cameras, and would explain many of the outstanding questions about the “Planet of the Apes” piece.
***UPDATE: I have found this prop on screen in the film – see “Reader Comment” below for stills from the movie showing the Statue of Liberty prop.***
Most notably, the distorted crown line of the auction piece (height and windows), which does not resemble the actual Statue of Liberty nor the matte painting as seen in the film.
Below is a comparison of the Statue of Liberty prop attributed to Planet of the Apes (LEFT) and the real world Statue of Liberty (RIGHT):
Note both the pronounced height of the crown as well as the large, centered window, as opposed to the numerous, small, evenly-spaced windows on the “short” crown of the original work.
In comparing a screencapture obtained from the recently released Blu-Ray disc of Planet of the Apes (BACKGROUND), with the long shot of the matte painting seen in the film (the only front shot of the statue is a matte painting), while the windows are too dark to see clearly, the height of the crown is consistent with the real world Statue of Liberty, not the auction prop (INSET TOP LEFT):
As noted, I have reviewed the Steven Spielberg film, The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks, and found no scene as described by Mr. Dochterman. However, one of the running themes and visual motifs of the film is the prevalence of CCTV cameras and monitors as well as televisions throughout the film, as seen in the screencapture samples below:
Mr. Dochterman also examined the prop in person over the weekend, where it was on display at the Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show. Attendees who were interested in having their photo taken with the “piece of cinematic history” were charged a fee.
Mr. Dochterman’s account would explain why the auction Statue of Liberty has both a stretched crown in height, far fewer windows in the crown, and why there is one large, centered window.
As seen in the photo comparison below, the “restoration in progress” photos of the auction prop (LEFT) show a crown frame which is empty – per Mr. Dochterman’s experience, that was to account for the placement of CCTV display monitors (RIGHT).
Based on Mr. Dochterman’s information and photos, one can conclude that the auction prop is in fact a prop made for the 2004 film, The Terminal.
Prior Article Summaries
The following are prior articles related to this piece along with short summaries.
Profiles in History 28 Held Yesterday, Today
This Statue of Liberty piece was consigned to auction with Profiles in History for their Hollywood Auction 28 event in August 2007.
Though the cover featured item for the event, it failed to sell with no bids on the $15,000 opening, with an estimate of $30,000-$40,000.
Heritage Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction – October 6-7, 2007
After failing to sell at the August 2007 Profiles in History event, the piece was consigned to the Heritage Auction Galleries “Entertainment Memorabilia” auction event that was scheduled for October 2007, just two months later. The Heritage estimate was $15,000.
October’s Heritage Auction Addendum: “Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop Removed from Catalog
The piece was then removed from the Heritage Auction Galleries auction in advance of the event.
“Planet of the Apes” Statue of Liberty Prop – Restoration Information, Outstanding Questions
This article summarized the prior failed sales attempts and made note of the fact that the consensus about that scene in that film is that the front shot (of the face and front of the statue) was achieved utilizing a matte painting by Emil Kosa, Jr. (see “The Invisible Art: Legends of Movie Matte Painting“) and the rear shot employed a hanging miniature (though I have yet to see a production image of such a miniature).
Included in the full article is collateral which shows the restoration of the 15′x14′x8 piece which was consigned for sale to the two auction houses.
Of note is that all that is seen in the film in the rear shots is the back of the head, back of the crown, and back of the spikes – while the auction piece does not appear to have matching components.
More, the spikes that are part of the piece were recently manufactured reproductions – and those pictured in the restoration collateral that are designated to be the originals do not in any way resemble what is seen on screen:
Blu-Ray Disc Screencaptures/Stills
The following screencaps are from the recently released Blu-Ray Disc edition of Planet of the Apes:
Very special thanks to Mr. Dochterman for coming forward to share this information.
Jason De Bord