Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the series was about a female scientist and two young children who have traveled through time where they arrive in a future ruled by Apes. The trio then struggle to find a way to get back home to the 20th century.
In 1987, Television producer Sandy Frank edited together several episodes of the series, including the first and last episodes, into a movie called Time of the Apes. Syndicated to Broadcast and Cable outlets, this compilation film was also released on home video in mid-1988. The dubbing referred to the villain as "General Gaybar."
The movie was then "riffed" twice on Mystery Science Theater 3000, originally in the KTMA season in 1989,[1] and then later as part of season 3 in 1991 on Comedy Central.


A young boy and his sister visit their uncle's laboratory, where scientists are involved with ground-breaking experiments in the field of cryogenics. They have devised a system in which monkeys, and conceivably humans, can be flash-frozen for years and resuscitated later without any ill-effects. While enjoying the grand tour with their uncle's assistant Catherine, a massive earthquake erupts, and the three of them take refuge in the experimental cryogenic pods. A falling chunk of concrete hits the controls and begins the freezing process. When the trio awakens, they find themselves in a strange world where apes walk and talk like men and wield complete control of their own civilization. Soon they are running for their lives, pursued by an army of primates that has marked them for extermination. Luckily, they cross paths with the only other human left on the planet, a defiant renegade named Godo. He helps them escape from the intolerant apes and together they try to make sense of what has happened to the human race. Time of the Apes was originally a 26-episode Japanese television series that was edited down into this feature length film, and bears more than a passing resemblance to the ideas and makeup effects found in the Planet of the Apes movies.
\hen the movie Planet of the Apes was aired on Japanese TV for the first time, the ratings were huge. Naturally a producer figured he could cash in, and the TV series Saru no Gundan (Army of Apes) was born. It ran for 26 half-hour episodes, but then Sandy Frank got his hands on the show and chopped the 13-hour story down to 97 minutes, releasing it in the US as a feature film, Time of the Apes. It's perfect for the MST gang.

A brother and sister, along with their caretaker, Catherine, are accidently cryogenically frozen during an earthquake (don't you hate when that happens?). When they awake they find themselves in the far future, where apes rule. Escaping their captors, the trio heads for Green Mountain where they meet another human, Godo. With his aid, and the help of a flying saucer that randomly appears to scare off the apes whenever the humans are in a bind, the group tries to find a way back home.