Ape Man

[drtewksbury]

Does anyone think the "Ape Man" legend mentioned in "Never Ape an Ape Man" was a veiled Bigfoot referenced? Or perhaps a reference to another North American cryptid primate, e.g. Skunk Ape? I've thought so in the past. Was 1969 too early to make a direct reference to Sasquatch?       

[Matt_the_miner_49er]

Definitely wasn't too early. There were records of bigfoot type creatures in the 1800s in N america and the natives had stories about them that stretched back generations before that. Not to mention there are stories about ape people all over the world, all sizes, and different names. Since there has been humans, there has beeN belief in these creatures

[drtewksbury]

Jan 18, 2016 19:40:43 GMT -5 Matt_the_miner_49er said:

Definitely wasn't too early. There were records of bigfoot type creatures in the 1800s in N america and the natives had stories about them that stretched back generations before that. Not to mention there are stories about ape people all over the world, all sizes, and different names. Since there has been humans, there has beeN belief in these creatures

I meant in regard to a pop culture plot line. I am more than aware of everything you mentioned but pop culture discussion of such creatures changed for the better following the "In Search Of..." Bigfoot episode in 1976. "Never Ape An Ape Man" just always struck me as a Bigfoot-esque storyline.

[Matt_the_miner_49er]

Ah, got cha. Bare in mind the Patterson footage that kind of catapulted bigfoot into pop culture came out in 67....69? It's one of the two. The legend of bogey creek based on the fouke, Arkansas monster (happened about 40 minutes away from me btw) came out in the early 70s. I would suppose bigfoot was big enough in pop culture at the time to have made its way into Scooby.

[mattpricetime]

One other influence that should be considered is in the days before this Scooby episode there were a lot of movies made with actors portraying gorillas in suits. Such as horror and scifi films.

[drtewksbury]

Jan 20, 2016 17:21:40 GMT -5 mattpricetime said:

One other influence that should be considered is in the days before this Scooby episode there were a lot of movies made with actors portraying gorillas in suits. Such as horror and scifi films.

True, true.