Vali and Sugrive are both two-year-old chimps living at the Myrtle Beach Safari park. They watch movies as part of their regular entertainment, but Vali and Sugrive don’t really get to go out… Unless it’s for the opening night of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes at their local theater, then they get to watch like everyone else.
At the Attendance of the Movie with the Apes, Vali and Sugrive got to “purchase” tickets and sit with nearly 1,000 other moviegoers to see the new film. The two chimps supposedly clapped during lighter sections of the film and turned away from the action sequences and the violence, reacting to the movie as we would.
Check out a video of the chimps’ trip from ABC News below:
As cute as it is, there is a bit of anthropomorphizing going on here–Vali and Sugrive could purchase tickets and popcorn but they wouldn’t understand the concept of commerce, and I’ll wager that the chimps’ reactions to the film were largely random. But seeing two primates share a theater with a thousand of their closest genetic cousins, more or less behaving as we do, is incredible. Though it may only have been an exhibition to get people to a zoo, bringing along Vali and Sugrive is adorable PR that lets us explore and understand our primate brethren.
As the video notes, some viewers weren’t as excited about the ape attendees. Apparently, people asked whether or not the chimps should be watching the film at all, lest they learn “how to take over the world” from Caesar and the other highly intelligent apes. But don’t worry; though science does have some clever ways to make chimps more intelligent, remember that a toddler is smarter than the average chimp.
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IMAGES: Myrtle Beach Safari via The Daily Mail
enjoy the theater’s show people? now watch it online here http://emovieonlines.com/watch/2103281/dawn-of-the-planet-of-the-apes
I hope the other people that payed 50+ dollars to watch this movie was informed before that there was going to be two chimps in the movie also… We all know how annoying it is when you hear that baby cry during a movie… Makes your eye twitch, right??? Just saying chimps can be very vocal. Especially when “barking at the bad guys”
It’s messed up! How come the “no shirt no shoes no service” doesnt apply to the obama family?! Dont you just hate this type of favoritism?
that wasn’t racist at all
Can confirm, 100% racist.
Racist-disrespectful motherfucker
Racist or not! Shits funny! Take the pine cones outa your ass. Obama is a fked up monkey.
Very Cute! But, the Commercial was WAY too long!
This is really cool. I LOVE monkeys… chimps… which is why I sat through this awesome movie even though I was scared, haha.
However, I think it is unfair to bring animals (especially ones that are not typically deemed as common pets) into a theater with unsuspected humans.
I’ve trained, fostered and owned many pets in my lifetime (horses, dogs, birds…) but even if I would be a little thrown off to have a monkey or even a dog in a theater when I was not expecting it.
LOVE this review but maybe they could have told people first. Oddly enough that may have actually gotten more people to attend!! People that wouldn’t have been making controversial statements.
Chimpanzees are apes not monkeys
Chimpanzees are very dangerous animals. I’m glad that nothing went wrong. I am surprised they were used as a stunt like this. Oh wait, it’s America. Okay, I understand now.
They were only two years old. Sure, an adult chimp is 5 times stronger than your average adult and bringing one into a crowded theater would be insane. You’re pretty safe with a couple of well domesticated toddlers though.
Do a little more research before you imply chimps are incapable of understanding moving pictures or, for that matter, money. They are actually quite capable of, at the level of a small child at least, understanding both.
“Understanding” is a tricky word here. Yes, I’d agree with you that chimps could certainly respond and somewhat interpret images and concepts. But true understanding of movie plots or economic exchanges, for example, implies a level of abstraction that we haven’t yet identified in chimps.
I’m a 31 year old man and I’m not sure I understand money….
Looking at these chimps reminds me that the apes in the movie look nothing like real apes.
That’s because the movie is showing the eugenics process that took place thousands of years ago which created humans out of apes. Blue and green eyes…do some research.
Actually, a chimp is about as intelligent as a 6-year-old human. We think animals are less intelligent just b/c they don’t have the *physiological* structures that we have that allow us to make the sounds that make up human language. A pig is as intelligent as a 3-year-old child. If pigs were able to speak to you in a human language, you might stop eating them. Look up the “If Pigs Could Talk” PSA from Australia (about pigs in crates on factory farms), and look up the TED Talk with Peter Gabriel and a panel of speakers, including Vint Cerf, one of the creators of the internet, talking about bringing some animal species (specifically, dolphins, Great Apes, and elephants) online. Look for this TED Talk on the TED website: talks/the_interspecies_internet_an_idea_in_progress
Way cool. The chimps are obviously smarter than some humans…smarter than those in the government for sure. Maybe they should take over Earth; maybe they will actually get something done.
Well im sure they will do a better job than the pos in the White House.
I don’t know, my Toddler has already taken over the house. I totally think she is capable of taking over the world.
You’re a bad parent then lol
Nice… Teaching them to eat our poison processed junk food!
How do you know that’s not water in the cups?
Actually, according to the clip, it is juice in the cups. I think Will was referring to the popcorn though. But I could be wrong. Still he only got crap outta what this piece was about…. sad.
They said it was juice. And I’m sure they probably got unflavoured popcorn or something. Besides, some junk food in moderation won’t hurt.
Junk food is junk, not food. It’s one thing to eat it yourself, but don’t give it to animals who don’t know that it’s bad for them. It’s like smoking. Go ahead and do it, but don’t give a cig to your kids saying, “One won’t hurt.”
That’s what this idiot gets from this story; sad.
Lol you’re so dumb! Popcorn is 100% whole grain and one of the healthiest snacks in the world. It’s only the EXCESS of butter and salt (a little bit of both is not bad) that is the “unhealthy” part of popcorn. Like, why comment if you don’t know what you’re talking about?
And it’s not processed. It’s literally POPPED CORN.
If you knew how violent chimps were in their natural habitat, even 2 year old chimps, you would think this was the sweetest thing in the world. Humans didn’t invent aggression, rage, tribalism and violence, we inherited it from the same place they did. That they were able to see a movie featuring animated primates, portrayed by human actors, and yet still follow and identify with the characters in some way, is AWESOME.
Man did not invent war, nature did, we merely made it large scale
Taking 2 year olds to such a violent movie? Shame on them.
U r anidiot
lol
Violence for a two year old is just a poor choice. Human or not.
Does anyone else think this is a bad idea? If not only for the Chimp’s state of mind?
no
Cool chimp pants
Chimps React. The new series on YouTube from The Fine Bros.
Don’t give them ideas !!!
It’s the beginning of the end!
Don’t worry. The machines will kill us all before the apes get a chance to take over.
OOOHHH! Now THERE’S a movie… Cyborg Apes from the future destroying humanity to save the rain forest
The Apetrix
Video link is broken…