on their adventures. Ronald Brent – A U.S. astronaut who launched in the 21st century but arrived in the time of ape rule a number of years prior to the Hudson/Allen/Franklin expedition. Krador – The leader of the Underdwellers. The Underdwellers – A group of underground persons based on the mutants in the film Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Episodes Reception The series has been criticized for poor production values. Reviewers felt that the constant reuse of backgrounds and lack of movement made the action on screen dull and slow. The voicework has also been criticized for sometimes being unemotional and equally monotonous. Despite these criticisms, the series was noted for highly detailed backgrounds, illustrations, character designs and camera effects, due in part to veteran cartoonist Doug Wildey. While animation was poor due to budget and time constraints, still artwork, which featured prominently in the program, was extremely detailed, with extensive shading, looking more like a comic book than a television cartoon. For the most part, the scripts were intelligent, with detailed stories and solid internal continuity. Unlike many animated adaptations, Return to the Planet of the Apes managed to effectively capture the tone of the live action features, complete with the sense of alienation, wonderment and loss. Home release The Return to the Planet of the Apes series was released as a part of the Ultimate DVD Collection in early 2006 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The Return to the Planet of the Apes: The Complete Animated Series release on DVD was delayed until October 3, 2006. This was the first time the series was released stand-alone on DVD. Only three of the episodes were restored in the discs included in the Ultimate DVD Collection, but all 13 were restored in the individual release. The individual release also included them in their intended order, as opposed to their airdate order as presented in the box set. The individual release also includes the option of watching the episodes with a preview of the next episode, which was not present in the box set release. The episode list on the back of the DVD case for the individual release has many errors. The episodes are listed in airdate order as opposed to the chronological order on the actual DVDs, one episode is listed as airing the day before it actually aired and two are shown as having the same