This morning I was running on the treadmill when a lady next to me put on “Good Morning America,” a show that makes my blood boil. Out of my peripheral vision I could see all of the asinine shit they were reporting on, and obsessing on how much I hate the show. That’s when they actually popped on something I couldn’t ignore – a story on two chimps who were taken to see FOX and Matt Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in theaters!

While “GMA” doesn’t have a story online, I was able to find a report on ABC News, embedded below, about these two-year-old chimps, Vali and Sugriva, who got to see Apes in a movie theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The Daily Mail wrote about the two chimps who were able to enjoy the full cinema experience at the BigD Auditorium at the Carmike Cinema, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, including buying their own popcorn and juice.

The chimps, who live at the Myrtle Beach Safari, regularly watch television as a form of entertainment – and are big fans of the latest movie’s predecessor, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Myrtle Beach Safari director Bhagavan Antle said the trip started as it would for most other people – with a trip to the confectionery stand where they got their popcorn and juice. Dr Antle said: ‘They are smart – they knew to hand over the money to get their food and drinks.’ After settling down in their seats however it was time for them to turn their attention to the film itself. Dr Antle said: ‘The older one, Vali, is a very bright guy, he’s watched the Lord Of The Rings many times, and he could follow the whole plot of the movie.’ Dr Antle said Vali was able to judge the facial expressions and actions of the characters to determine which were the ‘good guys’ and which were the ‘bad guys’. He said: ‘He loves to clap – when he likes something he claps, so he clapped for the good guys, and when chimps don’t like what’s happening they hoot or bark, so when the bad guy came on he was barking.’ The chimps watched the film with some 1,000 other cinema-goers at the IMAX screen in the cinema complex – although not everybody was too comfortable having them present. Dr Antle said: ‘A couple of people said very clearly “are you sure they should watch this movie, won’t they learn to take over the world?” ‘There were several people actually concerned about that.’

Image Source: Myrtle Beach Safari