Power Records, an imprint of 'Peter Pan Records', was a media company based in Newark, New Jersey known for producing children's read-along 'Book & Record' sets during the 1970s. The most popular products from the Power Records collections were adaptations of famous Marvel and DC super-heroes such as Spider-Man, Batman and Superman. In 1974, Power Records adapted four of the five original Arthur P. Jacobs Planet of the Apes films as 'Book & Record' sets comprising a 7x10" full colour comic (usually about 20 pages long) with a 7", 45 rpm record providing narration with character and sound effects, which retailed at $1.49 each. All four adaptations were later collected for a 12", 33 rpm compilation LP (which did not include an accompanying read-along book). Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is the only original film which was not adapted into the Power Records line.
At around the same time, Power Records also released a series of three 'Little LP' 7", 45 rpm records featuring completely new adventures for the characters from the Planet of the Apes TV series. These 'Little LP' sets consisted of audio-only records without accompanying read-along books. They were likewise collected into a 12", 33 rpm compilation LP, with the addition of a fourth original story which had not received a stand-alone release.
Notes[]
- Produced by APJAC Productions and 20th Century Fox, the Power comics are sometimes assumed to have used an edited version of the Marvel comic adaptations, however the art, design, & story adaptation is credited to Arvid Knudsen and Associates.
- The exact date of issue is not known. An article in Playthings magazine, dated February 1975, promotes the movie adaptations as a newly-available product.
Adaptations[]
- PR 18 - Planet of the Apes
- PR 19 - Escape from the Planet of the Apes
- PR 21 - Beneath the Planet of the Apes
- PR 22 - Battle for the Planet of the Apes
- F1288 - Battle of Two Worlds
- F1289 - Mountain of The Delphi
- F1290 - Dawn of The Tree People
- 8147 - Planet of the Apes (4 Exciting Stories)
- 8148 - Planet of the Apes (4 Exciting New Stories)