Rise of the Planet of the Ape Costumes

Actors in gorilla suits have been getting laughs in films for many decades.  An early example of gorilla suit humor could be found in a 1913 British comedy, Pimple and the Gorilla.  Fred Evans, as the dimwitted Pimple, agrees to don a gorilla suit when a circus' star gorilla takes ill.  Later, when he leaves the circus in his costume, he is captured by authorities and locked in a cage at a zoo.