news
Against our better nature
The Toronto Star
January 16, 2008
Vinay Menon
Just a wild guess: animals do not want to be movie stars.
And after watching a report on the fifth estate (CBC, 9 tonight) that is both maddening and saddening, who could possibly blame them?
But let's start at the beginning.
On May 5, 1982, the investigative series broadcast a landmark story titled "Cruel Camera." In that piece, reporter Bob McKeown unleashed some devastating truths about the mistreatment and outright cruelty animals suffered while "working" in showbiz.
You may be familiar with a few notorious examples from the early-to-mid 20th century: the nearly 100 horses that were killed during the climactic chariot race in Ben-Hur; the horse that perished after a stuntman rode it over a 70-foot cliff in Jesse James; the lion that was stabbed to death in Tarzan.
For years, animals were treated with cavalier disregard for the most frivolous and revolting reason: our amusement.
As McKeown now discovers 25 years after his original report, Hollywood is still no place for inhabitants of the natural world.
During filming of Flicka in 2005, for example, one horse died an "agonizing death" after it was kicked in the head during a rodeo scene that spiralled out of control, turning into a stampede.
This despite the fact that monitors from the American Humane Association (AHA), which in the past year alone has collaborated on more than 1,000 productions, were on set to ensure safety.
That organization issues its now widely recognized closing credits approval, "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." Yet, curiously, Flicka did not receive an "unacceptable" rating because the AHA concluded the tragedy was an accident.
The implication made by some, including horseman Roland Vincent, an extra in Flicka and eyewitness to the commotion that preceded the gruesome death, is the AHA is simply too close to the studios.
Another startling revelation: the manipulation and lies contained within many wildlife documentaries and nature films.
Consider the classic White Wilderness, which ran under Disney's Tru-Life Adventures brand. The film, which won an Academy Award and is still available on DVD, contains a scene in which a polar bear cub struggles to ascend a snowy mountain. Before long, it careens helplessly, perilously, down the steep slope as cameras are rolling.
Viewers believed the cub was a wild animal in its natural Arctic habitat. But the cub was actually placed on a film set built specifically for the harrowing sequence.
In another scene, lemmings are shown committing "mass suicide," which of course is a popular myth. Like the bear, they were not filmed in the Arctic, but in Calgary, where they were catapulted off a cliff from an unseen turntable.
From the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom to a scene in Sir David Attenborough's Polar Bear: The Arctic Warrior, tonight's documentary uncovers deceptions, then and now, that will make you question the entire wildlife canon.
Some of tonight's most heartbreaking scenes involve chimpanzees and the grim fate that awaits when the cameras stop rolling. The fifth estate obtained police footage that showed the chimps from Race to Space and a certain Seinfeld episode being hunted down and shot to death after escaping from unlocked cages at a roadside zoo in Nebraska.
"I got him," one of the shooters can be heard saying calmly as the poor animal shrieks in agony.
"Cruel Camera" should not be missed. But be warned: it's not an easy program to watch.
Because to watch a caged baby chimp clutch a red ball and rock impassively with dead-eyed anguish is to feel a blinding shame only humans can know.
The Fifth Estate on CBC
On Wednesday, January 16, The Fifth Estate on CBC is airing a piece on animals used in entertainment. It features the use and cruel treatment of chimpanzees and other animals. It is a must to watch!
Wednesday January 16th
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/
CRUEL Camera
Twenty-five years ago, Bob Mckeown and a fifth estate crew stunned the country with an investigative report that showed that many of the wildlife documentaries we'd grown up watching on television (remember the famous footage of the lemmings going off the cliff or some of the memorable moments from shows like Wild Kingdom?) were staged for the television cameras. As well, they revealed that animals often died during the making of movies; all for the sake of the entertainment value.
Now, Bob McKeown and an investigative team have returned to the subject to find out what has changed since the fifth estate's first Cruel Camera documentary. What they found may astonish you.
For Immediate Release:
Chimp 'beaten' on Ricci film set
07/10/2007
Los Angeles - Christina Ricci's latest film has sparked outrage
following allegations that a chimpanzee was beaten on set.
The chimp is said to have bitten an actor on the set of Speed Racer,
which reportedly resulted in the animal being hit.
PETA has written to producer Joel Silver urging him to stop using
live animals in his movies.
The animal rights campaign group said in a statement: "We've received
several troubling complaints from people who have been on the Speed
Racer set and report the main chimpanzee 'actor' has been beaten and
has bitten one of the human actors. We urge you to stop using live
animals and switch to animatronics."
However, movie studio Warner Bros insists they will continue to use
live animals wherever necessary.
'Animals have not been abused on set'
A spokesperson said: "We appreciate the concerns of PETA. We also
respect the vision and choices of the filmmakers with which we work.
"Every option on a film is carefully weighed, and for this
production, the decision was made to use live animals."
The spokesperson admitted the chimpanzee did bite a young actor, but
denied the animal was beaten and instead was allowed to rest and calm
down.
She was also adamant that no animals have been abused on the set.
PETA remains unconvinced, stating: "No humane representative is
closely monitoring those animals while off-set or during pre-
production training, the very places where abuse is most likely to
occur. So, we regret to say the assurances offered are meaningless."