# Are animals really killed in movie and TV death scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 23, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220 "2010-07-23T13:51:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/1 "2010-07-23T13:51:51Z")
In this SD Classic column answering the question [Are animals really killed in movie and TV death scenes?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/342/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes), I think Cecil should have mentioned that a popular technique used by movie/TV directors wanting to show two dogs fighting is to simply film two dogs playfully romping around together, but then just drench the scene with heavy growing, yelping and snapping sound effects. This works so well, of course, because dog play is really only mock fighting anyway. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/2 "2010-07-27T20:14:31Z")
Should [this article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/342/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes) be updated to indicate the circumstances surrounding Apocalypse Now? I’d think that movie is notable enough to have a number of readers thinking “Now wait a minute…” ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/3 "2010-07-27T20:21:54Z")
I saw one earlier that certainly seemed to show a dying pheasant. Either that, or it had been taught to act by Bobby DeNiro. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/4 "2010-07-27T21:32:37Z")
Last night I was watching the Czech movie Capricious Summer (Rozmarné léto)and they killed chickens the way my grandmother taught me to do. I wouldn’t put anything past editors but faking chickens slaughtered in this manner would have required expense out of all proportion to the other parts of the movie which was refreshingly simple I thought. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/5 "2010-07-27T23:27:07Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Should [this article](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/342/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes) be updated to indicate the circumstances surrounding Apocalypse Now? I’d think that movie is notable enough to have a number of readers thinking “Now wait a minute…” Apocalypse Now wasn’t filmed in the US, it was shot in the Philippines. AHA rated it “unacceptable” for “hacking a water buffalo to pieces” but obviously that doesn’t seem do much (if any) financial harm. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/6 "2010-07-28T06:10:07Z")
I went to the AHA website and looked up Apocalypse Now and Conan the Barbarian (camel punching, dog kicking, and horse wire trips were used…these scenes were shot in Spain.) In both cases, the AHA was powerless because the movies were filmed in foreign countries other than asking members to boycott the film and giving the film an “unacceptable rating.” But, I think this should be mentioned in an update: while the AHA does what it can for films in the US, and US filmmakers do try to use camera tricks to prevent animals from being harmed, it’s very unlikely that scenes filmed outside the US are faked. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/7 "2010-07-28T08:53:34Z")
The idea that they flew Arnold Schwarzennegger several thousand miles just to punch a camel ( whether it’s true or not!), amuses me no end. 😃 I wonder how many takes it took? ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/8 "2010-07-28T09:05:36Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > … it’s very unlikely that scenes filmed outside the US are faked. You do realise that the US does not have a complete monopoly on anti-animal cruelty legislation and animal welfare charities. What you say above is absolutely not generally true. ---
**Author:** ![Stentor\_2.5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Stentor\_2.5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stentor_2.5)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/9 "2010-07-28T14:32:43Z")
According to the IMDB trivia for the movie, _The Shawshank Redemption_ > [@](#): > > The American Humane Association monitored the filming of scenes involving Brooks’ crow. During the scene where he fed it a maggot, the AHA objected on the grounds that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that they use a maggot that had died from natural causes. One was found, and the scene was filmed. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/10 "2010-07-29T02:28:20Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > … it’s very unlikely that scenes filmed outside the US are faked. > > You do realise that the US does not have a complete monopoly on anti-animal cruelty legislation and animal welfare charities. > > What you say above is absolutely not generally true. Yes, my generalization is too broad. I should say: For scenes filmed outside the US, there’s little or no laws regarding animal safety. Here’s the quote from the [AHA website about Conan](http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/mr.phtml?fid=7197): Since it was filmed in Spain, AHA was not contacted about the film and was, therefore, not on set during production. On April 12, 1981, Carmelita Pope, Director of AHA at the time, contacted Delores Marsans Comas, President of the Association for the Prevention of Cruelty in Public Spectacles in Barcelona, Spain. After investigating the rumors, Marsans Comas wrote that “Spanish laws regarding animal actors are non-existent and, unfortunately, it is frequent that producers come to Spain due to lack of legislation.” AHA, therefore, rated the film Unacceptable and on May 14, 1982, organized a protest at the opening of the film outside of Hollywood Pacific Theater. AHA also asked thousands of its members to boycott the film and write to the producer. Over 6,000 letters of protest were received as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/11 "2010-07-29T02:32:51Z")
Btw, regarding the scene from Apocalypse Now: the story I heard (from watching the documentary “Hearts of Darkness: A filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” made by Eleanor Coppola while Apocalypse now was filming,) the buffalo scene wasn’t staged by Francis Ford. He just waited until the native people did it again, then filmed it. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2010, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/12 "2010-07-29T10:00:18Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > > [@qpw3141](#): > > > > > [@Superhal](#): > > > > > > … it’s very unlikely that scenes filmed outside the US are faked. > > > > You do realise that the US does not have a complete monopoly on anti-animal cruelty legislation and animal welfare charities. > > > > What you say above is absolutely not generally true. > > Yes, my generalization is too broad. I should say: > > For scenes filmed outside the US, there’s little or no laws regarding animal safety. Sorry, you do realise, I suppose, that ‘outside the US’ is not one homogeneous mass. There are many countries with equal or better animal protection laws than exist within the US. Of course, no one is going to film anything involving animal cruelty in those. ---
**Author:** ![be\_bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@be\_bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/be_bright)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/13 "2010-08-12T05:22:41Z")
> [@Stentor\_2.5](#): > > According to the IMDB trivia for the movie, _The Shawshank Redemption_ > > > [@](#): > > > > The American Humane Association monitored the filming of scenes involving Brooks’ crow. During the scene where he fed it a maggot, the AHA objected on the grounds that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that they use a maggot that had died from natural causes. One was found, and the scene was filmed. Someone’s gotta speak for the maggots. :rolleyes: This bit of trivia made my night. ---
**Author:** ![silverfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@silverfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverfish)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/14 "2010-08-12T16:07:39Z")
> [@Stentor\_2.5](#): > > According to the IMDB trivia for the movie, _The Shawshank Redemption_ > > > [@](#): > > > > The American Humane Association monitored the filming of scenes involving Brooks’ crow. During the scene where he fed it a maggot, the AHA objected on the grounds that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that they use a maggot that had died from natural causes. One was found, and the scene was filmed. This isn’t true, according to the the American Humane Association review of the film: [QUOTE=American Humane Association] Animal action is minimal. Brooks, one of the prisoners, has a pet crow, Jake, which is seen in four separate scenes. The first is a scene where Brooks opens his jacket to reveal the baby bird in his pocket. He takes a maggot from Andy, which he has found in his food, and feeds it to the bird. **The maggot was made of baby food**. The baby bird was placed in the actor’s ample sized pocket by it’s handler just prior to the scene being shot and removed as soon as the scene was completed. The remaining three scenes show the crow as an adult bird in atmosphere scenes. Other animal action shows a mouse scurrying down a prison hall. A man is also seen feeding pigeons in a park. [/QUOTE] The quote is from the review [here](http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/mr.phtml?fid=6681), which contains a synopsis of the film. I’ve quoted the relevant section. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/15 "2010-08-13T18:14:54Z")
The specifics aren’t _exactly_ true, and we don’t have enough details. They used a fake maggot instead of a real, live maggot. Why? To spare the live maggot harm, or because it was easier to fake? Because the actor was going to have to eat the food that the maggot was taken from? That quote doesn’t make it explicit. Heck, maybe it was just to protect the crow from eating a real maggot. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-animals-really-killed-in-movie-and-tv-death-scenes/548220/16 "2010-08-18T19:51:21Z")
More likely to protect the actor from handling a live maggot. Ew!