I don’t know why I think of these things, but…you know that note that shows up at the end of a movie that has animals in it, stating that the Humane Society certifies that no animals were harmed during the movie’s creation?
I just got to wondering: what happens if an animal is harmed (most likely by accident, of course) while the movie is being made? Do the producers simply leave the notice off the end?
IIRC, no they do not leave the notice off even if an animal is harmed. Fo rinstance, In the movie Dances with Wolves, there was a HUGE protest because several horses were killed during some of the buffalo runs, and IIRC one of the wolves was killed as well. A stand in.
I believe it is just a disclaimer…that no animals were intentionally hurt during the creation of the movie, but I could be wrong.
As mush as I loath PETA they have a “watchdog” group who specifically targets the movie industry, especially for movies where animals play a big role.
Example: Free Willy.
Wonderful question! I have had that same concern but never thought to ask.
It reminds me of an idea I had a long time back to replace certain signs with their opposites. Instead of a “Bridge Out” warning sign, have a “Bridge In” sign until the bridge is actually out and at that time take the sign down.
More subtly, instead of a Stop sign at a crossroards, have “Go” signs every few yards until you get to the intersection then none.
But my favorite of the type is a flashing “Battery Dead” indicator.
From the American Humane , regarding the movie Flicka (in which two of the horses died in two different, unrelated accidents):
Quote can be found here .
It’s pretty clear to me that that bull WAS intentionally harmed, and killed, at the end of Apocalypse Now. Sometimes a filmmaker just goes for the shot he needs. I’m not terribly broken up about it – that bovine was going to be killed, anyway, probably in the same fashion. Coppola just caught it on film.
Sometimes the witholding of the OK of the Animal People seems odd. They reportedly wouldn’t OK James Cameron’s The Abyss because he really did immerse a rat in fluorocarbon fluid – something that’s been done in the lab. The rat wasn’t harmed, but it certainly was an odd procedure.
I do support these bans when they prevent unnecessary and vrutal treatments of aimals – like the tripwires they;re supposed to have used on horses to make them fall.
There’s a grouse hunting scene in Gosford Park. According to Robert Altman’s commentary, the hunting isn’t faked at all, and they didn’t get the Humane Association seal for that reason.
It was a water buffalo. And although the Humane Society was not invited to monitor that production anyway, they did get in a tizzy about it.
In the UK version of The Abyss, they actually cut that scene entirely, because the UK version of the Humane Society was shocked and appalled!
I always wondered about this in that scene in Rambo where he’s in that underground cave with the torch and gets swarmed by rats and starts stepping and stomping all over them. Some rats had to have gotten crushed there.