 |
|
Rarely
do animals from different species hang out together. A chimp
with a giraffe or lion cub? An elephant with a giraffe? This
production required that not only should the animals be together
naturally, they needed to be so comfortable with each other
that they would then begin to interact with each other out of
their own curiosity. To achieve this the animal handlers had
to first gain the confidence of the individual animals.
This
literally required hundreds of hours of animal and trainer just
being together. Walking around together, eating together, exploring
together. Essentially becoming “friends”. Then slowly,
the trainers would move closer together with their animal “friends”
not far behind. |
The
calmness provided the framework for the little animals to begin to
feel comfortable with each other. After many long hours of being together
in groups, the baby animals curiosity would then take over, and the
animal trainers would gently remove themselves from the scene. It
was at this moment, that the cameras would roll.
|
There
were times when specific actions would be required. For instance,
the Chimp at times would need to be able to unbolt a latch for
the dramatics of the story. To achieve specific animal action
like this, games would be developed that incorporated this action.
The trainers would literally spend hours playing with their
“friends”. This proved to be very effective. |
However,
the filming had to be flexible enough such that if the baby
animal did not feel like playing on the day, then either the
action was changed, or the scene was postponed until the animal
was ready.
The entire movie was filmed under the observation of the Animal
Anti-Cruelty League of South Africa. |
|
|
