Were Any Animals Harmed In The Nest 1988

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The Listing

eight troubling tales of animal abuse on film shoots

Peter Jackson'southward zealously anticipated The Hobbit is marred past accusations that 27 animals died due to unsafe atmospheric condition. Sadly, the Middle-Earth movie is not alone

There'southward trouble brewing in Middle-Globe, the fantasy setting of next month's geek-magnet blockbusterThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeying, with accusations flying that the film's crew permitted dangerous weather condition for animals used during production. Indeed, creature rights activists are up in artillery over reports that 27 animals died duringThe Hobbit'due south New Zealand shoot, reportedly because of dangerous atmospheric condition on the ranch where the animals were being kept. Sadly,The Hobbit is only the latest flick marred by reports of animal abuse. A cursory history:

one. Ben-Hur (1925)
The chariot race in the silent classic Ben-Hur remains surprisingly thrilling today — but the intensity of the scene came at a significant toll. At least 100 horses were killed during the filming of the scene.

2. The Accuse of the Calorie-free Brigade (1936)
Without anti-creature abuse laws in place, filmmakers were free to do whatever they accounted necessary to become their action sequences. But 1936's The Accuse of the Calorie-free Brigade took things likewise far with its extensive employ of the "running West" — a type of trip wire used to make horses autumn during the filming of its climatic scene. In response to the flick's rampant abuses, the Guild for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals successfully petitioned to accept the "running West" banned from farther use.

iii. Jesse James (1939)
Perhaps the key turning point against animal abuses on movie came in the wake of Jesse James, a film about the notorious outlaw. Two horses, outfitted with blinders, were tricked into running off a 75-foot cliff during product. The ruse was disguised, temporarily, by painting eyes on the horses' blinders. When word got out, the public outcry was so widespread that the Hays Office, which governed appropriate film content at the fourth dimension, partnered with the American Humane Association to ban animate being cruelty on moving-picture show — eventually leading to the famous, reassuring phrase "No animals were harmed in the making of this flick."

iv. Pink Flamingos (1972)
For John Waters' independently produced, famously depraved cult film Pinkish Flamingos, which chronicles several characters' competition to earn the championship "Filthiest Person Alive," the director included a scene in which two people aggressively use alive chickens every bit sex toys. Asked subsequently in his career about the on-set expiry of 1 chicken, Waters was unrepentant: "We bought the chicken from a farmer who advertised freshly-killed chicken. I retrieve we made the chicken's life better: Got to be in a movie, got fucked… And then right after filming the adjacent take, the cast ate the chicken."

5. Heaven'south Gate (1980)
The always-watchful heart of an on-fix representative from the American Humane Association improved Hollywood's handling of animals immeasurably, but filmmakers who elected to work without AHA oversight could yet operate unchecked. Director Michael Cimino was one such filmmaker. He refused to permit the AHA on set of his western Heaven's Gate, leading to accusations of animal cruelty that included four dead horses, disemboweled cows, and unsimulated cockfights. The AHA picketed the film upon its release, and Heaven's Gate became one of the most notorious flops in movie theatre history.

6. Oldboy(2003)
The script for this Korean thriller called for the protagonist to swallow a alive octopus after enduring 15 years in captivity. Showing an nigh unbelievable commitment to his role, star Choi Min-sik ate 4 live octopi when production required that the scene be shot iv times. Min-sik, a dedicated Buddhist, reportedly said a prayer for each octopus, and apologized before shooting.

7. Manderlay (2005)
Director Lars von Trier is famous for his unrelentingly grim films, only his period drama Manderlay invited an specially angry response when an actual ass was slaughtered on camera. Though a spokeswoman for the film protested that the donkey was due to be slaughtered anyhow, and had actually lived two months longer afterwards being caused past the production, thespian John C. Reilly was reported to have quit the moving picture in protestation. Von Trier somewhen elected not to utilise the footage in the terminal motion-picture show.

8. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeying (2012)
The Hobbit is a more complicated example because its 27 alleged animal deaths occurred off-fix, due to what fauna wranglers on the pic dubbed "death traps" (bluffs, sinkholes, and broken fences) on the New Zealand ranch where they were kept. Reportedly, chickens were mauled by dogs, a horse savage over a bluff, a pony broke his back, and goats and sheep contracted worms. PETA has vowed to protest the moving-picture show's premiere. Amid the growing controversy, director Peter Jackson issued a statement insisting that animal safety concerns were "immediately investigated," with appropriate activity taken.

Sources: E! Online (2), Salon (two), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation,Turner Classic Movies,The AV Club(2) (3),MSNBC , The Wrap