14 DAY TRIAL // There is very little truth in the “No animals were harmed in the making of this film” label that some cinematic productions sport, an investigation carried out by The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.
Thus, it appears that, during the filming of “Life of Pi,” a tiger nearly died after being forced to swim a tad more than its body could handle. To make matters even worse, an American Humane Association (AHA) worker witness the incident, and failed to report it.
At that time, AHA representative Gina Johnson was reportedly romantically involved with a production executive of the film. Hence, many suspect that the tiger's near-death experience slipped her mind not by mistake, but on purpose.
“This one take with him just went really bad and he got lost trying to swim to the side. Damn near drowned… I think this goes without saying but DON’T MENTION IT TO ANYONE, ESPECIALLY THE OFFICE! I have downplayed the [expletive] out of it,” Gina Johnson wrote in an email obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
By the looks of it, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” were not animal abuse-free either.
On the contrary, 27 animals are said to have lost their lives during the making of “The Hobbit.” Most of them were sheep or goats, and dehydration, exhaustion and drowning were the most common causes of death.
As far as “Pirates of the Caribbean” is concerned, it appears that a series of underwater explosions intended to help create special effects caused several dozen marine animals to wash ashore.
The Hollywood Reporter also says that 4 horses were killed on the set of HBO's “Luck,” and that a squirrel was crushed to death during the making of “Failure to Launch.”
Although these movie sets were all monitored by AHA staffers, the films all got to display the “No animals were harmed in the making of this film” message at the end of their credits.
The publication bases its accusations on information obtained after talking to six AHA employees who have all chosen to remain anonymous, and reviewing some of the organization's internal documents.
For the time being, AHA has not made any statements on the issue.