Wednesday, November 26, 2003

THE ONLY LIST ON WHICH 'REGARDING HENRY' IS DEEMED ACCEPTABLE: You know how most movie credits contain a disclaimer at the end that "No Animals Were Harmed In The Making Of This Movie"?

You might have wondered, at one point, "Says who?" or "What defines harm?"

The American Humane Association, that's who. Go ahead, visit its website, which includes detailed analyses of how animals were used and protected in each film (for example, here's the truth about the filming of The Truth About Cats And Dogs), as well as its 29-page guidelines for proper on-set treatment of animals, in PDF format, containing such helpful rules as:
No drugs, including anesthetics, sedatives, chemical laxatives may be administered to an ANIMAL for the purpose of filmmaking.

Known pregnant ANIMALS shall not be used in action scenes.

The Naphthalene bomb is banned on sets where ANIMALS are present.

Branding of ANIMALS must be simulated. No actual branding is allowed.

Nothing can be done to an insect that will cause permanent harm, or permanently alter its physical characteristics or behavior.

No alcohol will be used around horses at any time.

When an ape is working on set for more than three consecutive full days (six or more hours per day), a play area, empty room, or private park where the ape may exercise and relax must be provided.

Go on, poke around. Maybe you'll stumble across the movie with this scene: "The two chimps that were dissecting the human’s brain and tasting it are named Ellie and Jonah. The brain was made up of methylcellulose, which is a food additive that is added to jelly donuts to make them gel! The two chimps tasted the fake brain and didn’t like it, so the trainer poured honey over the brain right before filming and the chimps loved it!"

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