Those leading stars who steal the show

The spectacular Hindi film J’odhaa Akbar’, now showing here, has an unusually large cast of animals – 50 elephants, 100 horses and 55 camels. The biggest menagerie ever assembled for a film was for the 1956 Hollywood epic, Around The World In 80 Days, which featured 2,448 buffaloes, 950 donkeys, 800 horses, 515 monkeys and 15 elephants.

Animals have figured prominently in movies since the earliest days of the film industry. Four-legged actors have been appearing live and in animated movies, and now they also get digital treatment. Some of these animal actors have even eclipsed their human counterparts to become box-office stars and, believe it or not, some have even been nominated for Oscars!

Among the first animal actors were Pepper the Cat (who was born under a studio sound stage), and Fredrick, a white mouse that starred with Pepper. Teddy was a Great Dane who signed his own film contract with a paw-mark. And there was Anna May, the Indian elephant that appeared in many beloved Tarzan films. And, of course, who can forget the almost live Donald Duck who spoke French, Spanish, Japanese, German and Chinese.

Rin Tin Tin was cinema’s first dog star, and in 1922 he helped save the Warner Brothers Studio from bankruptcy. A chimpanzee called Bonzo starred opposite former US President Reagan in the 1953 film Bedtime For Bonzo. The famous Lassie who appeared in pictures as a female dog was actually a male.

That genius madcap Groucho Marx had this to say: “Ever since they found out that Lassie was a boy, the public has believed the worst about Hollywood.” Perhaps the most visible movie beasts were Slats, Jackie and Tanner, the roaring lions that have appeared over the decades in the iconic MGM logo that precedes all Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films. It has even been claimed that one of the lions was from the Dehiwela Zoo!

Animal actors have been favourites not only among moviegoers but also among the stars themselves. Oscar winner Elizabeth Taylor once said: “Some of my best leading men have been horses and dogs.”

By Asoka Weerakoon, Kandy