Written by Michelle Kretzer
The new 3-D animated film Delhi Safari has all the elements of a kid-friendly romp: wise-cracking animals, madcap adventure, and sing-along–worthy musical scores performed by the likes of dancing parrots and turbaned flamingoes. But cleverly disguised beneath the hilarity and hijinks, the film's message is one that's never too early for kids to hear: Human beings must think about how our actions affect other species.
As the film, which is set in India, opens, builders begin bulldozing a forest to erect a new housing development. But an intrepid group of animals who call the forest home band together on a journey to Delhi to ask the government to stop the destruction. Throughout the exciting escapade, kids can see that animals value their homes, their families, and their lives, just as we do. And, as the animals make clear when they finally reach Delhi, we must all learn to coexist peacefully.
The film, which features the voice of PETA supporter Jane Lynch, is being released in select cities, but Delhi Safari is worth taking kids on their own safari to see it. You can request a showing in your area using GATHR, or buy tickets online for a theater near you.
You can also visit PETAKids.com for fun activities, games, stickers, coloring books, and more that can help kids develop compassion for animals.
Lasse Hallström's Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt, might not sound like a film that would be fishing for praise from PETA, but the filming of the drama went swimmingly, thanks to fake fish.
This isn't the first time that fake fish have made a splash on the big screen. A River Runs Through It, directed by Robert Redford, and Wolfgang Petersen's The Perfect Storm both got two fins up for not using real fish.
Animatronic and computer-generated animals are getting starring roles in more and more films, such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Big Miracle, because people who care about animals refuse to tolerate cruelty in the entertainment industry.
Fishing's stars are reeling in the animal accolades too. Both Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor love their companion dogs, and Emily has been known to enjoy a vegan meal, while Ewan donated an autographed picture to an animal shelter's fundraiser.
Fake fish aren't just enjoyable onscreen—fantastic faux-fish dishes make for dinner and a movie that fish can get behind.
Written by PETA
Director Cameron Crowe is getting an earful from world-famous primatologist Dr. Iqbal Malik, who sent a letter on PETA's behalf to the director of the upcoming film We Bought a Zoo, asking him to stop using animals in films.
© edelmar/ iStockPhoto.com
Despite being made aware of the suffering endured behind the scenes by performing primates, Crowe has made jokes about Crystal, a capuchin monkey used in the film. But there's nothing funny about ripping primates away from their protective mothers shortly after birth so that they can be trained to perform tricks. These highly social animals suffer from debilitating loneliness and depression when isolated from other monkeys as they typically are in the entertainment industry. In the letter, Dr. Malik asks Crowe to remember that "as 'performing' monkeys grow older, become sick, or are no longer useful to their trainers, most are discarded or sold into the pet trade."
As the astonishingly realistic computer-generated primates in Rise of the Planet of the Apes prove, directors have no excuse for playing a role in subjecting animals to a life of confinement and loneliness.
Go buy a ticket to Rise of the Planet of the Apes—I promise that you'll be glued to your seat.
Written by Jennifer O'Connor
One of my favorite vegan actors, Casey Affleck, is currently starring in a controversial new film, The Killer Inside Me. In it, he plays a small-town cop who turns out to be a psychotic killer. Casey always draws raves from film critics for his understated performances—and adoration from his caring fans who applaud his compassionate vegan lifestyle, a huge contrast to that of the bloody character he plays in this role.
We're giving away one five-pack of the actor's best films on DVD, including Gone Baby Gone, Chasing Amy, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Ocean's Eleven, and an exclusive autographed copy of Lonesome Jim. To win it, simply create your own film title that describes the animal-friendly secret person inside you. Confused? This might help: Mine would be The Three-Tofutti-Cuties-in-One-Sitting Snarfer Inside Me. That film title might not be Oscar-worthy—but your title might land you the Casey Affleck DVD pack.
The contest ends on July 9, 2010, and we'll pick a winner (based on the most creative film title submission) on July 13, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting.
Good Luck!
Written by Karin Bennett
Newsflash: The best sequel of 2009 was not Fast & Furious 4. Nope, the best update on a classic was the revamp of one of the greatest fur-busting tools on the market—the FURminator. As far as brushes for companion animals go, the FURminator 2.0 is like The Godfather II (or New Super Chick Sisters)—it may be the second installment, but it's the mane event. With a new ergonomic rubber handle and a FURejector button that allows the brush to clean itself, the "deLuxe" FURminator is an awesome advancement in companion-animal hair removal, making life a little nicer for your furniture and for Fido (dogs who are brushed regularly have healthier skin and coats).
How can you win this groundbreaking gadget? Just pick a movie and come up with a clever title for its animal-themed sequel—like "Catvatar: The Feline Colonization of Pandora." (Admit it, you'd see it!) We're giving a FURminator 2.0 to the reader who comes up with wittiest title, so put your linguistic superpowers to work. Come on, I know you can do better than "Catvatar"!
Enter by posting your sequel idea in the comments section. The contest ends on January 20, 2010, and we'll pick the winners on January 22, 2010. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. Good luck!
Written by Logan Scherer
If you've already caught any of this summer's movie blockbusters, you may have seen Sprint's "turn off your cell phone" reminder, which features a live chimpanzee.
Witnessing animal abuse during the previews definitely ruins a movie before it starts, but—thanks to those who participated in our action alert and all of you who tweeted at Sprint—we're thrilled to announce that the company has decided to stop circulating the ads as of July 3 and has pledged never to feature great apes in future ad campaigns. Yay! Check out Sprint's full statement on its Web site.
Chimpanzees and other great apes who are forced into the entertainment industry are ripped away from their mothers when they are only days old, are trained by being beaten, kicked, and punched, and are then discarded at filthy roadside zoos when they're no longer useful in show business. After learning about this abuse, progressive companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Gap Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., SEGA, Honda, PUMA, Yahoo!, Subaru, and now Sprint have been quick to step up and take a stand for animals. Castrol, are you listening?
Written by Liz Graffeo
The holidays are prime movie-watching time, so here is PETA's list of the good, the not-so-bad-but-could-be-better, and the downright ugly films for animals of 2008.
The Good
Marley and MeScheduled for release this Christmas, PETA got a sneak peek at this funny and touching movie in which the Grogans (played by Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) love, care and stick with their dog, Marley, through tipped-over tables, shredded couches, eaten necklaces, and all of Marley's hilarious-but-naughty escapades. Why do we give this movie "two very enthusiastic paws up"? The Grogans' dedication to Marley reminds audiences that
adding an animal to the family means making a lifetime commitment to treating the animal like a family member—even when the going gets tough. We're also psyched that the Grogans adopt Marley from a rescue group instead of buying a puppy from a breeder or pet store.
BoltIn theaters now, this computer-animated movie follows the adventures of Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), the superhero canine co-star in a hit action TV series also featuring his loving guardian, Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus). Here's the run-down (no spoilers, I promise): Bolt doesn't know that he's on a show, so when Penny's character gets kidnapped he thinks it's the real deal. He sets out to rescue her with the help of a cat named Mittens and a hamster named Rhino, and mayhem ensues—until the audience is treated to a warm and fuzzy animal-friendly ending.
Why do we dig this Disney doggy flick? As Bolt learns the joys of playing fetch, hanging his head out car windows and doing all the other dog behaviors he's been missing out on, the message is clear: Animals would never choose to become entertainers. Forced into the spotlight and deprived of everything that is natural and important to them, animals have no business in show business. Dogs would much rather play in the yard than perform tricks on a TV or film set. Just ask Bolt.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince CaspianNow available on DVD, this dazzling Disney fantasy sends the four Pevensie kids back to Narnia to help Prince Caspian fight for his throne. The talking lion and swashbuckling mice are extra nice thanks to the film's ingenious use of computer-generated imaging (CGI). We give Narnia "two animatronic paws up" for using cutting-edge technological advancements to replace live animals in front of the camera. With the impressive realism and precise results of CGI, puppetry, costumes, and animatronics, there is no longer any reason to subject animals to a lifetime of misery and abuse.
Not-So-Bad-but-Could-Be-Better
The Dark KnightGranted, Batman looks pretty "Ka-Pow!" in his pleather crime-fighting costume, but when did the Caped Crusader turn into a canine hater? We're not too happy that the movie portrays dogs as aggressive attack animals or that Batman beats them up during a fight. We do however give props to the film's creators for having awesome FX masters Animal Makers create ultra-realistic animatronic dogs for the scene. For that, we applaud The Dark Knight for creating movie magic without making real animals suffer.
After all, the showbiz life is anything but cushy for animal "actors." Whether by confining animals to small cages, forcing them to perform out of fear, transporting them long distances in cramped trailers, exposing them to extreme conditions, or separating families, the film industry causes animals to suffer. Whistleblowers on movie sets continue to report that terrified animals are kept in substandard conditions and are highly stressed by the noise and lights—and that animals are often injured or killed during filming.
Beverly Hills ChihuahuaWhat's our gripe with Beverly Hills Chihuahua? It's the whole "101 Dalmatians" effect, only this time it was Chihuahuas. After the release of the live-action version of "101 Dalmatians" and its sequel, the number of Dalmatians in U.S. animal shelters spiked. After seeing movies featuring specific breeds of dogs, impressionable viewers often decide to buy look-alike dogs on impulse—with no knowledge of the time, energy, and commitment involved in having an animal companion. Well of course, now shelters are bursting with Chihuahuas.
OK, here's our praise: Disney has included a disclaimer on its Web site and at the end of the film about the lifelong responsibility of having an animal companion. Quite impressively, they even encourage people to adopt rather than purchase an animal.
Madagascar: Escape 2 AfricaOur praise: This sequel shows how happy the members of the madcap menagerie of former zoo animals are to get back to their roots when they're stranded in Africa. Our gripe: They still keep trying to get back to their zoo! I know that it's animated, so you have to have some suspension of disbelief, but come on! No real animal ever wants to be held in captivity. Animals in zoos are confined to cramped, barren enclosures that are nothing like their natural habitats. They suffer from extremely crowded conditions, poor nutrition, and mind-numbing monotony. Does that sound like a place that you'd keep trying to get back to?
The Ugly
Speed RacerJust like pretty much everyone else in the world, we give this live-action movie adaptation of the classic animated television series Speed Racer "two opposable thumbs way down." When PETA learned that real chimpanzees were to play the part of Chim Chim, we immediately wrote to the producers and Warner Bros. urging them to use CGI or animatronics instead. It was a no-go. Choosing to take the low road, they went through with using real chimpanzees. What happened? In addition to an incident in which one of the chimpanzees bit a stand-in actor, we learned that a monitor with the American Humane Association witnessed animal trainer Greg Lille "in an uncontrolled impulse, hit [a] chimpanzee."
The events that occurred on the set of Speed Racer perfectly illustrate the entertainment industry's abusive treatment of exotic animals. To train great apes to perform, trainers forcibly remove them from their mothers when the animals are just infants, train them by beating, kicking, and punching them, and callously discard them to roadside zoos when they are too old and strong to handle (which occurs at age 8, and great apes live to be over 60 years old).
You Don't Mess With the ZohanWhen you mess with the animals, you mess with the PETA. We wrote to Adam Sandler after receiving numerous complaints about several troubling scenes in this film—including one in which Zohan uses a cat as a hacky sack and another scene in which a man uses a cow as a punching bag. The way this hair-brained movie uses animals in cruel jokes is anything but harmless and could encourage deadly "copycat" actions. Every day, our cruelty caseworkers deal with people who mimic scenes just like these from movies and television. It's imperative that young people develop empathy for all beings and learn that might doesn't make right.
Semi-ProWhen we heard that a bear was going to be part of the cast of this b-ball bomb, we wrote to Will Farrell to inform him of the cruelty involved in forcing animals to perform and to ask him to keep live animals out of his films. Perhaps he had his Old School "ear muffs" on, because our words fell on deaf ears. Not only did Semi-Pro feature a live bear (a bear named Rocky who attacked and killed his trainer only months later), it also encouraged stupid people to do stupid stunts with live animals. This just goes to show that the only hairy creature in Will Ferrell movies should be Will Ferrell.
Written by Amy Elizabeth
Just in time for the release of Saw V and the craziness of the Halloween horror-movie season, PETA will be running one of our creepy KFC ads in movie theaters in Baltimore and Denver for the next four weeks. This will really make horror-movie lovers think about the horror that chickens go through just to end up in a greasy KFC bucket.
While people cringe in their seats at the blood and guts on screen, hopefully they'll think back to the ad and realize that the same bloody butchering scene goes on in slaughterhouses every day.
Check out the ad here and tell us what you think:
Written by Christine Doré
Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation opens tomorrow. Just like the book, the film promises to get a lot of people thinking about whether they really want to be eating stuff that shady corporations have made out of processed animal parts. This makes me happy, because it's like someone else is doing my job for me. In fact, I think I might just take the day off tomorrow.
To celebrate the release of the film, we sat down with Richard Linklater and members of the cast, including Paul Dano and Esai Morales, for some exclusive interviews. We also made this extremely addictive Fast Food Nation game, which has slowed productivity around the office to a crawl. Check it out. Then find someone you love, or—failing that—someone you feel you can stand to take in a movie with, and go watch Fast Food Nation tomorrow night. It’s going be pretty damn good.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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