Is This the End of Live Animals in Movies? A Vet's Perspective

I love animal movies, but does the latest version of “The Call of the Wild” signal the end of live animals in films? 

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If you’re like me, you fell in love with Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild” as a child. If you haven’t read this classic along with “White Fang” do yourself a favor and read the books, then see the movies.

Disney recently released the latest trailer for “The Call of the Wild” starring everyone’s favorite Han Solo, Harrison Ford. What makes this adaptation interesting to me is that Disney chose to make Ford’s canine costar, Buck, a 140-pound Saint Bernard Collie mix, completely computer generated. This follows a trend of augmenting and now replacing live animals with some very realistic CGI.

As a veterinarian and a sucker for a good animal flick, I thought I’d share with you some of the reasons why this is happening and what the potential long term impact for animals may be.

The first, and certainly in my opinion most important reason for this shift from using live, trained animals on set is safety. Many dog lovers refused to see “A Dog’s Purpose” when it was released because of the controversy surrounding the near-drowning of the German Shepherd star dog, Hercules. The intense negative publicity was blamed for the movie’s lackluster box office performance.

This was just one of many cases of animal death and abuse during the making of a blockbuster film. Animals can overheat, be exposed to severe cold such as those described in “The Call of the Wild,” or suffer loud noises, bangs, explosions, or other frightening stimuli. There’s a reason Hollywood pays highly-specialized animal trainers and wranglers big bucks.

The second reason is cost. Big movies can cost close to $400,000 a day to film. If your animal talent misses their mark or fails to perform, that can cost a lot of money. During the latest live-action “The Lady and the Tramp,” the producers said it took three days to film the iconic spaghetti dinner date scene. In the end, after all that work, the crew ended up using a digitally rendered version of the scene. Stories like this scare movie producers from using real animals.

The final reason is acting. Real-life animals simply can’t emote on command or express the complex feelings need to tell the stories. Jack London beautifully describes Buck’s thoughts and feelings in a way you feel closely connected and empathetic. It’s hard to translate those emotions on screen when filming real animals.

”The Lion King” is another example of fantastical storytelling that CGI makes more real, and frankly, believable. I know lions can’t really talk or sing, but, dang, I was singing along with Simba! The uncanny valley that Will Smith tumbled down into with “Gemini Man” is less of a problem with a waltzing warthog or wisecracking meerkat.

Off Labellers, once again I find myself conflicted on this topic. As a veterinarian, I took a vow to protect all animals and worry that using animals on movie sets potentially creates stress and could lead to harm. As a movie lover, the ability to create complex and engaging animal characters means movie writers can share more moving and entertaining stories. As odd as it may sound, I believe using CGI animals in movies could lead to more empathy, concern, and protections for real-life animals.

On the other hand, movies and television shows using real-life animals deeply affected me as a child. “Old Yeller,” “Lassie,” “Flipper,” and even ‘Petey’ from “The Little Rascals” influenced my beliefs as a veterinarian and animal advocate.

The latest Buck in “The Call of the Wild” looks amazing. That last side-eye look Buck gives a grizzled Harrison Ford would've simply been impossible using a real dog. I believe that with the success of these films we can expect to see more CGI animals from now on.

Off Labellers, what do you think? Are CGI animals a necessity for safety and story telling or will the lack of real animals create some sort of emotional void in viewers? Leave me your comments below!