Certified Animal Action Overview

No Animals Were Harmed™ carefully oversaw every moment of animal action in this film to ensure each scene was created with calm, control, and kindness. When the hero strolls past “police dogs,” the real trainers were dressed as officers while they simply walked them along the sidewalk as the actor passed by. In another scene, a pair of rats were placed near a safe grate and allowed to scamper naturally for the camera. Even the dramatic seagull “window crash” was a movie illusion; the bird merely flew from a crate to a treat on the windowsill, with the startling impact added later in post-production. Throughout filming, every animal’s comfort and natural behavior came first, making the movie magic possible without ever putting them at risk.

Detailed Animal Action Report

In the scene where the lead actor walks through the city and he passes a couple of policemen with dogs on their leashes the actual wranglers were dressed as policemen. Before shooting, while waiting to be called to set, the dogs were kept in their cages in a van parked on the street close to the set. Just before shooting the scene, the wranglers (dressed as policemen) brought their dogs to their marks. On action, the main actor walked down the street as the wranglers walked A to B with their dogs in the background.

In the scene where the camera pans up showing an elevator going up to the second floor and we see a couple rats running through a grate, prior to shooting the rats were carried in a crate to the set. The trainer placed the rat on the grate (which wasn’t near an actual elevator). On action, he opened the box, and two rats walked out, and scurried down the grate.

In the scene where the actor sits in subway and we see a guy with an actor holding a dog, the dog’s trainer brought him to the set and placed him on actor’s lap.

In the scene where the actor sits in a hotel room when a seagull suddenly smashes against a window, prior to shooting the scene the trainer brought the seagull in a crate to the set. The trainer took crate to its mark and placed it below the step ladder he used to reach the windowsill. The seagull had a nylon string attached to his leg, which he was accustomed to. The trainer held on to the end of the line while the bird was in the crate. On action, the trainer opened the crate while the other trainer tapped the window ledge and offered a treat. The seagull few straight from the crate to the window ledge and landed on the ledge and ate the treats. In post-production they used this footage and then made it look like the bird crashed into the window.