The amazing facts behind the scenes about animal actors

The project is a biography of the same tiger tamer who played the main role in Striped Voyage. The filming involved ten adult tigers, two cubs, a panther, a bear, a leopard and a chimpanzee. The role of Pursh, Nazarova’s favorite, was played by four predators at once – Ozzy, Martin, Shakira and Justin.

– It was a pleasure to work with them, – the actress shares Olga Pogodina, performed the title role. – For example, little Ozzy, who at the time of work was only eight months old, easily entered the complex role of the outgoing Pursh. At the command “Die!” he instantly rolled his eyes and lay on his side, no longer moving.

In the story, a five-year-old boy Bob spends time at the zoo, where his mother sells ice cream. There he became friends with an elephant. When the visitors leave in the evening, the elephant goes to look for his little friend in the city, causing confusion among the residents by its appearance.

– The elephant, which became a star after the release of the film, was called in tune with the name of the main character – Bobo, – the actor tells “Antenna” Helium Sysoev, played a zoo attendant. – Although we knew him before filming: in the Leningrad Zoo, where he stayed, it was the only African elephant in history. To give the animal less stress, it was decided not to return it to the zoo after the end of the shift, but to leave it at Lenfilm during the creation of the picture. There he felt comfortable, because in his free time he walked in the wonderful garden of the film studio.

During a scientific meeting of animal language specialists, Professor Ruzicka from Prague argues with his colleague from England, Mrs. Winstler, that even an elephant can be taught to sing, after which two scientists go to a nearby circus to conduct a scientific experiment.

– And we taught our elephant to sing! – the actress recalls Iva Yanzhurova, sung by Mrs Winstler. “Her name was Rezi. She was trained by the Honored Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR Mansur Gulamovich Shirvani, who became famous for having invented several original numbers. Not every person is capable of becoming an actor, let alone a good one. So with animals, including elephants, it’s the same. Not every one of them, even a perfectly trained one, can fulfill all the tasks of a director and not be capricious. And our Rezi could! Not only became an actress, but also wonderfully, in a full voice, rhythmically sang-trumpet in the finale, got a standing ovation!

Petersburg, the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. When Alexandra, the daughter of a renowned doctor, fell ill, even the most experienced doctors were unable to diagnose her. But one day her father met his longtime acquaintance, a former medical student, and now a minister in a circus tent. He came to the girl’s home and told her about the elephant Bumbo – and the girl wanted him to visit her …

– Becoming a circus artist and starring with real animals was my great and old dream, – the actor admits Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, performer of the role of circus performer Akhmet – trainer Bumbo. “I didn’t part with our starlet, the elephant Lakshmi, during the breaks. And at the next dinner, the idea came to my mind to take a picture with her as a keepsake. For this I climbed Lakshmi. The photographer took a picture and left, and I sat a little longer and began to descend.

And then I noticed that someone from the film crew made a joke: removed the ladder along which I climbed. I didn’t get lost and call for help, otherwise they would have laughed at me until the end of filming, but began to descend, gently rolling over the ears of the elephant. And unexpectedly for myself, he began to slide off faster than planned, due to the fact that the elephant was wrapped in some kind of robes and carpets. She is African, and we filmed in St. Petersburg in November, when the weather was already extremely chilly. In order not to fall sharply and not break, I desperately grabbed at something, not seeing clearly what for. And, sitting down on the elephant’s trunk, he grabbed her lower lip – so thick, hairy! And she, apparently, took it for some kind of conditioned signal and began to swing me up and down on my trunk. It was not scary at all, on the contrary! So I rode for about ten minutes, after which I finally got off safely to the ground.

All this was not included in the picture, since the plot was not required, and we did not advertise our tricks then. But it is filled with many other tricks that the elephant coped with brilliantly. I even ate a piece of cake from the tray without getting dirty! I often remember Lakshmi with warmth – she became truly dear to us.

– Then the meek and complaisant animal first revealed itself, showing a talent for acting, portraying a stubborn donkey, – they note in the Simferopol zoo corner, which provided the donkey to Lyusya for filming. – Making her stubborn, which was necessary according to the script, turned out to be very difficult, because Lucy was extremely obedient and well-mannered. But she did it with a bang!

Here Alexander Demyanenko and Natalya Varley helped a lot, who surrounded her with love and even secretly fed her with sugar. After that, our Lucy became a superstar and continued her film career at a respectable age. So, at the age of 54, she shone on the set of the second part of the “Spetsnaz” series, dashingly jumping over the mountains and not at all afraid of pyrotechnic effects. And at 56, she starred in the action movie “Company 9” by Fyodor Bondarchuk. She didn’t need an understudy in any scene! In her free time from filmmaking, she gladly rolled the kids along the park alleys. Donkeys usually live 25-30 years, and Lucy was a long-liver and left us at 59 years old.

– The story of the lion King, who became famous after the release of the comedy Eldar Ryazanov, was known to everyone in the Soviet Union, – says the operator Mihail Bic… – He was born in the Baku Zoo very frail and stunted, and his mother died in childbirth, so they decided to euthanize the cub. But the lion cub was saved. The family of the architect Lev Berberov saw him and persuaded him to give it to them for nursing. They settled the lion cub right at home, where their two children lived.

A roof enclosure was built for walking the animal. By the way, in addition to King, the puma Lyalya, the dog Chap and two parrots also lived in this family. And everyone got along well! Leo turned out to be very kind and calm by nature. At that time in the USSR, the fashion for the domestication of wild animals just went, and the Berberov family was often cited as an example. The fashionable fad was also promoted in the cinema, which is why they introduced a storyline with a lion in Italians. However, filming all of this was extremely difficult.

King did not cope with the tasks from the first take, and many artists were afraid of him in panic and refused to come close to him, which also complicated the matter. But in the end, everyone overcame their fears, and the lion gained acting skills, and everything in the picture turned out as the director intended. From the day of the premiere, King was recognized and loved by everyone. The whole country mourned his tragic death …

– When the bear Maryam was very little, she was taken to a border guard, who was forced to shoot her mother, – explain in the Moscow Zoo. “Thanks to her lovable nature, she never bothered anyone. However, they were not allowed to leave her in the unit, and Sergeant Petrov took her to Moscow to give her as a gift to our zoo. From there she was taken by the Mosfilmists.

The adaptation of Boris Polevoy’s story was filmed carefully. They even wondered whether it was worth introducing a real bear into the frame at all, or it would be better to get by with a doll. But Maryam’s participation was insisted on by the leading actor Pavel Kadochnikov, who already had a successful experience of filming with our pets in Robinson Crusoe. But he himself nevertheless became a little worried when he lay motionless in the snow, sniffed by the beast. Especially at the moment when Maryam became interested in his nose. Everything worked out: she only licked the makeup, leaving not a scratch on the actor’s face. After filming, Pavel visited Marya more than once, and she delighted our visitors for a long time.

The drama tells the story of the old man Mikkipera and his wife Oppuos, who live in the deep taiga in the 1930s. Old people lead a measured and lonely life, but suddenly a “king-bird” – an eagle – flies into their house.

– Initially, we wanted to take an eagle in the Yakutsk Zoo, they have as many as two, but they refused us, since both are in the Red Book, – explains the director Eduard Novikov… – Therefore, I had to get in touch with the berkutchi – these are hunters with eagles. With the help of a friend, I found berkutchi in the Ton district of the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. They helped us a lot! We shot all the scenes with the cameraman Semyon Amanatov in the same place in just a week. The process was easy and simple: we had a storyboard ready, and from it I showed the berkutchi what needed to be done, and the eagles did exactly what we wanted. The eagle is a sacred bird not only for the Yakuts, but also for many peoples, so we treated our feathered heroes with great respect.