Jump to content
IGNORED

The Hobbit loses Guillermo Del Toro


Rubin Farr

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 804
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • 2 weeks later...

The former Seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy is in the film, and there's a recent report that 27 animals died during the filming and is being looked into by PETA/AHA...

 

PJ responds to the allegations.

 

Animal Allegations on The Hobbit

by Peter Jackson on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 4:25pm ·

 

The Hobbit production has always instituted swift and immediate investigations in to any concerns of any kind over the treatment of animals under its care. A prompt and thorough investigation into the recent unsubstantiated allegations by the American organisation, PETA, in to the ‘hobbling’ of a horse during the making of The Hobbit was undertaken. No evidence of such a practice was found to have occurred at any time. Further, the production contacted the owner of the horse concerned who provided the following statement: “I am 100% happy with the return of Shanghai and his condition. In the term that he was leased he was picked up and returned to me two times. On both occasions there was not a mark on him and he was healthy and happy. He has shown no signs of ill-treatment. I would not hesitate in leasing him to the movie again.”

 

To date, the only horse wranglers whose treatment of animals fell below the production’s standard of care seem to be the two wranglers who have chosen to level this new accusation on the eve of the premiere of the first Hobbit film and who were dismissed by the production over a year ago. Reports of their actions are documented in several written statements dating back to October 2011.

 

The production regrets that PETA has chosen to make such a serious accusation, which has distressed many of the dedicated Kiwis who worked with animals on the films - including trainers, wranglers, care-givers, farm workers and animal health care professionals - without properly vetting the source from which they received this information.

 

The production has been inundated with calls of support as regards to this matter, including the following statements:

 

 

FROM: DR JULIA BRYCE BVSc

“From December 2010 till July 2012, this practice was the primary Veterinary care giver for the horses and livestock in the care of “Three Foot Seven”.

 

During this period we were consulted promptly in cases of injury and illness. We were also consulted routinely about ongoing veterinary care and preventative medicine.

 

If referral was required to a specialist clinic or Massey Equine Clinic, this occurred promptly. As occurs in normal practice there are incidences and injury which may result in an unfavourable outcome and others that recover completely; like the young goat who fractured a front leg but recovered completely after 6 weeks in a cast and hospital rest, or the rooster who spent two weeks at our clinic with a foot infection.

 

These and other animals in the care of Three Foot Seven Limited received the best available treatment to ensure their recovery, their welfare and return to good health was paramount to those in charge. At no time were we concerned about the welfare and on-going treatment of animals under our care.”

 

 

FROM: JOY GRAY - FARMER

“I was appalled to hear of the wild claims being made in the media by PETA. I and my family own the farm which the Hobbits used to train their animals. Myself, my manager, my children and grand-children saw nothing to make us uncomfortable or give us cause for concern. We all had totally free access to all activities at all times. In fact, the animals were wonderfully looked after, being well-fed, well-housed, and well-treated. As both farmers and dedicated horse people ourselves we would have stood for nothing less. I myself ride horses, all my children rode competitively and now my grandchildren ride.

 

I was involved in Pony Club for many years and was District Commissioner for the Wellington Pony Club. My manager was totally aware of all that was happening with the Hobbits and he is outraged at these false claims.

 

The sixty horses, the cattle, oxen, sheep, goats, dogs, pigs, hens etc. were given professional and humane treatment.”

 

 

FROM: JED BROPHY - ACTOR (NORI)

“As an actor and animal trainer who has worked on large scale productions here in New Zealand, in particular The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and more recently, The Hobbit, I am flabbergasted to read this morning of the accusations levelled at the production by PETA. With a production as large as The Hobbit, filmed over such an extensive period the care of the animals used in filming was exceptional. The entire time we were on set, and when we were training with the animal wranglers employed to look after and train the animals for filming, I observed no mistreatment - in fact the opposite is true.

 

The animals were treated with the utmost care and responsibility. The farm in which they were housed had excellent facilities for the care and maintenance of the animals’ health. So much so that I moved my own horse on site so I could ride him for training exercises. At all times on set we had experienced Wranglers and Animal health Authorities on hand and Vets to monitor the welfare of the Animals working for the film. It has been my experience working for this film company that they take every conceivable precaution and employ the very best practitioners in every department and that includes the animal department.

 

I feel that there is a certain amount of personal vindictiveness levelled at the production from individuals with their own agenda. As is often the case in these situations, organisations will leap at the chance to gain publicity for their cause without seeking the truth. Being an experienced horseman and having worked as a wrangler and rider in the past, I would not have allowed myself to be a part of any production that knowingly employed unsafe practice in the workplace in this way. I can say with absolute certainty the production went out of their way to treat animals with the upmost respect and care.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They're the worst kind of activist organization; justifying their overreaching actions all in the name of their "noble" cause...

 

This whole Hobbit/animal abuse thing looks like it's more about disgruntled workers than anything else, although there are the two 'avoidable' animal deaths mentioned...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah cause we all know PETA to be completely level-headed and calm

 

PETA is giving animal rights a bad name by being such twats. What's wrong with them?

 

Well, they are kind of extremists. Did you know that they are against the idea of having pets? Yes. You're not allowed to have any pets in PETA world. It's "captivity" or whatever. Their extremeness might explain their agressive campaigns and stuff tho.

 

Penn & Teller did an interesting episode about them.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inFtOMx8nDU

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PETA also does really ridiculous publicity stunts. For example at Dog shows they had PETA people standing in front of the entrance wearing KKK outfits passing out fliers comparing the slavery of blacks to dog breeding.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PETA also does really ridiculous publicity stunts. For example at Dog shows they had PETA people standing in front of the entrance wearing KKK outfits passing out fliers comparing the slavery of blacks to dog breeding.

 

lol you can't make this shit up

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was overwhelming in the most literal sense. It directly assaults your synapses with twice as much information through your retinas as you have become conditioned to expect from traditional cinema. I did not see the digital seams around creatures like Gollum and the trolls, a major benefit over 24fps. The creatures had a sense of mass in the environment, which was disconcerting in a good way.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched second half of Fellowship of the ring and first half of two towers yesterday.

 

Boy do those movies suck. Even worse than in my memory.

 

Can't wait for Hobbit though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

good thing you didn't watch the last one, 3 hours of unmitigated boy-kiss.

 

i remember the first one actually having a story that wasn't just skeletal outlining for the next "big battle"

 

edit: but yeah total shit, all of them really. what makes us think this will be any better? it won't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.