Chimpanzee Gone Wild on Speed Racer set
As you probably know, while most of the sets might be computer generated, Speed Racer’s pet chimpanzee Chim-Chim is being played by an actual real monkey in the Wachowski Brothers big screen adaptation. There are now allegations that the chimp was beaten after biting one of the human actors. PETA is pissed:
“We are in receipt of information that may upset you,” PETA wrote to producer Joel Silver. “We’ve received several troubling complaints from people who have been on the ‘Speed Racer’ set and report that the main chimpanzee ‘actor’ has been beaten and has bitten one of the human actors.”
“We appreciate the concerns of your organization,” came back the letter from movie company Warner Bros. “We also respect the vision and choices of the filmmakers with which we work. Every option on a film is carefully weighed, and for this production, the decision was made to use live animals.”
However, a spokesperson for the film told msnbc that “a chimp did chomp on a young actor, but said that the actor was treated and the animal was given a rest.” The spokesperson aksi sent along assurances from the American Humane Society that no animals were being abused. The movie studio would never lie, right? PETA has suggested that Silver stop using the live animal and switch to animatronics. An animatronic Chim-Chim? They can’t be serious, can they?
Chimp Beaten On Christina Ricci Set; PETA Not Happy
Chimp Beaten On Christina Ricci Set; PETA Not Happy
With all the monkey business occurring on the set of Christina Ricci’s latest movie, the actress must be elated to be back in her boyfriend’s arms.
The latest reports from the set of Speed Racer claim that a chimp bit an actor. The whole problem is that there are allegations that the chimp was then beaten in return. And now PETA’s involved.
“We are in receipt of information that may upset you,” PETA wrote to Joel Silver, the film’s producer. “We’ve received several troubling complaints from people who have been on the ‘Speed Racer’ set and report that the main chimpanzee ‘actor’ has been beaten and has bitten one of the human actors.”
MSNBC reports that PETA then went on to “urge Silver to stop using the live critters and switch to animatronics.”
Warner Bros. then issued a response to PETA, stating, “We appreciate the concerns of your organization. We also respect the vision and choices of the filmmakers with which we work. Every option on a film is carefully weighed, and for this production, the decision was made to use live animals.”
Unfortunately for Warner Bros., PETA isn’t satisfied and the organization is known to be quite persistent.
They’ve already fired back, responding to the movie giant: “No humane representative is closely monitoring those animals while off-set or during pre-production training, the very places where abuse is most likely to occur, so we regret to say that the assurances you offer are meaningless.”
The movie’s due out May 9, 2008, so Warner Bros. can only hope that animal-lovers forget about this little PR nightmare. Otherwise, their chimp scandal may just end up costing millions.