Cute puppies, hungry eagles, and illusions

The latest dog movie star winning over audiences is Kevin, a fluffy American Eskimo, who stars with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal.

In real life Kevin is played by four different dogs, Flurry, Sitka, Nanu and Winter. Like all of the Lassies, each puppy has learned a special skill. Flurry, however, was the dog with star quality who was a favorite with the cast and crew, even forming a special bond with Bullock.

At one point in the movie Bullock’s character tries to sacrifice the puppy to an eagle. Between takes she apologized profusely, promising that she didn’t mean to hurt him. (If you’re reading this blog, you have undoubtedly apologized to a dog or cat on more than one occasion.) 

Sandra Bullock isn’t one of those celebrities who consider a dog a fashion accessory, the ones we all like to make fun of. She is devoted to her two tiny Chihuahuas, one of whom has no front legs.

In this film, however, she tries to feed a cute fluffy puppy to a hungry eagle. The scene involved two eagles and two trainers. Actually the dog and the eagle were never on the set at the same time. Here’s how it was done:

First, trainers cued the dog to walk around, pace and bark. Then, the dog was removed from the set and a trained eagle was used for the live eagle action. The trainer, with the eagle on his arm, walked up a ladder and set the bird on its mark on a tree branch. The eagle had a tether attached to leather straps on its ankles, and a second trainer held the tether and whistled for the eagle to fly to his arm. This action was filmed a couple of times. The bird was rested and given treats after each take. A sack that would be “invisible” against a green screen was placed on a custom-made stand on the ground, and the eagle was cued to fly down, grab the sack and fly back up, all while trainers controlled the tether. The sack was then replaced with “Kevin” in post-production. More Information

No animals were harmed during the making of this film. But they seem to have gotten a lot of treats.

Comments

[Therese]

I apologized profusely to my dog, Archie, today after I stepped on his food. He's such a sweetheart - he forgave me right away.

[jan's funny farm]

Whyever would she want to sacrifice a puppy to an eagle? Glad the puppy wasn't hurt.

[jackie]

i say 'im sorry to all my animals' having stepped on a paw or whacked one while rolling over in bed...they always give me the 'ya...stupid' look..

[Khyra]

I wasn't available so they had to use an Eskie or two or three or four...

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

[pam]

I was gonna say, that sounds like a deeply suspicious amount of treats. I wonder why PETA isn't all over this blatant practice of bribing pets into participating in box office hits.

[pam]

Er, I meant to say "bribing animals," not "bribing pets." I didn't mean to come off as a politically insensitive pet-ist.

[pet sling]

dogs are companions for some of us,
for others, it is an acceessory.

[utenzi]

I know I'm swimming against the current here, but if I had a chihuahua I might want to sacrifice it to an eagle. Not Flurry though. That's a real dog. On the other hand, I've always had doubts about the lineage of chihuhuas. Maybe some DNA testing is in order...

[the 4 Bs]

it's really interesting to hear how films are made.

it's cool to hear that Sandra Bullock is a REAL animal lover and that she even has a disabled dog. good for her.

[cube]

Why in the world did the character in the movie want to sacrifice the dog to the eagle? I guess they have some highly contorted plot line to explain it, but it sounds like one of those movies I will skip.

[Tom and Icy]

Like how they did Harry Potter's owl.

[Jimmy]

I've had to apologize to my pups a time or two, but for trying to feed them to another animal never entered the equation?

[Col]

I have always been a big Sandra Bullock fan. She has always seemed more down to earth than many of the current celebs.

[Lynne]

This will be good to know when I watch the movie. As for apologizing to my dog yep probably do it every day. Step on her foot, feed her 5 minutes late, make her move when she's hogging the bed.... hay I'm a softee... but, sometimes I get tired of laying right on the edge of the bed cuz the "black log" as we call her won't move.

[Tony]

I once read of a woman's Chihuahua that was taken at a beach in western australia by a pelican.