I felt the same way about the treatment of the lizards (iguanas, I think), but in watching it again I paid close attention to the scene and may have picked up on some points I never noticed before which, if correct, may mean that things aren't as bad as they seem.
In looking at the two shots of the lizard being speared, I'm not at all sure now that that was in fact real. The first spear looks like it was fired onto, not into, the lizard -- it seems to have one of those plunger-like suction tips that stick on but don't actually penetrate the skin. Look closely next time. There's no sign of the spear penetrating the animal's skin -- no flesh or blood torn or spurting out. It hits him but just sticks there, with no visible damage. Obviously this was a quick cut, designed to make it seem that the animal was speared, so you have to watch closely, but now I'm not at all sure that the lizard was in fact speared.
Believe it or not, I think this may also be the case with the seemingly more graphic scene of the spear being shot into the lizard's mouth. Again, it appears to be a tipped dart of some sort -- it goes into but does not actually penetrate the lizard's mouth. The blood we see in the following shot is clearly not real (its color is off and it clearly looks as though it's been applied)), and there's something more: I believe the lizard seen falling away to die, with the spear stuck in him and blood pouring out, is not a real animal but a latex model. (Or, at worst, a dead iguana, but I don't think so.) I don't know whether these lizards would eat one of their own, especially if he were alive, but even when they grab him to start "eating" there's no blood, just tugging at the skin, which doesn't break or tear. Even a dead lizard would have its flesh torn away by the others if they were attacking and eating it.
I'll want to watch the scene again to look it over more carefully, but I think now that in fact the filmmakers did not actually spear a live lizard, kill it or have it eaten, but that all this was conjured very convincingly using good effects and rapid editing. Of course, if I'm right they still hit one lizard with tiny, plunger-shaped rubber darts, but that's a lot better than actually firing spears into him.
I hope my new take on this is right, because I always hated the idea of mistreating the animals.
Of course, your point about the later lizard being covered with whatever the ersatz "lava" was made from is still a good one. If they did only fake the killing of the first lizard, it would seem unlikely that they'd go off and actually kill the second, and I'm sure they could fake that scene to make it look worse than it was...though even so, none of this would have been a happy experience for the poor lizards.
As for Gertrude, her demise was an unfortunate but I suppose necessary plot point. In real life, she -- actually a he -- was treated quite well, and ended up being sent to retirement at a duck farm in Italy. (No kidding: Gertrude has her own IMDb page, so click on her image in the film's cast list and take, you should excuse the expression, a gander.)
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bastasch8647
12 years ago
Please see my post, "Lizards were not harmed":
Elsewhere, Woody Welch has written:
"Safe Lizard sfx Journey to the Center of the Earth
Here's the scoop of lizard poop. Back in the day, movie lava was made out of oatmeal, red poster paint, and some blackened cork to throw in for good measure.... gasoline could be added for flames, but not in this case.
Other movie lava was made out of glycerine and fullers earth(this was sometimes used as "quicksand" in movies) and red dyes.
The lava covering the Tegu lizard is of the oatmeal variety and it seems that the "steam" is actually chunks of dry ice imbedded into the oatmeal and poster paint. The room temperature would cause the chunks of dry ice to vaporize, and, ....LOOK like steam.
The Tegu lizard was gently cooled to 40 degrees which made him groggy.
The dimetrodons were actually a little herd of rhinocerus iguanas and the same cooling effect was used on them so that their special make-up (designed and crafted by Herb Cheek, who was in charge of the special effects miniature shop) could be applied without stress (to the lizards or the appliers)
The miniature spear going into the iguana was actually shot in reverse...a cut off spear was attached with spirit gum to the iguana and pulled away...this was printed in reverse for the film, giving the effect that the spear was "entering" the little beast. The spear miniature evidently blurred to the point that you couldn't tell it was really sharp at the end.
The same technique was used for the devouring scene.
The rhino iguanas were sleepy with the cooling and were gently attached to the "corpse" and they were jiggled back and forth. This "jiggling" was doctored in the printing by removing frames and it was done to give the look as if the flesh eating beasts were gnawing and tearing at the meat of the downed dimetrodon.
Reverse photography was also used in the shots when the beasts bit down, clamping their jaws onto their fallen comerade. They were actually pulling away, but when the film was printed forward, it looked like they were chomping down.
L.B. Abbott himself had said in print that the lizards had 2 speeds....rock still, and 90 miles an hour! When they were cool they would sit there and do nothing. When the movie lights heated them up, they TOOK OFF LIKE A ROCKET. They were placed on tilt sets with the camera (high speed ) attached to the sets...when the sets were tilted, the lizards would "walk" forwards. This was used sparingly. When the dimetrodons "growled" it was simply the iguanas "panting"....they do this, just like a dog, to control their inner body temperature. With the proper sound effects....instant prehistoric beast."
Elsewhere, Woody Welch has written:
"Safe Lizard sfx Journey to the Center of the Earth
Here's the scoop of lizard poop. Back in the day, movie lava was made out of oatmeal, red poster paint, and some blackened cork to throw in for good measure.... gasoline could be added for flames, but not in this case.
Other movie lava was made out of glycerine and fullers earth(this was sometimes used as "quicksand" in movies) and red dyes.
The lava covering the Tegu lizard is of the oatmeal variety and it seems that the "steam" is actually chunks of dry ice imbedded into the oatmeal and poster paint. The room temperature would cause the chunks of dry ice to vaporize, and, ....LOOK like steam.
The Tegu lizard was gently cooled to 40 degrees which made him groggy.
The dimetrodons were actually a little herd of rhinocerus iguanas and the same cooling effect was used on them so that their special make-up (designed and crafted by Herb Cheek, who was in charge of the special effects miniature shop) could be applied without stress (to the lizards or the appliers)
The miniature spear going into the iguana was actually shot in reverse...a cut off spear was attached with spirit gum to the iguana and pulled away...this was printed in reverse for the film, giving the effect that the spear was "entering" the little beast. The spear miniature evidently blurred to the point that you couldn't tell it was really sharp at the end.
The same technique was used for the devouring scene.
The rhino iguanas were sleepy with the cooling and were gently attached to the "corpse" and they were jiggled back and forth. This "jiggling" was doctored in the printing by removing frames and it was done to give the look as if the flesh eating beasts were gnawing and tearing at the meat of the downed dimetrodon.
Reverse photography was also used in the shots when the beasts bit down, clamping their jaws onto their fallen comerade. They were actually pulling away, but when the film was printed forward, it looked like they were chomping down.
L.B. Abbott himself had said in print that the lizards had 2 speeds....rock still, and 90 miles an hour! When they were cool they would sit there and do nothing. When the movie lights heated them up, they TOOK OFF LIKE A ROCKET. They were placed on tilt sets with the camera (high speed ) attached to the sets...when the sets were tilted, the lizards would "walk" forwards. This was used sparingly. When the dimetrodons "growled" it was simply the iguanas "panting"....they do this, just like a dog, to control their inner body temperature. With the proper sound effects....instant prehistoric beast."
http://www.woodywelch.com
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hobnob53
12 years ago
Thank you for including this description of how the film's excellent effects were accomplished.
I'm still not sure that using oatmeal with chunks of dry ice was the greatest thing for the lizard (even melting dry ice isn't good for their skin, and this guy was enveloped by the stuff -- I also hope he was pulled out quickly so he didn't suffocate), but it seems that in all likelihood no lizards were harmed (much, anyway) in the making of this motion picture.
One thing, though, bastasch8647 -- why did you print the same article out twice, above? You could go back and delete the second pritning and make the post shorter. Meanwhile, I'm going to read your new thread. Thanks again.
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