Animal Actors: A History

Sami Smith

Animal Actor (n.)

An animal that has been trained to do an action on command for the purposes of performance or media.

Speak:

A golden retriever in glasses

Ryan Gosling in glasses

“Woof”

“I'm just Ken”

Memorizes it

✓

✓

Hits a mark

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✓

Performs on cue

✓

✓

Paid in

Chicken

More than chicken

The 1800s

Circuses, menageries, and dancing bears

A man with a dancing bear standing on its hind legs, holding a pole — A dancing bear in Sussex, England, about 1900

Circus poster showing a herd of elephants in a menagerie — Barnum & Bailey menagerie poster, 1895

Circus poster of performing Great Danes in costume — Performing Great Danes, Forepaugh & Sells Brothers, 1898

Muybridge animation

The 1900s

Rin Tin Tin in The Clash of the Wolves

Rin Tin Tin starred in 26 movies and saved Warner Bros. studio.

Terry, the dog who played Toto

Pal, the collie who played Lassie

Mister Ed the horse

Flipper the dolphin

Pal, the collie who played Lassie

A snowy owl

Babe the pig trotting toward the camera

Bart the Bear

1977–2000

Bart the Bear standing on his hind legs next to his trainer, Doug Seus

9.5 feet

1,500 lb

15 movies

Clip: Doug Seus working with Bart

The Bear (1988)

Clip: Bart in The Bear (1988)

1998: Bart presents an Oscar.

Clip: Bart and Mike Myers at the 1998 Oscars

Now

Britney Spears performing on stage next to a tiger — Britney Spears at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards

Joe Exotic kneeling next to a tiger — Joe Exotic in Tiger King (2020)

Clip: Life of Pi tiger effects breakdown

AI is taking animal jobs

A lion tamer in a red costume posing with a lion in a circus ring

Sami's face pasted over the lion tamer's head

Fin

Nugget peering over the edge of a box with huge eyes

Nugget sitting next to a knocked-over plant

Nugget slow blinking, captioned: slow blinking like he didn't bite me so hard my leg got infected and I couldn't walk for a week

Nugget looking down at the camera

Nugget lying upside down on a red rug