The Elephant in the Living Room begins with its heroic subject Tim Harrison, a police officer turned animal expert in Ohio, cruising in his patrol car, rattling off his accomplishments and experiences in dealing with exotic animals on the loose in America to a passenger seat cam, intercut with local news reports of these crazy animal attacks. At that stage, it’s hard to know what’s special about this feature documentary on exotic animal ownership in the Us that sets it apart from an Animal Planet program (which Tim Harrison has been on before—not to mention Discovery, National geographic, etc.). Several scenes in, we find out.
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- 10/20/2011
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
In one sad moment among many in Michael Webber’s The Elephant In The Living Room, exotic-animal rescuer/advocate Tim Harrison comes to a realization that nearly makes him weep: “If you think about it, I don’t have any happy endings.” And he really doesn’t: Harrison’s job entails wrangling exotic pets—huge pythons, jungle cats, alligators—that have gotten loose, mostly abandoned by people who couldn’t take care of them properly. Sometimes he’s able to place them with zoos or shelters; more often, they end up being “put down,” to use the euphemism most common ...
- 4/14/2011
- avclub.com
Produced and directed by filmmaker Michael Webber, The Elephant In The Living Room documents a hard and sometimes disturbing look at what happens when people decide it’s a good idea to keep wild, “exotic” animals as pets.
Centered around the efforts of one Ohio Public Safety Officer, Tim Harrison, the film explores his life’s mission to not only remove such animals from private owners, but to rehabilitate these animals back to being with others of their kind in a safe and healthy environment, such as a sanctuary.
One such owner is Terry Brumfield, a man who after surviving a truck accident takes refuge from his depression by hand raising 2 African lion cubs – which, by the way, are perfectly legal to own in Ohio and 30 other states in the Us.
Terry, like so many others, starts out raising the lions with the best of intentions and has a deep love for his “pets,...
Centered around the efforts of one Ohio Public Safety Officer, Tim Harrison, the film explores his life’s mission to not only remove such animals from private owners, but to rehabilitate these animals back to being with others of their kind in a safe and healthy environment, such as a sanctuary.
One such owner is Terry Brumfield, a man who after surviving a truck accident takes refuge from his depression by hand raising 2 African lion cubs – which, by the way, are perfectly legal to own in Ohio and 30 other states in the Us.
Terry, like so many others, starts out raising the lions with the best of intentions and has a deep love for his “pets,...
- 4/8/2011
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Elephant in the Living Room is now making its rounds in the theaters. Being one of the first ones to see this award winning documentary over a month ago I must say it's one of the best I've seen and all exotic or domestic animal owners/lovers should take notice!
Director Michael Webber shot this following around Tim Harrison who goes all over the country rescuing animals and helping out of control situations concerning the naimlas nad their owners. You see what a "day in the life" is like for Harrison as we get to witness first hand, the good and the bad that goes along owning these pets.
We get to watch Harrison deal with gators, lots of snakes (I don't like snakes!) and an African lion and its owner, Terry Brumfield, who is dealing with the reality that he might have to give his exotic pets up.
Director Michael Webber shot this following around Tim Harrison who goes all over the country rescuing animals and helping out of control situations concerning the naimlas nad their owners. You see what a "day in the life" is like for Harrison as we get to witness first hand, the good and the bad that goes along owning these pets.
We get to watch Harrison deal with gators, lots of snakes (I don't like snakes!) and an African lion and its owner, Terry Brumfield, who is dealing with the reality that he might have to give his exotic pets up.
- 4/3/2011
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
The Elephant in the Living Room begins with its heroic subject Tim Harrison, a police officer turned animal expert in Ohio, cruising in his patrol car, rattling off his accomplishments and experiences in dealing with exotic animals on the loose in America to a passenger seat cam, intercut with local news reports of these crazy animal attacks. At that stage, it’s hard to know what’s special about this feature documentary on exotic animal ownership in the Us that sets it apart from an Animal Planet program (which Tim Harrison has been on before—not to mention Discovery, National geographic, etc.). Several scenes in, we find out.
An ER doctor, looking annoyed from having to save the lives of many dumb bastards who were nearly killed by their own dangerous pets over the years, preaches directly through the screen to the idle Americans who have had the wrong idea...
An ER doctor, looking annoyed from having to save the lives of many dumb bastards who were nearly killed by their own dangerous pets over the years, preaches directly through the screen to the idle Americans who have had the wrong idea...
- 4/2/2011
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Nothing makes a better documentary subject than crazy. Whether they're about socialite shut-ins or deranged cult leaders or just some guy who decides to eat nothing but fast food for a month, documentaries are a great home for the insane. Best of all is when a documentary invites us inside the madness to experience it for ourselves, then forces to reconsider whether that perspective is really all that crazy after all. "The Elephant in the Living Room," about the danger, and also the appeal, of keeping wild animals as pets, is such a documentary.
Generally, I'm of the opinion that anyone who willingly keeps a deadly animal in their home is kind of nuts. And if said animal escapes and kills them, that's not a tragedy; that's fodder for The Darwin Awards. But sometimes these animals get loose and harm others, and that is a tragedy, one that's happening with...
Generally, I'm of the opinion that anyone who willingly keeps a deadly animal in their home is kind of nuts. And if said animal escapes and kills them, that's not a tragedy; that's fodder for The Darwin Awards. But sometimes these animals get loose and harm others, and that is a tragedy, one that's happening with...
- 3/30/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
There are more tigers in Texas than there are in the wild in India. In 2005, there were more emergency calls for nuisance alligators in Ohio than most areas of Florida. In many parts of the country, the law requires a license to own a dog, but absolutely nothing to own a pet lion or tiger or venomous snake, and the owners of these baby animals, are soon trying to give them away free to the general public as full grown predators. Sightings of lions and primates and the most deadly reptiles in the world are reported everywhere. In recent years, the encounters have reached epidemic proportions as seen in the new documentary The Elephant In The Living Room.
WeAreMovieGeeks will be attending the premiere and a Q&A with filmmakers Michael Webber and Tim Harrison and we’ll bring you our review soon.
Visit the film’s official site Here...
WeAreMovieGeeks will be attending the premiere and a Q&A with filmmakers Michael Webber and Tim Harrison and we’ll bring you our review soon.
Visit the film’s official site Here...
- 3/30/2011
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
At one point or another, we've probably all thought about the possibility of owning an exotic pet. How awesome would it be to terrorize your enemies with a 20-foot boa constrictor, or have a lion ready to back you up when a thief breaks in in the middle of the night? For most of us, those thoughts remain simply thoughts. But for thousands of Americans around the country, exotic pets are a frightening reality. Director Michael Webber's film, The Elephant in the Living Room, explores the implications of exotic pet ownership through the eyes of the man that pet owners call when things go wrong. It recently screened at the Independent Film Festival of Boston. Hit the jump for my thoughts on his film, and my interview with Webber. When a puma shows up in your backyard while you're taking out the garbage, Tim Harrison is the man you...
- 5/2/2010
- by David Chen
- Slash Film
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