Animal Stars of the Movies - Empire Big Screen Review!

By Kay Allen / August 23, 2011

Celebrity animals or humans? Animals, easy. Let's face it; celebrity humans almost never let you cuddle them for a keepsake photo. Much less be decent enough not to claw at you... This isn't a general train of thought, more something that occurred to me at London's Big Screen event last weekend. Sponsored by Empire, the event took a 'something for everyone' approach for it's film enthusiasts, providing movie memorabilia (Bond's car from Quantum of Solace and the original Batsuit worn by Christian Bale in The Dark Knight, to name a few), seminars with directors and writers, sneak previews of next years blockbusters, UK premieres and, of course, celebrity appearances. Although I was surprised to see just how excited I could get at the prospect of meeting, say, the squirrel from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not the kind of celebrities you were expecting? Well, there were of course human stars hosting movie screenings and giving interviews, but as I said, none of these would probably let you pick them up and give them a squeeze. Not that I tried. The Animal Stars of the Movies feature at Big Screen turned out to be the highlight of the weekend for me. Not a slur on the excellent event but nothing seemed to come close to having held 'Crookshanks', of Harry Potter fame. A fact I then shared with anyone who would listen. Well paced and varied, our presenters balanced educational info, funny fact and demonstration beautifully - understanding their audience: ecstatic children of all ages, engaged parents warily keeping an eye on stage-drawn toddlers, and me. Whether we were meeting the scary Doberman fresh from co-starring with Sacha Baron-Cohen in the upcoming Hugo, or the beautiful snowy owl 'Hedwig' from Harry Potter, the trainers and handlers of these wonderfully intelligent creatures gave an informative and very funny talk about how each animal was trained and their natural aptitude (or not!) for film work. We heard secret tricks of the trade €“ such as if you want a Doberman to bark ferociously simply bounce a ball on a rope off screen €“ and watched spellbound as a trained squirrel cracked a fake nutshell and obediently delivered it's fake nut from point A to point B. I never would have thought I could delight so in learning that owls cool themselves by opening their beaks €“ making 'Hedwig's' letter delivery scenes a nightmare in summer, or that it can take just a week to teach a ferret to carry a key. Our presenters were kind enough to allow some animal interaction, choosing an audience member to demonstrate a particular critter's skills. You'll be happy to know that my hands remained firmly in my lap throughout this torture €“ after all no one wants to see a grown woman trip a child for the chance to share the stage with a King Charles Spaniel, celebrity or not. However, I did seize my opportunity after the show, shamelessly using the powers of my press pass, and asked if I might hold the lovely 'Crookshanks' for a photo op. Please enjoy my souvenir picture, it came at the expense of some crying children who failed to see why they too could not pet the cat. I'm not sorry. A huge thank you to 'Crookshanks' who is every bit as fluffy and soft as she looks and, of course, the terrific crew presenting Animal Stars of the Movies.