Rating:
* * * *
Type: Amphitheater show
Time: About 20 minutes
Kelly says: Fun for just about everybody
This vastly entertaining spectacle shows off the handiwork of Universal’s animal trainers and their furry and feathery charges. It’s all done with the droll good humor and audience participation that characterize all of Universal’s shows. Volunteers are pulled from the audience to serve as foils for several amusing routines.
The show alternates between live action on stage and video footage on a large overhead screen showing clips of animal actors in a surprising variety of films, from comedies to horror flicks. In one especially fascinating segment, we learn how birds can be filmed in flight using a large fan and some trick camera work.
Just which animals you see will depend to some extent on which “stars” are available when you visit. Most entertaining on a recent visit was a sporting competition between two canine stars being groomed (if that’s the right word) for an upcoming film. The bit was played strictly for laughs and the dogs performed their roles flawlessly.
In between the fun and games, the show sneaks in a few points about the serious business of producing “behaviors” that can be put to use in films. Most interestingly, when an animal balks at performing a trick, the trainer doesn’t merely gloss over the rough spot and get on with the show. Instead, he works patiently with the animal until the behavior is performed correctly. We learn that what for us is light entertainment is serious business for the folks (both two- and four-legged) on the stage.
The best seats in the house. There really are no bad seats for this one. However, if you’d like a shot at serving as a landing strip for a very mercenary bird, try sitting in the middle of the middle section.
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