To Marshall, everything is 'larger than life.' Marshall gets a knife from Marty and cuts Mark loose, but Marshall is now dealing with a bigger problem: he and the alligator are face to face. The large rattlesnake we see is a Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, which is not found in Wyoming, and I think there are another couple of juvenile diamondbacks in the shots we see. like brothers. I thought this flick was great fun. Here we were, young teenagers, crossing the country filming the rarest, most dangerous animals of North America. Despite their father Marty Sr.'s insistence that they cannot afford the camera, he relents after their mother, Agnes, says she will give them her "vacation" money that she has been saving for several years. Marshall and Marty drive the boat and try to save him, but it crashes into another branch, which sends Marshall flying into the water. The nature and wildlife shots are just fantastic, and you wonder if the actors are actually in the same shots as the animals, or if it's just a brilliant camera trick. . Marshall repeatedly and secretly gets even with his brothers by pulling revenge pranks of his own, like cleaning the toilet with his brothers' toothbrushes and filling their canteens with downstream river water into which they had been urinating. In the summer of 1967, Marshall Stouffer is chased in Fort Smith, Arkansas, by his two older brothers, Mark and Marty; the brothers love using Marshall to film him in stunts, which he dislikes. Smith states, "We wanted to blend the facts of the story with the fantasy that comes of it being seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. I mean, I got in fights with my parents and my little brother, and it caused some heartache. The boys unknowingly stumbled upon a military testing site of some kind. It's the kind of adventure everyone wishes they could have had when they were that young." It remains the most-broadcast Series which has ever aired on Public Television. They're so beautiful, it's mesmerizing. Marshall and Marty drive the boat and try to save him, but it crashes into another branch, which sends Marshall flying into the water. Wild America (1997) Wild America. google_ad_width = 468; Devil's Playground is located on government protected land. Agnes spent two weeks on the beaches of Hawaii, while Marty Sr. combed the island for car parts. However, Marshall is able to get back on the boat in time. Its wildlife message is side tracked by idiocy leaving it as nothing to go wild over. It's a fun quirky and entertaining movie. If I had the money and the time, I'd go on trip like that too. So, this is my first review without a spoiler. Eager to begin writing, Wieger packed a suitcase and spent a week with both Marty Stouffer and Marshall Stouffer, one week with their sister, and one week with Marty, Sr. and Agnes, the boys' parents. The boys see that, and they get to live out some of their parents' dreams by going out and experiencing the world their parents never saw." Strango states that Phil was talking about a cave full of hundreds of bears somewhere "out west.". A mule in costume (fake horns) were used for the moose and a colt was used for the baby moose. We went to work almost immediately. As a safety precaution, an AHA representative and the animal handler both stood on the animals marks while explosives were set off, ensuring that they were properly distanced from where the animals would be placed. Tracy Walter is featured among the locals as well as the stereotypical strict father who learns to lighten up and encourage his children to get eaten by animals. As they go in a swamp on a boat, Mark throws some bait, but it lands in the trees. Marty announces that they're Timber rattlers, drawn in by the heat. The boys drive northwest until they reach Devil's Playground in Colorado, "the last home of the wild American wolf." The whole cave of a . Was it about his size? Strango would talk about hunting alligators and Phil would tell tall tales about bears. Luckily, the brothers know a song that puts the bears to sleep, allowing the brothers to escape with the camera. Much of the craziness fell on the shoulders of Senia Phillips, the animal coordinator. Panthera atrox, better known as the American lion, also called the North American lion, or American cave lion, is an extinct pantherine cat that lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch and the early Holocene epoch, about 340,000 to 11,000 years ago. Many of the 260 PBS stations chose to broadcast the programs multiple times each day throughout the weeks. accompanies the credits. Mark breaks his leg after getting into a fight with Marty. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. According to Stouffer, these were implemented after National Geographic backed out of a licensing deal with him. The dogs and cats live in the house and the rest run free outside. He notes, "We got to find out a lot about our characters from Mark. The trainer placed the owl on his mark and cued him with verbal and hand signals with food as a reward. Extra security and wranglers were strategically positioned around the area. In a film about budding nature documentarians, nothing is revealed about the animals these boys obsess about - what they eat, how they live, how they care for their young or why exactly they are endangered. They go to so many places and do all this stuff you probably wont want to get up for a bathroom break!! Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The 'role' of Leona, Marshall's owl in the story, was filled by Owl-X, a great horned owl who resides at the National Foundation to Protect America's Eagles complex at a theme park in Tennessee. I just won the video, and I can't wait to see the movie again! Trying to retrieve it, his clothing gets stuck in a branch underwater and he starts to drown. Since 2012, National Geographic has infringed the Wild America trademark and copyrights through the production of films, miniseries and television series including "Untamed Americas," "Surviving . With the use of special camera angles the truck looks as if it is backing up at a faster speed. First, they miss a shot at catching an eagle, then they go to film some alligators, and start by seeing a man who was attacked by an alligator. I remember when I shot my first movies and dreamt of one day becoming a director. With Bear Cave Mountain overlooking the nearby Fishing Branch River, the camp is about as remote as you can get in this pristine wilderness. Decent entertainment for kids and teen girls with no tastedefinitely not true to life and quite a few plot holes. Three puppies with a vintage 1967 'look' were found, however, and Phillips completed her roster of players who live on the Stouffer farm with two adult dogs, a cat, a turkey and a fox. Director William Dear could also identify. [1] From there he traveled to Botswana to spend most of a year filming a feature-length documentary entitled Botswana, Where a River Dies. The acting was good, considering the ages of the actors involved. The script is filled with laughs, and even if you may not cry at this wonderful family film, you may be close to tears. When the bear is seen clawing at the wall, the trainer placed the bear on his mark and gave him a verbal command to stand and strike the wall. I saw this film for the first time yesterday, and I must say that I love it, it is so funny but then at the same time so serious. . Because of Jonathan Taylor Thomas' shooting schedule on the television series "Home Improvement," filmmakers targeted an April start date for "Wild America." The deer was very tame. Frances Fisher plays Jonathan Taylor Thomas' character's mother in this film. . But, I was delighted as the youngest kid in the film was at that time my age and I could really connect some events. . Director William Dear displays more skill than the cast, and he does deliver on great shots of wildlife. The film was directed by William Dear, written by David Michael Wieger, and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa, and Scott Bairstow. This rouses Marty's attention and he asks about it. I don't think kids today could just set out like we did and get to the same place," says Mark Stouffer. Despite the three young actors being "teen idols," they pulled off really good chemistry throughout the film. For the shot of the moose entering and leaving the river, the mule was led into the river by a horse and wrangler. During the day, guests explore the area on board . Working with animals requires more patience than working with young actors, special effects, or anything else that turns up in movies. Some of the scenery is quite pretty. Several wranglers were strategically positioned around the area to keep the snakes in the designated area. WITH: Jonathan Taylor Thomas (Marshall Stouffer), Devon Sawa (Mark Stouffer), Scott Bairstow (Marty Stouffer), Jamey Sheridan (Marty Stouffer Sr.) and Frances Fisher (Agnes Stouffer). How did the cave bear deserve the respect of the European tribes of the late Pleistocene? Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Mark and his brothers wanted to become a part of that media, and they chose wildlife filmmaking as their way to do it." Genetic analysis has shown that the American lion and the Late Pleistocene . ",