- 1 week ago
Conservationist Robert Irwin rewatches 6 animal movies and reveals just how accurate Hollywood’s take on the animal kingdom is. From Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark to the live-action remake of Disney’s The Lion King, Irwin breaks down scenes from the most popular animal movies.
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00:00That is not something you can do and I know that because this is I can't believe
00:06I'm telling you this I have tried it. G'day GQ it's Robert Irwin here today
00:12I'm going to be breaking down famous movie scenes with animals in them so
00:17join me for the breakdown. Here we go.
00:24Crocodile Dundee. Oh I know this scene this is a classic.
00:33First of all the old Land Cruiser I have a car just like that actually I learnt to drive
00:36on a car like that.
00:39Okay so so far this is this is real this is shot I would think in the Northern Territory
00:45it's supposed to be based in in the Northern Territory which is the top end of Australia
00:48and basically water buffalo they're an introduced species they're non-native but they're everywhere
00:53and they're crocodile food. Crocodile Dundee I feel like it's for a lot of Americans particularly it
00:59was kind of like their first introduction to Australia I think and then the second introduction
01:04to Australia which I think is probably a more accurate introduction was was from my dad you
01:08know it was probably for for most Americans and there are parts to it that are legit there are
01:15some parts I watch and go okay that's a pretty good depiction of of the people or the animals
01:19or what have you but you know I definitely liken like my family's story and my dad to that except
01:25he wasn't out to get the crocodiles he was saving them you know so a little different I mean I've
01:30had this exact thing happen to me they will sometimes and sometimes you get a big group of
01:34them and they will not get out of the way here we go
01:40first of all they got a very very uh calm water buffalo because a grumpy water buffalo
01:48oh yeah you'd know about it oh he'd charge you hardcore
01:53to be honest I mean if we're talking about on land a water buffalo definitely poses more threat
01:59than a crocodile in the water obviously different story
02:08yep
02:11can't forget the eye contact
02:25this scene is so fun I love it but I don't want to burst any bubbles but unfortunately this is
02:32a
02:32very good example of of movie magic this is not something I wish you could do that with a buffalo
02:38there's two things I think are funny about this okay first of all if you do approach a water buffalo
02:44like that if he's going to let you get that close there's a good chance he's either going to charge
02:50you
02:50or he's going to take off in the other direction so this is obviously a buffalo that is well trained
02:56and very friendly but the other interesting thing is what he's trying to do here is get past the water
03:04buffalo except what he's done is he's just put the water buffalo to sleep right in the middle of the
03:10road it's a little counterproductive there Dundee wouldn't you like do put your finger over here so
03:15the cow gets out of the road I don't know but uh ah we don't argue with Dundee but anyway
03:22uh unfortunately
03:23no that is not something you can do and I know that because this is I can't believe I'm telling
03:31you
03:31this I have tried it I watched that scene and I went I wonder if you can do this and
03:37I tried it
03:37on a water buffalo doesn't work there are a couple of animals that will go into what's called tonic
03:44immobility tonic immobility is basically a state that certain animals will go into it's sort of a
03:51state of torpor where they will it's I think there's still science going into exactly why it's caused
03:58but on some animals like for example yeah sharks when they're flipped upside down for whatever
04:04reason they just go like they're almost completely just unable to move they're just completely unable
04:10to move it's really really a strange a strange phenomenon but uh yeah so it is possible but
04:16but not with water buffalo unfortunately chickens are another animal that can be uh hypnotized to an
04:23extent and it's actually something very similar to that you bring a point from their beak to the ground
04:28and you can actually hypnotize them I haven't tried it I have no desire to
04:33hypnotize an animal that's not really my that's not my job I believe that if you are working with
04:41any animal uh you should you should be working in a way working with it in a way that is
04:46respectful
04:47that's approaching it in a way that you don't need to hypnotize it you know but the reality is I
04:52I've had
04:53this happen before um big animals in the middle of the road water buffalo all sorts if you just very
05:00very slowly approach them they'll just walk the other direction so I think if if he had to just
05:05slow the car right down and kept moving forward that thing would have gotten out of the road but
05:09I suppose if you're crocodile dundee it looks a bit cooler to get out and do the do the little
05:15do the little trick Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark
05:20oh what a classic
05:23most of those are actually real snakes which is interesting a lot of those are real snakes
05:29I'm trying to see what species I think we've got pause here that's a rubber boa
05:36ball python and a corn snake so there's there's like three different species in there so far
05:41I don't know where they are I assume it's somewhere like Egypt I think is where they are uh you
05:46would
05:47not have okay half of these species are from like Indonesia or one of them is from America these
05:55species don't exist here you do get Cobras actually in in Egypt big hooded Cobras uh but
06:02there you would really never see a congregation of snakes like this anywhere even a snake like a
06:09rattlesnake which is known to den in very big numbers even then you wouldn't get this many and
06:14the and just for that many snakes to just be chilling out in some super ancient tomb they really have
06:20no
06:20reason to be doing that oh this is interesting stop there okay that that's not a snake that's a
06:30that's a legless lizard this is a fun fact I never noticed this until now okay so the larger snakes
06:38in
06:39this scene like you can see one very easily in the top right hand of the screen here that is
06:43not a
06:43snake it's a legless lizard you know how you can tell because there's a little tiny hole at the back
06:48of its head which is an ear those are its ears and snakes true snakes do not have ears legless
06:56lizard
06:56it is it is a lizard that is like any other lizard except it's evolved with no legs but the
07:02fact that
07:03it has ears means it's not a snake it's a lizard so some of those are actually lizards there you
07:07go
07:15aren't they cute
07:19first of all if it's a spitting cobra the first thing i'd be doing i wouldn't be looking at it
07:24like this i'd be closing my eyes many cobras can actually spit venom with incredible accuracy into
07:30into a predator's eyes and you can tell that that cobra if it was i don't think that is a
07:36spitting
07:36cobra but if it was you can tell he's about to spit because the hood is out cobras look like
07:41any other
07:42snake but when they're threatened they splay the hood out and that means they're ready to spit venom
07:47at you if it does make contact with the eyes very bad my dad's been hit in the face by
07:51a spitting cobra
07:52in the masamara in africa it was not a pretty sight you will lose your vision if if left unchecked
07:59i've been in this situation many many times with a hooded cobra that's in strike position
08:03all you do is just back down and move the other direction and they chill out instantly
08:12that's a beautiful snake
08:29it's snakes snakes don't make that noise but okay
08:34snakes why did it have to be snakes
08:37the meg oh i do a great jason statham impression watch this ready just just imagine i'm bald okay
08:44and british it's a megalodon
08:50yes that was pretty good right there we go thank you thank you so let me just preface this the
08:57meg
08:58i you have no idea how happy i would be if a megalodon was real if we found an actual
09:03megalodon
09:04i would be the first in that i would probably wouldn't even be in a tank i would be right
09:08in
09:09there with him with my camera taking pictures of him oh that would be awesome funny thing with sharks
09:13people think that this is how sharks act they're just going to try and kill you not at all they're
09:18like the chillest animal in the world if you know their body language if you understand how to work
09:24with them you're respectful of that animal and you're in the right conditions you'd be able to i
09:30reckon i'd i'd swim with one 100 anyway let's watch this okay wow i'm going to try to hit it
09:41in the eye
09:51oh looky out here he comes
09:57okay pause here as you can imagine from this film there are some slight scientific inaccuracies
10:04the biggest of which being the megalodon hasn't been on the planet for millions of years the likelihood
10:10of a shark that big still kicking is very very slim but even if an animal like this did exist
10:18to this
10:18day it would not behave like that would it possibly see an inanimate object in its environment and
10:25want to have a look and test what it is sure it might have a little nibble have a little
10:29look but
10:30it is actively hunting and trying to eat this cage which a shark would not do if that shark feels
10:39the
10:39hard perspex glass against his teeth knows that it's not a food item it has no reason to try and
10:45eat
10:45it i've spent a lot of time with what would really be the closest thing to a megalodon which is
10:50a great
10:50white shark i've i've done a lot of diving with them and they're an interesting animal where
10:56you never see them coming they're incredible at camouflage i've been in open water 360 degree view
11:03looking all over the place you never see one approaching they're just all of a sudden they're
11:07there and it's a little bit spooky but the interesting thing is if you maintain eye contact with
11:12them they know that you're watching and they know to keep you at a bit of a distance there's this
11:18sort
11:18of mutual respect you look at them they look at you as long as you're watching you're tracking them
11:23you're reading their body language you're really in no danger that's not to say people should just
11:28start jumping in with sharks certainly not it's something that only trained professionals should do
11:33but a megalodon you could honestly probably swim open water with one and there's a good chance it
11:40wouldn't even try and eat you and if there was a megalodon alive jeez let me know because i'd be
11:46the first in there that would be awesome happy feet
11:54i love this movie
12:03all my life i've wanted to say you're so wait okay this is actually kind of cool they've done
12:11this really well in this movie the the the plumage in the penguins is is perfect like it's bang on
12:17and it's really amazing to see an animated movie that has animated those the the down the kind of like
12:23proto feathers that the the chick the penguin chick here has it's absolutely stunning but you notice
12:30how the female penguin has got those it almost looks like the surface of a seal those feathers
12:36are incredibly small they're tight they're narrow and they create like this slick sort of surface when
12:42you feel a penguin it's it feels like a greased watermelon like they are just so hydrodynamic but when
12:57i think they're kind of leaning into the fact that he's a bit of a kind of run to the
13:01litter he's a
13:02bit of a late bloomer i think they're kind of leaning into that he probably took a little bit longer
13:06to
13:06get his adult plumage than normal but that's okay that's for the sake of the movie it's okay he'll get
13:13there oh this is exactly what they look like when they frenzy feed like that
13:27oh yeah you got one nope not this time you have it thank you mumble but it's yours i want
13:33you to have
13:34no you caught it you eat it i want you to do it i think those are petrels they're supposed
13:44to be petrels
13:45i think
13:47the way that they've animated the penguins when they're catching fish is like bang on this is
13:52exactly what they look like they are so hydrodynamic they're so incredibly well adapted swimming under
13:59water they're just so fast and you see when they when they stand like that that like you can tell
14:06they've really done their research they stand with their little feet in like a little triangle pattern
14:10and they turn their toes up so they can actually keep the egg right underneath them it's really quite
14:14amazing that incredible like choreography of those penguins moving in unison it's not that is not far from
14:22the truth that's that is definitely possible you know i i don't know if they're like gonna talk to each
14:28other and plan on doing a little love heart dance but you know what strange things have happened i i've
14:33watched penguins hunting underwater i've watched them feeding and i've watched them frolicking with
14:38each other that is exactly how they move absolute poetry in motion but those birds that i think kind
14:44of picked him up out of the sky uh i i don't know exactly but it looks like they're they're
14:49petrels
14:49which is a really cool like massive species of an arctic bird and we actually just recently rescued
14:57an injured petrel at our wildlife hospital rehabilitated it and released it back back out into
15:03the wild that's something we do quite a lot there we've seen those birds there quite a bit they're a
15:08big bird and they they are incredible fish specialists but even three of them combined ain't gonna lift a
15:17baby penguin i think that's that's a little bit above their pay grade that would have to be
15:21a bird that's really really really strong they're absolutely capable of catching big fish and big
15:27prey but uh definitely definitely not a penguin take the stupid fish oh okay
15:36oh absolutely i can see penguins being very generous with each other the bond that penguins will have and
15:42also the incredible maternal instinct and the incredible way that a parent will care for a
15:49chick they'll go to massive lengths to to get food for them to catch fish for for other penguins um
15:57you know absolutely but if anything it would i would genuinely probably see it more the other way around
16:06if mumble still looks like a chick it would make more sense for an adult penguin or an adult looking
16:11penguin to be trying to get food for him not the other way around but but he's no ordinary penguin
16:17chick okay so fun little fact about this movie as well uh my dad plays a the voice of an
16:25elephant seal
16:26in happy feet he also plays an albatross as well that was i think it's in an extra scene from
16:33like the
16:33full director's cut but yeah he plays one of the one of the elephant seals so this is a very
16:37special movie
16:38i grew up watching this movie i love it it's really really cool i love when movies like this
16:44give people especially kids like this really kind of personal intimate connection with one particular
16:50animal like it i think it made an entire generation fall in love with penguins which are an animal that
16:56is under threat in a lot of their range i mean climate change is having a huge effect on penguin
17:00populations bird flu as well uh so this is i think it's really cool and really important when movies
17:07shine a positive light on animals i think it's really important kangaroo jack i've never watched it
17:16so many of my friends it's like their only um their only introduction to australia is through kangaroo jack
17:25first of all why is it wearing a why is it wearing a sweater i have so many questions here
17:30oh that is actually very accurate because a lot of the time in movies or like pop culture people
17:41think of kangaroos boxing people think kangaroos will box and they'll punch you right that's not
17:47really how it works the reason why there's that misconception around a kangaroo punching you is because
17:53when two male kangaroos will fight for dominance they use their arms to kind of size each other up
18:00they're not actually punching each other they're sort of grasping grabbing hitting and then they get to
18:06a point where they can lock arms then they lean back on their tail and the real devastating blow comes
18:13from the legs comes from the feet they lean back and boom they kick really really hard and the male
18:20is
18:20actually like evolved so that that kick won't won't kill him you know and they will battle it out to
18:26decide who is the dominant male and so that's actually accurate if a kangaroo was going to try and get
18:31you he wouldn't be punching you he'd be kicking you but i will say the only time that a kangaroo
18:37would
18:37ever use any sort of you know i guess defensive action toward a human being is if it feels threatened
18:46or
18:46cornered or if you try to put a sweater on it which is clearly what they've done so honestly
18:53warranted if i was that kangaroo i'd do the same thing okay let's fast forward
19:05look at that little fella go Charlie look at him go
19:13here we come baby oh we're gaining on him oh my god look at the fella move man
19:22okay interesting little fun fact here they're obviously moving really like this looks ridiculous
19:27right like they're full pace in a in a jeep and this thing's still out in front of them that
19:33is
19:34accurate that's completely accurate um they can travel incredible speeds and when you see that leap
19:41if anything that's actually not exaggerating that's under doing it that's under selling just how far they
19:47can leap an adult male red kangaroo which is the largest species of kangaroo which is that one that
19:53they're going after can leap somewhere around 25 to 30 feet in one single bound think about that that's
20:02like the the length of your kitchen in one go interestingly too kangaroos will only move one of
20:07two ways they'll hop or they'll do this little hobble along the ground when they're just walking
20:11they actually use less energy and it is more efficient for them to bound at full speed
20:16than walk isn't that amazing
20:25as it turns out this is hard
20:31those are termite mounds what they just blitz through and they're chasing that kangaroo those
20:38are termite mounds those look to be real termite mounds as well they're these massive dirt structures
20:43that termites will create and they have their they house their entire colony in these big termite
20:47mounds and this is classic of the australian bush like that outback where they are it looks like
20:53they're somewhere near like kind of uluru alice springs like right in the red center of australia
20:57full of red kangaroos and there's and there's these termite mounds everywhere
21:02if you ran into a termite mound in a car like that for real
21:06mate it'd be termite mound one car zero i think you'd be in a bad state one that big oh
21:13yeah that'd
21:13come straight through the windshield it doesn't feel like dirt it feels like cement if you ran into
21:18that one of that size in a car like that yeah i don't think you'd be going much further the
21:25lion king
21:26they'll they're not wishing you to save him
21:35too
21:36Zabu!
21:36hold on!
21:38help is coming!
21:49Zabu!
21:50Zabu!
21:52Come to me, son. Jump!
22:11Lions are very interesting.
22:13They are a fiercely protective animal.
22:16You know, particularly that protection and that real sense of care
22:23comes usually more from a lioness,
22:25comes more from the female, the mother to the cub.
22:28A male lion that is related to its offspring,
22:32that is the father of that cub,
22:35would definitely, you know, be protective for sure.
22:38But it's also very true on the flip side.
22:40The two males that are fighting,
22:42the two males that don't like each other
22:44and this one male lion killing the other
22:46is not completely inaccurate.
22:50Sometimes big male lions will form what's called coalitions,
22:53almost like a pride, but just within large males
22:56and they'll work together.
22:57But sometimes males will come together
23:00and they will fight each other.
23:01And lions can fight to the death.
23:04Another interesting thing is a large male lion
23:07with offspring that is not its own,
23:09that male lion would absolutely pose a threat
23:13to those offspring.
23:14The Lion King definitely has a pretty accurate look
23:19at the social dynamics of lions.
23:21It's actually pretty, pretty bang on.
23:23It's pretty interesting.
23:24The fact that little Simba never really trusts Scar,
23:27you know how he's always kind of like,
23:29I don't know about this guy.
23:30That is 100% accurate.
23:33If I was that bird, I would be walking on eggshells.
23:37I will say there are definitely like harmonious relationships
23:42that form out in the African bush.
23:44And that bird is the messenger for Scar, you know?
23:49And that is definitely true.
23:52There are birds that you will hear
23:53out on the African savannah that will make alarm calls.
23:58If there's another animal in the area,
24:00they will call out and they'll say,
24:02yeah, look out, there's a hyena there.
24:04You know what I mean?
24:04And that sort of call is often an indicator
24:07to other animals to say,
24:09ooh, there could be a lion nearby.
24:12Ooh, there could be a hyena nearby.
24:13And it sort of puts everything on alert
24:15when a bird like that makes an alarm call.
24:17So Zazu here sort of being the messenger of danger
24:20is very true.
24:22And that's exactly how, you know,
24:24these hornbills would work out in the wild.
24:26They'll send off an alarm call
24:27if there's danger in the area.
24:28And a lion would end up inadvertently
24:32working alongside that bird.
24:35If a big lion hears an alarm call from that bird,
24:38they're going to put themselves on alert
24:40and think, ooh, there could be another predator in the area,
24:42possibly another rival male.
24:44So yeah, the animals in the African bush
24:46definitely use birds like that
24:47as like a first alarm system.
24:51Well, thank you very much for coming with me
24:53to break down some famous movie scenes.
24:56And to chat wildlife.
24:58It's been fun.
24:59I'll see you next time, GQ.
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