- Title: UNITED STATES: A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES OF DISNEY'S SUMMER FILM "DUMBO DROP"
- Date: 28th September 1994
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA (RTV - ACCESS ALL) SIMON WINCER, THE FILM'S DIRECTOR, SAYS THEY LOOKED ALL OVER THAILAND FOR THE RIGHT ELEPHANT
- Embargoed: 13th October 1994 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA9VEHKAUSAV0FXZUEL03918OXI
- Story Text: An elephant, a Vietnamese boy and four Green Berets are the unlikely stars of Walt Disney's summer movie "Operation Dumbo Drop." Based on an actual U.S. mission during the Vietnam war, the film stars Danny Glover and Ray Liotta, along with Tai the elephant.
It tells the story of a group of soliders assigned to protect the strategic Vietnamese village of Dak Nhe in 1967. Just before an important religious ceremony the village mascot, an elephant, is killed by the North Vietnamese in retaliation for the locals' cooperation with the Americans.
The paratroopers are then assigned to find, and deliver, a replacement elephant to win back the villagers' goodwill.
After tranquillisers, a truck and a boat fail to get the elephant through, they resort to an air drop.
Operation Dumbo Drop is loosely based on the memoirs of U.S.
Special Forces officer Jim Morris, who took part in the original mission, code-named Operation Barroom. Pentagon officials have no record of the mission, but do not deny it took place.
To bring it to the screen, director Simon Wincer had to find the right elephant. After a search of Thailand failed to locate a suitably-trained beast, Wincer looked closer to home. Tai, a female elephant owned by a California trainer, was flown to Thailand to play Bo-Tat, the film's four-legged star.
While Tai appears in much of the film, the final spectacular parachute drop was created using life-size animatronic models and computer graphic technology.
The film also stars rapper Doug E. Doug, comedian Dennis Leary, and newcomer Dinh Thien Le as the local boy who joins the adventure.
It marks yet another film dealing with large mammals for director Wincer, who previously directed the hit "Free Willy." But like Glover, Wincer was drawn to the project by the characters involved.
Location shooting took place in Thailand, where 13-year-old Dihn Thien Le gave probably the film's most memorable performance.
His role as an orphan mirrors his own life, as he was separated from his parents when they fled Vietnam shortly after his birth.
U.S. critics predict the film could be a major summer success with family audiences. It took more than 6 million U.S. dollars in its first few days of release. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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