Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Bad Joke of the Day

When he set out to film the movie "Babe" several years ago the director originally debated whether or not he'd be able to get the full range of required actions and emotions from a real pig. Finally he decided to go another direction and hire a midget to wear a pig costume instead. They searched around and finally hired Richard Shapiro to play the part.

Unfortunately, though Shapiro spend many hours studying the movements of pigs and the best in Hollywood costumers and creature make-up artists were put on the task of making him look like a pig, it all came to naught when they started filming. The other animals in the movie, all of them real, were quite disturbed by the fake pig and refused to perform as trained. After about a week's wasted time and money, they scrapped the idea and started looking for a trained pig to take over the lead role.

It was an expensive lesson, but the director learned it well: Never cast Shapiros before swine.

Let the virtual thwacking begin...

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