GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE (1997) A few "new" pictures!

When Brendan received the script for George of the Jungle (he had been a fan of the original animated series) it wasn't exactly your typical boy meets girl story. Although, it did contain his favorite theme : "The Fish out of Water". To begin with, the boy, George, lived deep in the heart of Africa and had been raised by apes. He'd never seen a human woman, ridden in a car, gone shopping ,or eaten at McDonalds.

The girl (Ursula Stanhope played charmingly by Leslie Mann) on the other hand, was a perfectly permed heiress who had never met a talking ape, swung through trees on a vine, danced around a campfire, or ridden an elephant. But there was definitely an attraction between them, if not exactly love at first sight.

Their budding romance is further hampered by Ursula's pompous bore of a fiance, Lyle (Thomas Haden Church) and her parents (Holland Taylor and John Bennett Perry).

                                                           

                             

                                                                                                               George's family, headed by his brother/mentor/butler "Ape" voiced by the always wonderful   John Cleese and performed by simian movement specialist and actor Nameer El-Kadi (Now known as Nicholas Kadi), seems less retient about the possible pairing of George and Ursula. In fact, Ape attempt to teach George techniques to woo the lady, albeit techniques that would probably be more successful with a lady gorilla!

George's charming treehouse is a romantic fantasy for any girl and the service is wonderful. (Especially the room service !)

  

Of course, everything turned out in the end.

THE SUPPORTING CAST

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Ursula's guide Mr. Kwame (Richard Roundtree)

and the porters Kip (Abdoulaye NGom), N'Dugo (Michael Chinyamurindi) and Baleto (Lydell Cheshier.)

Ursula's best friend Betsy (Kelly Miller-Miraco)

Lyle's bumbling thugs Max and Thor, originally hired to find Ursula and later to make George disappear (Greg Cruttwell and Abraham Benrubi).

                            
  THE ANIMAL ACTORS
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                           TAI

                   
TAI plays George's playful, peanut-loving poochie, SHEP. At twenty-seven years of age, the female Asian elephant was becoming a regular on film sets.

According to Director Sam Weisman , Tai was " an incredible animal, unbelievably calm and responsive. She could literally hit a mark." But she needed a little help from the digital artists at Dream Quest Images headed by Paul Jordan to "combine the physical limitations of  an elephant, with the spirit of a dog." For more complicated stunts, a CGI elephant was created.

 TAI,  born November 4, 1968, is now fifty years old.

Tai was really sweet but her bristly hair while riding in nothing but a loincloth, was a bit of an ordeal.

Tai's Filmography
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The Jungle Book   1994

Operation Dumbo Drop  1995  "Bo Tat"

Larger Than Life   1996   "Vera"

George of the Jungle  1997   "Shep"

Looney Toons : Back in Action  2002

Vanity Fair   2004
Circus (Britney Spears music video)  2008
Enter Through the Giftshop 2009 ( Barely Legal art show -painted pink and gold)
Water for Elephants  2011  "Rosie"

     TAI's Handlers are CARRI and GARY JOHNSON.                                                                         
                                                                     BINKS

BINKS plays "Little Monkey". A Capuchin Monkey, and a real scene stealer according to actor David Schwimmer

who reportedly was not a big fan of the little fellow when he played his pet, "Marcel" for a while on "Friends" before being replaced by another monkey. On the other hand, Brendan and Binks got along fine, as long as Binks got his take.

If he didn't, he would scream and pull Brendan's hair (WIG). There was also the scene when he had to whisper something to "George". When the camera's rolled, he stuck his tongue in Brendan's ear.
He was also prone to removing his fur loincloth. A jokester himself, Brendan found him delightful to work with.

Binks' Filmography
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Ace Ventura II: When Nature Calls  1994
Friends       1994   "Marcel"
Outbreak    1995
George of the Jungle   1997  "Little Monkey"

TOOKIE is played by a Toco Toucan and a lookalike animatronic..

HERCULES, an African Lion who looked at Brendan as if he were a walking steak.

An animatronic "Hercules" was used for some scenes.

I don't remember the doggie's name but it's a cute picture,isn't it ?

(Tess found out. It's name was Coco !)

Filming took place in Kauai and Maui in Hawaii, San Francisco,California, Las Vegas, Nevada

Griffith Park in Los Angeles,California and at the beautiful Filoli Mansion in Woodside, California (pictured) which was also used as the Carrington Mansion in the television series "Dynasty."

The beautiful ceiling at Neiman Marcus,
Union Square, San Francisco California.

George's Tree House

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(Wasn't built in a day😉)

The movie was directed by Sam Weisman from a script by Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells, based on characters created by Jay Ward.

(Tess thinks Ursula could have been played by Christina Hendricks, if they had cast according to the cartoon. She won't say who she thinks could have played George.)

The six month long physical transformation Brendan underwent to play George

("An anatomically correct muscle suit with a zipper in the back was out of the question.") began months before filming began and included a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, weight lifting three hours a day, five days a week, running, and learning to perform a couple of George's signature tree swings himself, which Brendan considered great fun.

One time he was hoisted 60 feet in the air by a crane in order to swoop down 300 feet at 30 miles per hour suspended by nothing more than nylon cable attached to the inside of his loincloth. Luckily, he was not injured but he later sprained a toe wrestling with one of the apes. Oh, well. All in a day's work.😁







Although Joey Preston, Brendan's stuntman, who is also a former circus aerialist, deserves most of the credit for George's tree-mendous high- flying stunts.Thank you, Joey!🙈

(Of course, Brendan stuck to the diet after filming ended😉)

The movie's premiere was held at the San Diego Wild Animal Park in San Diego,California
on July 9, 1997. Invited guests were treated to a train ride to San Diego, a picnic, a tour of the Wild Animal Park and ended the day with an outdoor screening.

Abraham Benrubi at the premiere.

In 2003 a sequel to GEORGE of the JUNGLE was made, without BRENDAN, who was no longer contractually obligated to Disney and declined, despite being offered a substantial $12.5 million dollars.

BRENDAN was only willing to do a cameo, in a fat suit as if he had

"let himself go", spoofing George's ultra fit physique as a way of explaining why he was not starring in the sequel. Brendan thought it was hilarious, but Disney was not amused. They offered their own ideas, but Brendan declined again and went on to do LOONEY TUNES:BACK IN ACTION instead. 

GEORGE of the JUNGLE 2

was released on video the same year, starring:

Christopher Showerman 

as George

 Julie Benz as Ursula

And Angus T.Jones as George Jr.

with John Cleese returning as the voice of "APE".

Page edited by Tess d'Urberville🌷.