Strange Wilderness (2008)

Director:

Fred Wolf

Writers (WGA):

Peter Gaulke (written by) &
Fred Wolf (written by)

Release Date:

1 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

This ain't March of the Penguins.

Plot:

With the ratings dropping for a wilderness-themed TV show, two animal fans go to the Andes in search of Bigfoot.

Plot Keywords:

Wheelchair | Crude | What Happened To Epilogue | Hospital Scene | Drunk Scene

Cast

Steve Zahn	...	Peter Gaulke
Allen Covert	...	Fred Wolf
Jonah Hill	...	Cooker
Kevin Heffernan	...	Whitaker
Ashley Scott	...	Cheryl
Peter Dante	...	Danny Guiterrez
Harry Hamlin	...	Sky Pierson
Robert Patrick	...	Gus Hayden
Joe Don Baker	...	Bill Calhoun
Blake Clark	...	Dick
Justin Long	...	Junior
Jeff Garlin	...	Ed Lawson
Ernest Borgnine	...	Milas
Jake Abel	...	Conservationist
Kevin Alejandro	...	Hispanic Man #1

MPAA:

Rated R for non-stop language, drug use, crude and sexual humor.

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:16 | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 | Canada:16+ (Québec) | Australia:MA | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Netherlands:12 | USA:R (certificate #42934)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Pelican Productions LLC (I)

Trivia:

"Strange Wilderness" began its life in the 1990's as a series of independently produced short videos by former "Saturday Night Live" writers Fred Wolf and Peter Gaulke. "They started out as little parodies of wildlife shows," explains writer and producer Gaulke. "Fred and I went out and shot them with the help of John Burrud, who actually has a real-life wildlife show. His father Bill used to host 'Animal World' and other travel and nature shows back in the '60s. So John helped us produce these little shorts which we eventually got onto Comedy Central."

Goofs:

Continuity: After the scene where we see that Junior has had his eyelids tattooed, we never see the tattoos again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Peter Gaulke: [talking on phone] Look at my dad. He was the king. I mean, no matter what happened, I mean he was as cool as a cucumber. He never forgot a line, and he never let anything ruffle him. My dad was the king. No doubt. And his TV show ruled the ratings.
[lights up weed]
Peter Gaulke: What was that?
[coughs while getting high]
Peter Gaulke: Excuse me. It was a wildlife show called Strange Wilderness. Oh, you remember that? Do you remember my dad? Oh cool. Yeah, then he died and then I took over the show, then it went all to hell. I mean, I'm nothing like my dad. Nothing at all. I don't know. I don't know if it was like I wasn't bright enough, or I didn't work hard enough, or I used to smoke a lot of dope. So...

Movie Connections:

References "Mister Ed" (1961)

Soundtrack:

Cityzen Citysoy

I laughed really hard through quite a bit of it!

If you liked Talladega Nights, you will definitely like this one. Very funny stoner movie.

The ending isn't really my taste, a bit on the repulsive side, but overall this movie is hysterically funny. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The comedic timing is perfect, really nicely done production quality overall, and the musical score is fantastic. Nicely paced, didn't really have any draggy parts. The movie is a really good "dood" comedy. I have been recommending it to my friends already. I might not fit the demographic the film is aimed at, but I loved the movie. I love funny stuff and this film split my gut several times. It's a good time.

The movie starts out with outtakes of genuine wildlife show legend, Bill Burrid, getting picked on by an ostrich, and knocked down by goats. I loved watching his show when I was a kid, so right off the bat, I was in love with the movie, curious about the story, and wanted to see where it was going to go.

The humor and dialogue push the envelope of stupidity, but actually has an intelligent edge. That's why it reminds me of Talladega Nights in terms of comedic dialogue style. The movie is silly, but not stupid. This film puts the "Fun" back in "Funny".

The film crew is just a bunch of misfits that get along great. They go in search of Bigfoot, in an attempt to keep it on the air. Murphy's Law is in full swing, in a very funny way throughout the film.

Target market is teen & 20-something males.