Fierce Creatures (1997)

Zookeepers struggle to deal with the policies of changing directors.

Directors:

Fred Schepisi, Robert Young

Writers:

John Cleese, Iain Johnstone

Stars:

John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cleese	...	Rollo Lee
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Willa Weston
Kevin Kline	...	Vince McCain / Rod McCain
Michael Palin	...	Bugsy Malone
Ronnie Corbett	...	Reggie Sealions
Carey Lowell	...	Cub Felines
Robert Lindsay	...	Sydney Small Mammals
Bille Brown	...	Neville Coltrane
Derek Griffiths	...	Gerry Ungulates
Cynthia Cleese	...	Pip Small Mammals
Richard Ridings	...	Hugh Primates
Maria Aitken	...	Di Admin
Michael Percival	...	Ant Keeper
Fred Evans	...	Flamingo Keeper
Lisa Hogan	...	Sealion Keeper

Storyline

A massive corporate conglomerate, Octopus Inc., run by a shrewd and cruel tycoon named Rod McCain, purchases a UK-based leisure company, and also the failing London Marwood Zoo. To bring more business to the zoo, Octopus hires a new manager, Rollo Lee, who promptly comes up with a way to increase profits-do away with all the animals except for the ferocious ones. This new Fierce Creatures Policy shocks the Marwood zookeepers, led by the unendingly talkative Adrian "Bugsy" Malone. Eventually, Rod McCain's son Vince, along with the up-and-coming business executive Willa Weston, take control of the zoo and revoke the Fierce Creatures Policy. Vince instead comes up with many under-handed and vicious schemes to attract customers-unauthorized celebrity endorsements, shoddy, overpriced zoo merchandise, and using robotic animals instead of real ones. However, Vince is also stealing from the zoo's funds, and when his father finds out, he rears to turn the zoo into a Japanese-owned golf course....

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Plot Keywords:

zoo | black comedy | father son relationship | father and son played by same actor | farce | 

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Taglines:

Don't pet them.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual innuendo and language

Details

Official Sites:

Universal Studios Home Entertainment [United States]

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death Fish II

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,759,480, 26 January 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$9,381,260

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,381,260

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Fish Productions,Jersey Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR DTS-Stereo Dolby Digital (5.1 surround) (DVD version) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Ridings plays a character named Hugh Primates who later in the film wears a gorilla suit. Ridings eventually got to play the gorilla Buck through motion capture in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).

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Goofs

When Vince is yelling, "He's talking to himself, and I'm the loony?" the second shot has him saying something else, possibly the first part of the line again.

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Quotes

Vince McCain: Now over here, this used to be the lion house, but as it's no longer suitable for animals, we're using it for middle management.
[He sees Pip and Cub kissing Rollo in a fit of gratitude]
Vince McCain: What the hell do you think you're doing? Can you keep a lid on it till the sun goes down, for God's sake? You're supposed to be working, not prancing around in your cell like a... flamingo with a boner.

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Crazy Credits

No animals were injured during the making of this movie, only humans.

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Alternate Versions

To receive a PG certificate for UK cinemas one cut was made to remove Rollo's use of 'fucking hell'. Video and DVD releases were uncut and the rating increased to a 12.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Fierce Creatures/Metro/In Love and War/Prefontaine/The Relic (1997)

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Soundtracks

Hungry Heart
Written and performed by Bruce Springsteen

User Reviews

One of the funniest movies of all time

...WAY funnier than "A Fish Called Wanda".

I enjoy "Wanda", but "Fierce Creatures" should get the acclaim that earlier film does. It has a few weak moments of sentimentality, but they're quickly forgotten; nearly every scene is packed to bursting with witheringly literate putdowns and rejoinders, performances given just the right amount of push over the edge, and someone's best-laid schemes unraveling in hilariously improbable fashion. Kevin Kline oozes handsome, clueless yuppie smarm from every pore; John Cleese plays a take-charge-but-eventually-beleaguered Basil Fawlty variation with his usual timing mastery.

A should-be comedy classic that doesn't get the praise it's due.