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

Apart from featuring many of the same cast and crew, the official movie poster from 'Fierce Creatures' carefully mirrors the one from A Fish Called Wanda (1988): Michael Palin stands on the left, Kevin Kline on the right with his legs slightly spread; John Cleese is standing at the back, with Jamie Lee Curtis sitting on a chair in the middle with her right leg over the left, while holding an animal. The four actors are even credited in the same order.

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Goofs

When Rollo is standing beside the lemur cage, he raises his left hand to wave, yet in the next shot his right hand is in the air.

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Quotes

Sydney Lotterby: Please, this is a wild animal! You get too close, it'll give you a nasty nip!
Rollo Lee: A safety pin would give me a nasty nip, Lotterby. I'll tell you what fierce is, fierce is biting the whole hand off!
Sydney Lotterby: The whole hand?
Hugh Primates: [who keeps gorillas] Is it all right if it wrenches the hand off?
Rollo Lee: Oh, yes.
Hugh Primates: Whew!

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

The entire ending of "Fierce Creatures" was reshot after test showings. The original featured the elder McCain [Kevin Kline] being killed by a rhino and some business with a tiger costume. A scene in which Kevin Kline plays his own mother was also shot and cut.

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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.