Kristin Davis made sure no trained elephants were used on her new film

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Kristin Davis stars in a new holiday film, Holiday in the Wild. It’s currently on Netflix and also stars Rob Lowe and his son, John Lowe (above). The story takes place in Zambia, or at least it starts there, I haven’t seen it yet and most promotional information just says “Africa.” It follows a New York woman, recently dumped, on a safari trip only to be derailed by love. But I’m not talking about Kristin and Rob’s characters. I mean, of course they fall for each other, but the important love story is that Kristin’s Kate character falls for – elephants! What’s even cooler than centering a love story around elephants is that Kristin, who is a huge elephant advocate, got Netflix to agree to humane conditions for filming the elephants, the first being: no “broken” elephants were to be used.

Here’s the People Live video. Kristin discussed not using trained elephants at the start, about the :30 mark, but I’ll transcribe below:

[From People]

And you were very adamant about not using trained elephants. So why was that so important to you?

Because trained elephants have been “broken,” unfortunately, it’s the sad truth. You know, the history of animals and the entertainment industry is not a great one. So, we’re trying to change that and my feeling was that this film was my love letter to all the people I’ve met for the last decade, who are trying to save elephants from extinction, by raising the orphans of the elephants killed for their ivory, poached for their ivory. So I wanted it to be a love letter to them. They devote their lives to it, and there was no way we could do that with trained elephants. It would be the opposite, in fact. So, we really worked with Netflix for years, I mean, I worked for a few years before we got together with Netflix, and I researched the two places we filmed for years, to make sure they were ethically correct – and they were amazing. And then I had to go down there and convince them to let us film. I had to do it because I was the elephant person.

“So I wanted it to be a love letter to them. They devote their lives to it, and there was no way we could do that with trained elephants,” that is truly so beautiful. Kristin has always loved elephants but has been actively fighting for them since 2009. I’m awed by the efforts she went to to get this film made. Kristin credited Netflix for agreeing to her terms. I’ve heard the animal horror stories from circuses (including being permanently traumatized by reading Water for Elephants) and have pledged not to support those. But this puts some light on those elephant and camel rides at some zoos and animal ‘protection’ facilities.

I’m sure the folks that read CB don’t need any more reason to fall for elephants, but if you watch the rest of Kristin’s interview, you’ll be love-struck. She describes how an elephant “reads your soul” when it meets you and said if you were anxious, they might do something silly to put you at ease. I think both those things were on my checklist for a perfect mate when I was single. She also talked about vibrations elephants use to communicate with each other and that humans don’t hear it, but they absorb it, which leads to something akin to a meditative state. Kristin said they call it, eledrunk and as far as I’m concerned, the only drunk I ever want to be again is eledrunk. That sounds amazing.

There are many ways to help elephants. The first is always through information like Kristin shared in this interview. If you have the means to do more, she suggests Game Rangers International, where you can donate, fundraise or even volunteer. Plus, the they have an adoption program. The holidays are upon us, folks. Don’t tell my mother, but she’s getting an adopted elephant for Christmas *dusts off favorite kid trophy*.

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Photo credit: Netflix

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25 Responses to “Kristin Davis made sure no trained elephants were used on her new film”

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  1. Becks1 says:

    I’m really looking forward to seeing this and even more so now. It looks like a great holiday/romantic movie.

  2. MegJ says:

    It’s a wonderful movie, I cried multiple times!

    • StormsMama says:

      You guys this movie is everything you didn’t know you need
      Come for the (unexpected authenticity of Kristin and Robs characters’) love story but stay for the ELEPHANTS!!!
      Also elephants for ALL THE OSCARS
      I love this movie it’s already an instant classic and one of my faves. I sent a text to all my ladies last week telling them this is not to be missed.
      So happy to sing it’s praises. Elephants!!!

    • Suzz54 says:

      I really enjoyed the movie. *I find myself enjoying a lot of made for Netflix movies….

  3. Sierra says:

    This movie is on my list to see this weekend.

    I am so glad people like Kristin are fighting for animals…

  4. Sarah says:

    National Geographic recently had an issue about ‘wildlife tourism’ and how well meaning people end up supporting horrific abuse of animals when they want to meet them and interact with them (broken elephants, drugged tigers, etc. etc.). They did great work on their social media accounts to share more information too. Hopefully the publicity for this film will help reach even more people.

  5. Kittycat says:

    The elephants in the movie were the best part.

  6. Pearlime says:

    Not just elephants and camels – its a similar story for all riding and sport horses and many other working animals.
    I have watched a video of a young elephant being trained and broken – not for the tourism industry but for forestry work – and it was gut wrenching.

    • Stef says:

      So are you saying that sport horses and broken elephants belong in the same category? Please elaborate on your insight into sport horses.

  7. Anne says:

    It’s a truly wonderful movie. I’ve watched it as soon as it came out because I really like Kristin. I honestly didn’t know that much about elephants and now, I LOVE them 🙂

  8. Texas says:

    It was a cute, predictable film and I totally enjoyed it! But I’m an animal AND hallmark Christmas movie type person. So this movie was perfect for me.

  9. Cee says:

    I’ve loved elephants since I had to research them in second grade for a project. They’re very smart, kind and noble animals. Hopefully one day I’ll experience being eledrunk lol
    I’ll definitely watch this movie.

  10. Mignionette says:

    I actually really enjoyed this film. I was however annoyed by the crappy east African accents of some of the actors. It’s really not that hard to source local talent and give them a spotlight – sigh

  11. GogoRoboto says:

    I’ve always loved Kristin and had heard good things about this movie but this totally convinced me to go watch it.

  12. Middle of the road says:

    I’m not a fan of rom coms or any sort of romantic movie as I find them way too cliched, but I do love animals and I’m very happy she went out of the way to make sure trained animals aren’t used. Camels are also subjected to the same kind of life as I’ve seen first hand in Morocco, my husbands home country. The poor camels are often tied to poles and having to sit/stand for long periods of time in their own feces. They aren’t taken care of properly and are whipped in order to allow the tourists to have rides. I made the mistake of riding one on my first visit, but after seeing how they were treated I stopped cold turkey. Horses are also treated poorly a lot of times and although I’m aware that some animals are used for transportation it doesn’t mean they should be subjected to abuse and unhygienic conditions for the sake of money. This kind of advocacy should be promoted more.

  13. Caty Page says:

    Thank you so much for the information on how to help! It makes us feel less powerless when there’s something we can do.

    There are certain movies I support being made, but have no interest in watching, so I stream them while I cook. I’ll let this one stream in the background so I can watch the elephant scenes!

  14. LaUnicaAngelina says:

    Elephants are such beautiful creatures and I love her advocacy work. Now I want to watch the movie in support of her and the elephants.

  15. jessiemarie424 says:

    This was a pretty good movie! I cried at the end. The elephants were so sweet and made me want to adopt one!

  16. Caitrin says:

    I was home sick on Monday, so I bingewatched Netflix from the couch – including this movie! I was surprised by how much I liked it, and knowing this about how she advocated for the production to work in this specific way makes me like it even more.

  17. Lokigal says:

    So happy to read this. There are ways of training animals with love and kindness that are far more effective. Our elephant rehab sees far too many abused fellas and babies due to evil cruel assholes.

    Mind you there are also wild elephants that were maimed or orphaned etc there and they turned out sweet and utterly eager to please their keepers after being cared for so long. You see such affectionate gestures and unexpected funny bits when they go ‘off script’ shall we say.

  18. IMUCU says:

    Elephants, manatees, and dogs = my spirit animals (-;

  19. Stef says:

    I enjoyed this movie and wondered about the elephants. Glad to know she championed for them and I love how the movie promoted the protection and rehabilitation of wild elephants. Love Kristin and thought she was great in this movie.

    Also, Rob Lowe is still a sexy man!

  20. Dali says:

    This is so wonderful. I’m trying to watch it on the weekend.

  21. Soupie says:

    Oh this is wonderful ! Like for many people, elephants are my special animal.

    Right now Wildlife SOS is helping Bella, who unfortunately has given up and is likely in hospice care. She’s just too sick and weak. But she’s finally known good food, showers, kindness, compassion and medical care, and there is a lawsuit against the most recent owners (There have been 27.) I support them and also Sheldrick. Excellent organizations.

    You can follow them on instagram. There are many success stories. I will definitely see this movie, and kudos to Kristin!