The Incredible Journey: Luath, the young Labrador Retriever -
Tao, the Siamese Cat -
Bodger, the old English Bull Terrier
The story recounts the arduous journey toward home of three house pets as they cross the Canadian wilderness. Sheila Burnford based the fictitious adventure on the close relationship of her three pets: Bill, the Bull Terrior, Raimie, the Labrador, and Simon, the Siamese cat. Her book was the basis for two Disney movies, THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY and HOMEWARD BOUND:The Incredible Journey.
[1960, Hodder and Stoughton, First edition - UK]
Sheila Burnford, and her pets, had been invited on the set of filming for the Disney adaptation of her book. I stumbled across her account of that week in a 1963 *article.
Prior to filming, Burnford had reflected on the idea of bringing three actor counterparts together to portray her trio as an enormous undertaking. She felt that the pair of dogs would not be difficult to film - adding a cat to the mix is a whole different story. Cats are known to be very independent, as *Sheila writes: "..are totally uncooperative about doing other than in their own good, self promoting, feline time."
The success of the filming is due to the careful training of three animal handlers: Hal Driscoll, Bill Koehler and Al Niemela. Al handled the Siamese cat(s) role.
Tao, was played by a vibrant, energetic Siamese cat named, Syn. The feline was capable of learning a range of activity with the help from his gentle handler, Al. Although Tao had 'star billing' in the movie, he had some understudies that took on some specialty tasks he could not embrace. Among Niemela's actors was Jumpcat, who could sail across a four foot gap like a flying squirrel - Twocat, who loved to fish - and Notch, who hated bears.
*Burnford writes this about Al: "I shall never be able to think of Al without automatically adding his ever-present props: a Siamese cat draped like a stole over his shoulder purring like a teakettle; the strange leather-and canvas belt of his own devising with five or six compartments containing ground meat, sardines, tuna fish or some other delicacy peculiar to his feline star's mood of the moment; and the tinkly bell which was his Pavlovian signal to his actors. But most of all I hear Al's voice, crooning, cajoling, persuading, exhorting his feline talent, one and all of which loved him wholeheartedly."
*Maclean's - Canada, October 19, 1963
The reader will be happy to note that guidelines/protections for the safety of animal actors in film, have been in place since 1940. During the early days of film production, animals were viewed as expendable props.The
No Animals Were Harmed program ensures the careful filming of over 100,000 animals in over 1,000 productions each year. Prior to filming a movie with animals, the script is reviewed, as is the set [production environment] and a pre production consultation with species specific animal scientists. A team of Certified Animal Safety Representatives presence is required at a filming. This team would include veterinarians and animal behavior specialists. Throughout filming, the specific animal use protocols would be put into practice and monitored. The film is then given the special distinction of
No Animals Were Harmed During Filming through the
Humane Hollywood program.
[information from Humane Hollywood]
Out of the three 'actors' in THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY, only Syn Cat was fortunate to be offered a second film appearance. His next feature role was in the Disney's 1965 film, THAT DARN CAT. Syn was to portray D.C. [Darn Cat], the mysterious [albeit, scene stealing!] crime solving cat.
**The Australian Women's Weekly - August 1966
A resident of Ontario, California, Syn didn't always have 'star billing.' He was dropped off at an animal pound [term relevant to the time] at the age of two. Animal trainer, Bill Koehler, bought Syn for five dollars and began training him to respond to a bell tone five hundred feet away. Each successful response earned Syn a prize of a tasty treat. According to a 1966 Australian Women's Weekly article, Syn won his first movie role out of more than one hundred other felines. He ended up earning thousands of dollars per film. [That was a lot of money in 1965 - even for a cat!] More prestigious, is the honor bestowed on Syn, the coveted Patsy Award for Best Animal Actor of 1965.**
THAT DARN CAT - featuring Syn and Hayley Mills
Most stars are required to promote products during filming!
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