In The Wild - Lemurs With John Cleese
1998, 60 minutes, Rated E
John Cleese loves animals? - surely not! The man who brought us the dead parrot sketch and the irascible Basil Fawlty couldn't possibly have a penchant for small fury lemurs? You'd better believe it.
They're gentle, well mannered and pretty and yet great fun...I should have married one".Not only has Cleese had a life-long obsession with the lemurs of Madagascar - he first fell in love with a ringtail lemur at the tender age of twelve - last year he raised money to release five black and white ruffed lemurs born in captivity, back into the rainforests of Madagascar. The Carolina Five, as these lemurs are affectionately known, are the first lemurs ever to be released into the wild. The hope is that they will survive and eventually mate with the existing population of lemurs to introduce new genes into the population.
Then came the difficult bit. John Cleese set out on a 3-week trek to go and find them. On his journey into the jungle he comes nose to nose with some of Madagascar's dinosaur-like chameleons, discusses football with a troop of ring-tailed lemurs, bounds through the forest with dancing sifakas and shares dinner with the evil-looking aye aye.
The expedition by plane, French colonial train, jeep and eventually on foot takes Cleese up to Betampona Reserve, a remote forest perched on a hill on the Eastern coast of the island where the Carolina Five were originally released. But lemurs don't stay still for long and tracking them down proves an almost impossible task
Plagued by a dodgey knee, but cloaked in the full amour of his inimitable wit, Cleese fights his way through the jungle against all the odds to catch a glimpse of these pioneer balls of fluff. If the ruffed lemur project is a success, the process could be repeated to help save many of the other 32 species of lemur who are now teetering on the brink of extinction.
John Cleese doesn't just love lemurs - he's done something about it!
- Director:
- Starring:
- John Cleese [81],
- Screen Formats:
- Full Frame 1.33:1
- Language and Sound:
- English Dolby Digital Stereo
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