Webber wanted him for Phantom, but there was a post-production dialogue conflict involving the hippo’s role in Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
*Sydney Morning Herald
Zoo’s new baby turns out for the camerasNovember 8, 2008
Taronga Zoo’s new pygmy hippo baby was unfazed by the cameras, lapping up lunch before jumping into a bath.
But her birth three weeks ago was almost too much for Monifa, whose name means “I am lucky” in Nigerian.
A difficult breach birth left the calf struggling to live, said zookeeper Renae Zammit.
“She was quite weak, and it was evident that if we didn’t intervene she wouldn’t survive,” Ms Zammit said.
At her birth Monifa weighed less than four kilograms. She has since gained two kilograms, but is still no more than half a metre long.
Until last week, Ms Zammit and her colleague Tracey Roberts took 24-hour shifts watching and feeding the calf, who will remain on a milk substitute for several weeks at least.
“We would obviously have wanted her mother to raise her, but she definitely would have died if we didn’t step in,” Ms Zammit said.
“Every day she’s getting better and stronger, and eating more and putting more weight.”
Monifa is the zoo’s first newborn pygmy hippo in 23 years.
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This barbaric behavior is what has led film producers to employ the pygmy hippo in science fiction movies which span five decades.
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David Maclean could not convince Desk Sergeant Hippo that something was amiss.William Cameron Menzies used the hippo to support the receiving tower which played akey role in this 1953 film classic–RINGLING BROS. FROM MARS.
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The all-knowing Pygmartian was able to parlay a fish bowl
into a god-like persona of evil.
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Fifteen years before his release of DIRTY HARRY, Don Siegel directed the
INVASION OF THE BODY SMASHERS which featured the super-imposed Hippo
about to crush the town of Santa Mira.
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George C. Scott is blithefully unaware of the danger lurking above him
in THE PYGMYCIST III.
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In the ghost story–STIR OF HIPPOS–Keven Bacon reacts to a ghastly visitor.
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Images: (All Hippos; all the time) (First pix) & ( Stir of) (Ceiling) & (Bowl) & (Hand lick) & (Needy) & (Victorious) & (Invasion) by Kate Geraghty via smh.com.au; (Thumb bite) Reuters via smh.com.au; (Strangle) & (Cute/Mean) & (As desk sergeant) AP via smh.com.au;