Have you ever watched a film with animals and actors and wondered how the animals behaved in a way that blended with the story?
From 101 Dalmatians to the Dr Dolittle series, real animals did a convincing job of “acting” in the productions. Of course, they are trained, but it must take an immensely gifted person to program those animals to do exactly what’s required of them. No one ever talks about the work that goes in behind the scenes which is why you might want to see Zoltan the Wolfman.
The reality show follows Zoltan Horkai who is a guru in animal training. He is simply a modern Tarzan who lives on a farm in Budapest with more than 100 animals including wolves (hence the nickname), bears, wild bears and deer, among others. It’s like seeing Animal Farm in real life and to go with that Zoltan runs a school called the Horkai Animal Training Centre which is an internationally acclaimed institution.
As an animal wrangler for film shoots, Horkai has worked on several films including the Richard Gere and Terrence Howard film, The Hunting Party, and the action-packed Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
On Zoltan the Wolfman, you get to be part of the crew, seeing how wild animals behave in unnatural habitats, the dangers that come with that and how long it takes to get just one good shot.
Outside of films, Horkai works on TV shows and commercials as he is one of the most sought-after animal trainers in Hollywood.
What is of interest is that Hollywood still uses this approach when there are other options. One of them is Computer-generated imagery (CGI) which is extensively used today. Look at films like Narnia where the main character is a talking lion, it is so convincingly created it appears real, until, well, it starts talking. In Twilight, too, all the wolves that transform into people are made from scratch with 3D software. This process is usually faster and it yields the exact results of the required shots as opposed to animals which can be temperamental.
The computer route can state the cliche: “No animals were harmed” and it will be true.
Horkai, on the other hand, gives us the authentic animal behaviour that computer algorithms cannot. So for that alone he has one up on everyone else and there are fewer and fewer people doing what he does.
l Zoltan The Wolfman, Animal Planet, Thursdays, Animal Planet (channel 183).