Director Peter Cattaneo insists ‘patience’ was key to working with real penguins on new film The Penguin Lessons

Bang Showbiz

Filmmaker Peter Cattaneo used real penguins on set for his new comedy-drama movie 'The Penguin Lessons’, and admits that working with live animals brings it's own set of unique challenges.

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00:00Well, the Penguin Lessons co-stars a penguin, so that was always going to be a challenge.

00:28It was the first decision was to definitely use real penguins and not go for CGI, because

00:42I felt we'd just get more authenticity and more character and warmth out of a real penguin.

00:47Then it was finding great animal handlers, always making sure the penguins were very

00:51well cared for, never asked to do anything that wasn't natural for them.

01:08But every time I opened my mouth, he turned around and walked out, which was amusing in

01:14itself, but made for a slightly long day.

01:22It was great to be involved in scenes that I had no particular responsibility for and

01:27watch the mayhem that the penguin was creating, because they don't always do what you want

01:32them to.

01:40It's not an out-and-out comedy.

01:41It just has, I think, a lot of warmth and observational humor, and it got lots of laughs.

01:46But then you hear people sniffing, they're crying as well, so what could be more rewarding

01:51for a filmmaker than to have laughter and tears in?

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