[Quick Summary: After a corporation buys a zoo and tries to corporatize it, the keepers rebel.]
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The second half of the script was a little strained.
WHAT I DID LIKE: The first half was much more solid, especially the use of exaggeration to emphasize the irony of a situation.
In the scene below, Octopus, Inc. has bought a zoo and wants to increase profits.
Its executive, Rollo, has decreed that only Fierce Animals will draw crowds and will be allowed to stay.
Note the use of exaggeration and contrast, which makes us laugh.
ex. "EXT. COATIMUNDI ENCLOSURE AND ENVIRONS. DAY
ROLLO stands arguing with SYDNEY, PIP, DEREK, HUGH and others. SYDNEY is inside the enclosure, holding a chair, which he occasionally uses, lion-tamer style.
ROLLO: Fierce??! That coatimundi...
He indiciates a Coatimundi, which is watching in a friendly manner. [A lion-tamer chair for a 2 foot, 8 lb. animal?!]
SYDNEY: It's a wild animal, sir. It's not domesticated.
ROLLO: Neither's a house fly and I wouldn't call that savage.
SYDNEY: You take a liberty with him and he'll give you a nasty nip. [Trying to make him sound ferocious.]
ROLLO: A safety pin could give me a nasty nip Lotterby. I'll tell you what's fierce: fierce is taking your whole hand off.
KEEPERS: Whole hand!?! No! Impossible! No!! [Aghast reactions are funny.]
ROLLO: (Walking away) Lotterby, could I have a word with you over here please
HUGH: It is all right if it wrenches the hand off?? [More exaggeration to make the animal sound fierce.]
ROLLO: Oh yes.
HUGH: Phew.
SYDNEY: (Showing a scar) That's what a coati did to me. Look! [Big exaggeration compared to the likely small scar.]
ROLLO: I'm surprised you lived. Now...
ROLLO and SYDNEY have arrived at some cages. SYDNEY looks at them, winces, and then puts on a very positive, cheerful polite act.
ROLLO: ...These are your meerkats, correct?
SYDNEY: Er...yes sir.
ROLLO: (Pointing) On the new plaque here it says ... they're known as the 'Piranhas of the Desert'? Is that right? [Good exaggerated visual.]
SYDNEY: Yes sir, they can strip a human carcass in three minutes. [Blood thirsty description!]
ROLLO: (Pulling out a book) My encyclopedia says they're easy to tame and are often kept as pets. (He shows SYDNEY the page) See? [I like the contrast of 'tame' vs. 'piranha'.]
SYDNEY: Well, you haven't been attacked by one sir.
ROLLO: Nobody's been attacked by one, Lotterby (He moves on) Or if they have, they didn't notice... [He calls Sydney on the unlikely possibility of an attack.]
SYDNEY: They've got diabolical temperaments, sir..." [I give credit to Sydney for his commitment to his mission.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I laughed because the keepers created such an exaggerated fiction compared to the modest reality. It was just simply ridiculous.
Fierce Creatures (1997)(9th draft, 4/4/95; originally titled Strictly Confidential)
by John Cleese and Iain Johnstone
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