Gwas

That’s interesting. Care to elaborate? Part of the problem in trying to make a movie about real animals is that they aren’t actors. You can write a script — and there was one — but the chimps didn’t always follow it! So, like a good field worker, one had to adapt as the film footage came in and the story line changed. In this day and age of global warming, disease pandemics, and the like, it’s essential for biologists to reach out to the general public and communicate what we are learning. What better way to do this than via the silver screen? So when the producers approached us saying that they wanted to make a film about chimpanzees that would adhere to the science and what we know about them, it was a no-brainer to sign on. In retrospect, I was a bit naïve to believe this. In biology, we learn that there are always trade-offs in life. There were cases where telling a good story that will sell in theaters clashed with our scientific understanding of chimpanzees. In these situations, artistic license was favored. At the end of the day, I understand and can live with the decisions that were made, as science doesn’t always make for great entertainment.