Animal Rentals Blog

 ANIMAL RENTALS has been the source for animal models   for photographers, modeling   agencies, booking agents and   production companies in search for the perfect animal to compliment products they are promoting.  Their clients are looking for well behaved     professional models because as they are  quick to say in the advertising circles, “Time is money”.  Calls are made to potential models followed by emails, interviews and auditions.  Some will make it, but many will receive a simple reply of  “Don’t call us. We’ll call you”.

ANIMAL RENTALS contacted their friend “Denise” who has a well trained female Shetland Sheepdog named “Gia”, who would be used as a “prop” in a photo shoot involving a sofa protector.  The shot called for the little dog to sit still on a sofa.   This is very difficult for any animal to do as they are in a unfamiliar area with bright lights and strange people all around.   There was concern that this would be a lengthy shoot.

On January 23rd, Denise walked into the studio with Gia.  They set the scene and took some “test” shots”. Satisfied with the results, the final photos were taken.  Before you could say “sofa protector” they had the picture they wanted. The job started at 10:15 and was completed at 10:35.

This is just another reason why ANIMAL RENTALS is the professional’s choice for professional animal models.

ANIMAL RENTALS is always looking for new talent.  Contact us at [email protected] if you have a pet that you feel could be the next super model.

Here is a television commercial (circa 2002) of spokesperson LYNN HAULDREN of EMPIRE CARPETS and ANIMAL RENTALS very own animal actor “TOM T.TURKEY”. During the filming Lynn was a real trooper as TOM could be a bit testy at times. In fact, both TOM and Lynn became good friends. However, for some reason the big bird never returned Lynn’s invitations to be the guest of honor at his home to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Today TOM spends his days as a member of ANIMAL RENTALS petting zoo and animal displays. Few visitors who see the impressive turkey do not realize they are in the presence of a television star.

Lynn Holdren continued as Empire Carpets spokesperson until his death in 2011.

This year Superbowl Sunday falls on one of our favorite holidays here at Animal Rentals…Groundhog Day.  I’m so excited that we’ll get to find out whether a Seahawk can beat a Bronco on the same day that Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog tells us if Spring is coming soon or if we’ll have more wicked winter weather!

February 2nd is also a pretty important day for us at Animal Rentals because my dad and his friend Scooter the groundhog starred in the movie “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. Well, maybe my dad wasn’t the star, but he did get to be in the movie. You can see him holding up Scooter – who played the role of Punxsutawney Phil – to make his prediction in front of a big crowd of people in the town square.

Groundhog Day is a really funny and very popular movie.  Dad says that most people don’t realize how much work goes into making a movie or a commercial or a television show.  For instance, dad and Scooter had to do their same scene over and over again so that the director could get many different angles and the best take. Dad says that even though it was a lot of work, it was also a lot of fun.

I wasn’t in the Groundhog Day movie because it was filmed before I was even born.  And, I guess, because I am a monkey and not a groundhog.  But I am definitely still a star because have been in other commercial and print ads. Lots of my domestic and exotic animal friends are stars too, and dad has tons of experience providing animal actors for movies, television, commercials, print ads…even operas and magic shows and more!  You can see pictures of me and some of my animal actor friends working in the film and advertising business by clicking here.

As far as the Superbowl…the discussion with all of my exotic animal friends here goes pretty much like this:

“A Seahawk has a great big beak and sharp strong claws so it can beat a horse, of course!”

“Yeah, but a Bronco is big and strong with a really powerful kick so it can definitely beat a bird!”

I guess we will find out who is right this Sunday.  And by the way, did you know that Seahawk is another name for an Osprey and a Bronco is a horse?

When you are a monkey April first isn’t the only day that is all about jokes and pranks.  Every day is fun and games day for us! 

Monkeys love to laugh and fool around all of the time.  And we have excellent senses of humor.  In fact, sometimes it is very hard for us to be serious.  And we definitely get excited about things that are interesting and fun.  I guess I can see why dad tells people that emotionally I am at the level of a two year old human child.  But sometimes I think that dad just doesn’t get my jokes.  He has a great sense of humor too, but I don’t know why dad doesn’t think every single thing that I do is hilarious…because I do!

He didn’t laugh the day that I grabbed the end of the toilet paper roll and ran all over the house unrolling it and wrapping it around the furniture in one big long line.  He didn’t laugh the day I grabbed the truck keys out of his pocket and threw them into the wet, muddy water.  And he didn’t even laugh the night that I turned off the lamp every time he just sat down from turning it on so that he had to get back up out of his chair again if he didn’t want to sit in the dark.

Even though dad doesn’t think that everything I do is funny, I have certainly made him laugh out loud lots of times over the years.  Like the time we were traveling to one of our college entertainment shows and I put my water down on the driver’s seat while dad and Mark were pumping gas and Mark didn’t see it when he got back in and he sat right on it and got all wet.  Or the time I was eating strawberries at one of our live exotic animal displays and got sticky red spots from my hands all over dad’s head when I hugged him.  Or the time I pretended to be Lawrence of Arabia on the camel ride at one of our exotic petting zoos.  And he laughed really hard the time I tried to take a picture of myself with his cell phone on the set of one of the television commercials I was in.

So even though today is just a normal day of fun and games for me, I want to wish you all an especially happy April Fools’ Day!  What kinds of jokes and games and pranks did you do today?

For the last few weeks I’ve been sharing with you what my daily life at home and work with dad is like.  This week I’m going to tell you about what we do in the afternoons, after all of my exotic animal friends are fed, watered and their living areas are cleaned and taken care of.

The first thing that happens after breakfast is grooming time, where everyone gets brushed, clipped, trimmed and bathed.  We all get our nails done on a regular basis so they don’t get too long or sharp.  The birds also get their wings clipped so it is safe for them to be outside.  Dad has a schedule of who gets what kind of grooming on each day.  Bath time is really fun because everyone gets something a little different. I take my bath at home with dad in the sink before we go to work.  The birds like to be misted with a spray bottle.  The chinchillas don’t bathe in water at all – they roll in special dust to keep their fur soft and clean and shiny.  And the alligator gets a sort of reverse bath.  Since he spends most of his time in the water he comes out every day to dry off and walk around.

Next it is time for training and exercise.  Of course I can’t tell you any of our secrets, but I can say that using a reward system is the best way to get anyone to do what you would like them to.  If we have a film or television shoot coming up, we’ll work on the specific things the script asks my animal friends to do.  After all of our work with the animals is done for the day, dad and I work in the office together for the rest of the afternoon.  As you can see, our daily lives are very busy from sunrise until dinnertime!

When we have an animal show, party or event scheduled, it takes lots of time to load everyone into their special traveling carriers and make sure they are comfortable, as well as getting any special clothing or props that we need loaded up and ready to go.  On other days we have the vet come in for our regular checkups and shots.  Sometimes dad and I go out to meet with clients or check out the set for a film or commercial shoot.  There is always something interesting and exciting going on!

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about my daily life at work and home.  Do you have any animal friends at home?  What kinds of things do you do to take care of them?  Is it anything like what dad and I do every day?

One of the coolest things my dad and I get to do is animal casting – finding just the right animals to appear in movies, television, print advertising and live theater.  Casting the right animal for the right part is a very important job that takes a lot of thought and planning.  Dad has been doing it for over 40 years, so he is really good at it.  I have only been doing it with him for a few years, but I am pretty good at it too!

When a producer or director or talent agent or advertising agency needs an animal actor for their production, they call dad to talk about what kinds of animals they want and what they want the animals to do.  Sometimes the jobs are very simple and don’t require much acting skill, so dad can book the job right away.  But sometimes the jobs are very complicated and the animal actor has to perform a lot of different tricks, so the production company sends us a script to read.  Once we have read the script, we know exactly what each animal has to do and then we figure out who to cast for each role.

It is a lot of fun to read a script for a movie or commercial or television show.  It’s not at all like reading a book, because there are all sorts of stage and camera directions mixed in with the dialogue and the story.  But you can definitely tell what the story is, and all the directions help you picture it in your mind really well.

This week dad and I are reading the script for a new horror movie about evil spirits and bears.  It is really scary!  Sometimes I even have to close my eyes and hide my face when we get to a really terrifying scene.  I try not to let dad see me do that, though, because I want him to think that I am really brave, and not afraid of evil bears that might eat me.  After all, as an animal casting director I need to be brave and strong and smart!

You can see lots of pictures of me and my animal actor friends working in different commercials, print ads and more by clicking here.

What are some of your favorite animal actors?