Animal Rentals Blog

ANIMAL RENTALS very own “weather guru” WOODSTOCK WILLIE battled the 5th worst blizzard in Chicago history and made his yearly trek to Woodstock, Illinois. After a few speeches and stories WILLIE, with some help from his driver Mark, announced to the festive audience that, “YES, I saw my shadow today and YES, there will be 6 more weeks of Winter”. Regardless of the forecast, WILLIE spent the rest of the morning posing for pictures and did interviews with CHANNEL 7 and THE NORTHWEST DAILY HERALD. Though the weather was frightful, the crowd was delightful. See you next year people of Woodstock.

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?

Last week was a very difficult and sad one for me, dad and everyone here at Animal Rentals.  My best friend Dottie passed away, and we all miss her so much!  It’s so hard to get through each day without her warm hugs, friendly smile, and sweet, caring nature.  Dottie was a good dog and a great friend who loved everyone…and everyone loved her right back.  So today I just wanted to tell you a little bit about Dottie and just how wonderful she was.

Dad was looking for a smart and interesting dog to work with him doing film and television shoots.  He got Dottie when she was just a baby, and named her for the multiple spots and dots she had that were part of her blue merle color pattern.  That color is pretty special, only a few breeds of dogs can have it.  As an Australian Shepherd, a breed also known for their intelligence, loyalty, versatility and protective nature, Dottie was blessed with the silver, black and white swirls and splotches that make up the blue merle pattern.

Dottie was dad’s friend, companion and protector for 14 years.  She was great company for him when he was home, and guarded the house when he was away.  When I came to live with dad, Dottie was the first one that greeted me and welcomed me to the family.  We became fast friends and we loved to play ball – I would throw it and she would catch it, or chase it and bring it back – and then cuddle together on a chair to relax or nap.  Dottie was a great cuddler!

Over the years with dad, Dottie greeted lots of different kinds of new domestic and exotic animal friends, and welcomed them to the Animal Rentals family.  Some became her playmates, some she watched over lovingly, and some – of course – she wisely kept her distance from (like Purse the American Alligator with his great big mouth full of teeth!).  But when Trixie came to live with us Dottie became a mom.  She adopted Trixie from the very first moment she laid eyes on her, and helped raise her into the sweet and funny dog she is today.  Dottie and Trixie were inseparable from the very beginning, and they just loved loved loved living together.

I’m sure many of you know how bad it feels to lose an animal friend that you love so much.  It is sad in so many ways that most animals don’t live as long as human beings.  Fourteen years is a pretty good long age for a dog, but we would all have loved for Dottie to stay with us for another fourteen…or longer.  As sad as I am and as much as I miss her, I feel a little better remembering what Dottie told me one time:

“Dogs are good at lots of different things but what we are the very best at is love.  We make our humans the center of our world, and we love them with every heartbeat, with every breath, and with every ounce of our being.  We love them so much that even long after we are gone, they never ever forget how good it felt to be loved that much.”

I was not Dottie’s human, but I, too, will never ever forget how good it felt to be loved that much by her.

Goodbye Dottie, my dear friend.  We miss you.  We will see you at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge.  Thank you for the love.

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?

Hi everyone, I’m Mindy!  I am a Capuchin monkey and I have a very special job as an animal ambassador.  Here on my blog I will be telling you stories about what it is like to live, work and play with all kinds of different animals.

I’m so lucky that I get to travel all over the United States with my dad, Bill Hoffman of Animal Rentals, entertaining people and teaching them about wild, domestic and exotic animals.  I have a lot of animal friends that travel with me and help me with our animal shows, and we always have a great time meeting new people and seeing how happy and excited they are to meet us.

Even though I am only six years old, I have already worked at many different events and met hundreds of wonderful people.  I’ve been on television, worked at parties, fairs and festivals, performed on stage and at college shows, gotten all dressed up for corporate events and trade shows, and even danced as an organ grinder monkey.  My dad is really funny and he makes people laugh a lot while he is teaching them about us and what it is like to live and work with exotic animals.  I think my favorite part of being an animal ambassador is seeing the joy on people’s faces when they get to touch a monkey or a chinchilla or a snake for the very first time.  It sure is a great job, and I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

I’m so glad that you found my blog and I hope you come back often to read about all the great adventures that my dad, my friends and I have working and playing together.   And be sure to like my Facebook page, so that I can get to know you too!