All language subtitles for Cobby.The.Other.Side.of.Cute.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG3_English

- [Meteorologist] As well,
this is gonna continue

to just follow the flow
of the South-Southeast

to the North-Northwest.

We could have another busy
day today, high temp of 85.

Even though temperatures
might look a little cooler,

in some spots the humidity,
that's due to the cloud...

- It's a beautiful, sunny
day here in California.

We're on the road from
LA to San Francisco.

We're driving on the
wrong side of the road,

which is very challenging
'cause in Australia

we drive on the other
side of the road.

So every bend is a challenge,

especially when we pass people.

And we're off to see Cobby,

and we're really,
really excited.

- [Meteorologist] Thunderstorms
in a couple of days.

Break Friday and Saturday...

- I can't believe we're
going to see him.

[laughing]

After all this time.

[soft instrumental music]

[nostalgic piano music]

- [Announcer] The all-seeing eye

of the motion picture camera

can document history,

explore and reflect our
culture and our times,

record, create, or synthesize
art and life itself.

[projector clicking]

- [Narrator] Memories
are strange things.

They come from nowhere
to push you back in time.

Sometimes things stay with you.

This haunting continues
until you need

to remember it clearly
and follow where it leads.

This is the 1960s in
Adelaide, South Australia.

I was an only child and
each day I would rush home

from school to watch a comedy
show called Cobby's Hobbies.

♪ Cobby is funny and
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

- [Narrator] I loved Cobby

and I was sure that Cobby was
a huge international star,

after all, he sounded American.

♪ Cobby what's your hobby

♪ Show us your new hobby

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

- [Announcer] The magic
of the cinema lens

gives to us a limitless power

to teach, inform, activate,
demonstrate, inspire.

But with this power,

we must also assume a
heavy responsibility.

We must be forever
conscious of our obligation

to check the focus and exposure,

because if we don't the
pictures will turn out

all fuzzy and too dark
or too light,

and the colours will
be just lousy.

- [Narrator] So, it would've
been about four o'clock

in the afternoon,

and as I had not brothers
or sisters to play with,

I used to come inside and watch
telly, and there he was.

The program was called
Cobby's Hobbies.

♪ Cobby is funny and
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding something
new to be done. ♪

- [Narrator] The theme
song haunted me.

It haunted me for so many years,

even after I couldn't remember
the Cobby's Hobbies Show.

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

- [Narrator] Cobby's
Hobbies was only shown

in Adelaide for a year,
so no one ever knew it.

[typewriter clicking]

For years I searched for him.

The Internet made no
mention of Cobby.

He was destined to
be an outsider

in the big, global picture.

He was part of my life connected
with my childhood,

a footnote in my mind.

It was only later that I
found more Adelaide kids

that shared similar memories.

[nostalgic piano music]

- It think it was about the time

that my parents decided to
move us all into the city

of Adelaide into a big,
old pub that they ran.

It was a very exciting
time for me,

but I didn't have many friends,

so my main friend
was television,

and I just used to sit

in front of the TV and
watch everything.

And I really loved it actually,

but I do remember
Cobby's Hobbies being on.

[slow instrumental music]

- I used to sit a long
time watching TV anyway,

so I can't exactly
remember when it was on.

I would go to school, and you'd
talk about it the next day,

and we used to do
impersonations of Cobby

and things like that.

We'd just talk about
it the next day.

I used to be a very lonely child

just sitting there watching TV.

It was my only friend, it think,
for quite a few years.

- My sister was much
younger than myself.

I would've watched it by myself,

would've been the
only person home.

Someone at school got the
idea of calling me Cobby.

Presumably, there were enough
other children in the class

who had seen the show
for that to make sense.

And that sort of took
off from there.

That was my nickname.

Most people who knew
me pretty well

would've called me Cobby.

♪ Cobby is funny and
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

- Cobby likes hobbies.

♪ Da, da, da, da

♪ Always something
new to be done ♪

♪ Cobby likes hobbies ♪

♪ And lots of fun

♪ Always looking for
something new to be done ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

- I remember at the end it was

Cobby where's hobby.

♪ Cobby what's your hobby ♪

- Show us your new hobby.

- Cobby, what's your
hobby today?

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

[lighthearted flute music]

- [Narrator] Now, I can't
get the song out of my head.

When I started the
search for Cobby,

it was all about chasing
a childhood memory.

There was no dark side
to this story yet.

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

- [Narrator] All I wanted to do

was revisit the excitement
of watching the show on TV.

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

- Hello there, I suppose
you're wondering

why I'm standing here
drying dishes

when I should be doing something
constructive and exciting,

like watching television
or like that.

- I remember that it
was black and white

it must have been black
and white TV anyway.

And it was sort of
superimposed human voice,

and it was Cobby and
Kobeena, his girlfriend,

and they'll do a
hobby each time.

- Well, time to take
my daily exercise.

I guess I'll go out
for a stroll.

It's raining outside.

This crazy bummer won't shoot.

Guess I'll have to
pry it open here.

You know what they say,

it's unlucky to open an
umbrella in the house.

- [Narrator] Cobby would have
a different hobby every day.

And he would spend the
four minutes of the episode

trying to master these
hobbies, but he never would.

[whimsical clarinet music]

He would always get them wrong,

and his girlfriend
Kobeena, or his conscience,

would come back in and
try and put everything

back together again
and tell him off.

- And gets hurt,
boy, a step ladder

took one too many steps.

I guess it's all right...

- Probably Kobeena was actually
Cobby dressed up as well.

But I recall all
sorts of scenarios

where Cobby would have
an opportunity

through props and bit
of background music

and the clothes that
he wore and so on

to conjure up different
realms of endeavor,

different realms of
interest that would allow

the show to sort of unfold in
sort of a comic, tragic way.

- I know this will change
my luck right here.

[groaning in pain]

- I sort of thought it was cute
to dress the little chimp up

in those gorgeous costumes.

However, I did think it
was a little bit strange

when they tried to
make Cobby speak,

'cause it looked to be odd.

It didn't really look
like somebody talking.

It sort of looked more like

he had something stuck
in his mouth.

- And I thought I was a quack.

Try with a book balanced
on your head.

With your head you
could balance the world.

Now, that's it, easy does it.

Oh why couldn't you
have a square head?

- [Narrator] Shared memories,
bringing us together,

meeting those
lonely Adelaide kids

found magic in that show,

I knew I had to keep going.

[slow electric guitar music]

Finally, a breakthrough.

In an archaic
internet forum, two

entries made a difference.

A voice reaching out
from 50 years ago.

I'm in Kansas, I
worked on the show.

He was the editor,

a guy named Wendel Craighead.

The other entry made
a big difference,

from Tony who worked in the San
Francisco Zoo, who wrote,

we have a chimpanzee
named Cobby.

My search narrowed to
the San Francisco Zoo.

YouTube gave me the opportunity

for the first time to
see images of Cobby now.

He is alive and well,
and seems to be happy.

[bouncy cello music]

[chimpanzee gibbering]

- [Meteorologist] Still
tracking rain,

be careful out there,
sight of lightening comes.

But look at Saturday, by
the shore, the sea breeze,

back to normal, boy, the beaches
will be the spot to be.

Unbelievable, up into the
mountains, thunderstorms,

they could come...
- I'm not sure.

I'm not sure what I'll
do when we get there.

Hopefully, he won't
turn his back on us.

[chuckling]

So, at the end of this
road is Cobby.

- [Announcer] We must be forever
conscious of our obligation

to check the focus and exposure,

because if we don't, the
pictures will turn out

all fuzzy and too dark
or too light,

and the colours will
be just lousy.

[cheerful big band music]

[people chattering
in the distance]

[birds twittering]

♪ Cobby likes hobbies,
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

♪ Cobby likes hobbies,
each and every one ♪

[bright xylophone music]

- [Narrator] Out of focus,
wrong color and exposure

couldn't take away the
excitement of seeing Cobby

for the first time.

Hello Cobby.

Although he's turned
his back on me,

Cobby is real and he's here.

- [Cameraman] Just keep
do it over and over,

'cause I'm gonna play
with the focus.

- Okay.

[slow piano music]

- [Narrator] I soon
learned that Cobby

has been here since 1968.

For many years, he was the only
male amongst three females.

In 2003, the matriarch of the
group, Tallulah, passed away.

She was, according to rumors,

the inspiration for the look
of Yoda, from Star Wars.

Since her death, Cobby now
shares his accommodation

with two remaining
females, Maggie and Minnie.

This is Maggie.

Minnie, on the left,
is more camera shy.

- All of the chimps
that we have here

were previously pets or in
the entertainment industry.

Cobby is the most
dominant of our group.

As the male, he gets the
most favourite items,

so if we put five things out, he
gets two or three of them,

and the other guys
get what's left.

And he's sort of the one that
will lead the troop out,

lead the troop in.

If one is kind of taking
a long time to come in,

he'll go out and round them up,

and say, come on, it's
time to come in.

Because they've been together
for such a long time,

this troop is very settled,

so he really doesn't have
to prove himself very much.

So, he's definitely the
leader of the group.

- I think I like babysitting.

It's such an easy way
to make money,

or at least it would be if
this kid didn't eat so much.

She's already had three
bottles of milk.

She must have a whole lake.

She wants more.

- Well, he is very
interested in people.

And he's formed very close bonds

with particular keepers as well.

And he's interested in
grooming the keepers.

So, I think that might
be part of growing up

in the entertainment industry.

And he does also sometimes
favour things

that maybe he has seen in
the entertainment days.

We gave him a little dust broom.

He was very interested
in using that

and trying to clean things up.

[laughing]

[whimsical flute music]

♪ Cobby, what's your hobby

♪ Show us your new hobby

- We love cuteness, don't we?

We're just drawn to cuteness.

When something that
might be really cute

when it's little, everything's
cute when it's little.

We love that the cute
and the funny

and the silly is just like us,

and even visitors to zoos.

It's great to actually
watch their reactions

to the chimps, because

people love to know that
they are like us.

[chimpanzees hooting]

[bright xylophone music]

- [Narrator] The excitement
of finally meeting

my childhood hero
suddenly turned

into some kind of
anti-climax feeling.

I was amazed to see
how big Cobby was.

He was so different
from the cute image

I had of him in that
television show.

At that moment at the zoo,

with an invisible
fence between us,

there was a sense of something

that was not quite right here.

[unsettling string music]

I knew that in the
past, animals like Cobby

lost their freedom and
found themselves confined

in a tiny cage for the
duration of their lives.

The focus, then, was to
find entertainment

and education for the crowd on
the other side of the fence.

Not much fun for the
animals inside those cages.

Although Cobby lives now in
this beautiful environment,

there was something sad
about seeing him on display.

He looked so human.

I went back to my
childhood memories,

and I could feel Cobby's deep,
brown eyes following me.

- [Cassandra] I think if
you ever get the chance

to look at him in the eye,

it's a bit cliché,
but you're really

just not the same ever again.

It really can get
into your soul.

- [Narrator] Cassandra Rowe
was worked with great apes

for 14 years, and
it was from her

that I've learned that you
won't find adult chimpanzees

in the entertainment industry.

And it's not just because they
have lost their cuteness.

- They're very smart.

They're very intelligent.

They have the ability to plan.

They are very strong,

they say that ten times
as strong as a man,

so they're very, very strong.

I mean, I've seen them
bend iron bars

like it didn't matter.

They are very quick.

They can bite.

They have this great
ability to display

and throw things around,
break branches,

and crush your head
with their hands.

They're so strong.

I wouldn't like to be
in a situation where

I've been grabbed by a chimp,

or they can harpoon.

They can actually use
weapons against you.

They're not all horrible,
but they certainly will

do you a lot of damage. They
will kill you, absolutely.

♪ Cobby is funny and
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

[lighthearted
instrumental music]

- Chimps in entertainment,

they might be bred in
captivity and used

for that purpose, I'm
not too sure about that.

But the chimps that
I've worked with

seem like they haven't
come from that luxury.

So, they've been
born in the wild.

[tense instrumental music]

[gunshot banging]

They generally will kill
the entire troop because,

I mean, imagine trying go in and
take a baby from a chimp.

It's not really gonna work
out very well for you.

So, they will sell the
adults for meat,

and the babies are
not very meaty

so they probably get more money

if they're selling
them as a pet.

They might be sold as
photographers' props,

or for the entertainment
industry.

[chimpanzee screeching]

[chimpanzee screeching]

Once they are in that
sort of environment

is where a lot of neglect
and abuse can occur.

They will remove their
teeth a lot of the times,

so they don't bite tourists,

especially if they are
photographers' props.

Those chimps become big fairly
quickly, even as babies.

I've helped hand-raise
a few and they're heavy.

They're quite muscly

and they're not like
infant humans at all.

They're very strong,
built to do things.

To sedate them, so they
might give them alcohol,

I guess is a cheap option.

They'll often do things like
burn cigarettes into them

to try and control them
as a means of discipline.

Once they get too big,

if you've got this
uncontrollable animal,

that even if it's sedated,
it's dangerous,

they will often take them
out onto a boat,

and just tip them overboard,

because chimps don't have
a natural ability to swim

because of the density
of their bodies.

And they can just go and
buy another one,

because they're
readily available.

[suspenseful bass guitar music]

- [Narrator] These disturbing
facts were new to me.

I couldn't help thinking
whether Cobby

was going through a
similar journey.

It was hard to believe.

In his television show,
he always looked so happy.

- If you ask somebody that's
watching a chimp on television,

perhaps, and you
don't know that,

it's really misleading.

Often, when they're
showing their teeth,

it's a fear thing,
or an anxiety.

So, it's not a smile, and
a lot of people will think

that the chimp is
showing its teeth,

and especially if it's
wearing roller skates

or wearing a suit, it's smiling

and, generally, it's
not the case.

Much like us, they feel
happy, sad, scared.

They can, maybe, get
depression like we can.

[slow piano music]

- [Narrator] As my
nostalgic trip

started exploding all around me,

I've tried to imagine
what Cobby felt

when he first arrived
here nearly 50 years ago.

There is no record in
the San Francisco Zoo

about his place of birth.

I can only guess that
he was taken away

from this mother in the wild.

[camera clicking]

One who can shed some
light on Cobby's early days

in the zoo is Tony Bila.

He was one of the few
that responded

when I started the
search for Cobby.

- When you take an
animal like that

and raise it in an environment
completely foreign to

and then you take it and throw,

put it in the best
zoo in the world,

it's still like taking

all of the sudden what
are you doing,

you're leaving me with
a bunch of apes.

So, I think there's always
a little trauma involved.

- [Narrator] Although Tony was
the wolf keeper in the zoo,

Cobby was a big part
of his life.

His late life, Lisa, was Cobby's
keeper for over 10 years.

- Lisa really loved chimpanzees.

I think she really thought
they were a better example

of human than we are.

And so, like it or not,

I was fed a steady
diet of wonderful

Cobby, handsome Cobby.

You know, da, da, da.

And I

I loved that.

I mean, I always made as though
it was really a burden

but I loved it, because I had

my own madness around
wolves, for instance.

When she started taking
me in there,

she would give me these
instructions,

like get low, get high, don't
look, don't look, what is it.

And

almost every time
I went in there,

Cobby would go bananas.

He'd beat a tattoo on
that expanded metal

caging that they had in
there with this, I mean,

and he'd kind of go ape.

But if I went in there without
Lisa, I could work it out.

So, there was a dynamic going on

which we won't say
anything more about.

[nostalgic piano music]

A zoo is a prison wherein

all the inmates are
known to be innocent.

And so how do I justify
working there?

I feel I bring special
skills and a special love.

To be a keeper of
something is to

hold it precious and safe.

It's not just a prison.

A child who sees a
giraffe or a chimpanzee,

or a lion, will have
a different experience

and devotion to that
world that they represent

than one who sees it.

It's very beautiful to see
the nature documentaries

and all this and that,
and they're ravishing.

But the fight is to save that,

and there's a lot less
to save every day.

[chimpanzees hooting]

We have to remember that
most animals in zoos

are not sitting there
comparing it,

oh I wish I was back
on the old Savanna.

Oh geez, I sure miss that tree.

That's not their comparison.

They've never known that.

They grew up where they grew up.

I'd like to see chimps survive.

And I'd like that
survival to include

as much of the richness and
complexity of their life

as it can, which is pretty

it's a lot.

I'd like to see some among
us in some form or another.

I mean, it would be
lovely to say

I'd like to see the
last chimp turned out to

but the truth is is if
you let the last chimp

back out into the forest,
he's gonna go,

what are you, nuts?

I'd like some part of
the ability of this earth

to sustain this
complexity to survive.

[slow instrumental music]

♪ Cobby is funny and
lots of fun ♪

♪ Always finding
something new to be done ♪

- [Narrator] At the end of each
Cobby's Hobbies Episode,

there was a big credit to
the creator of the show,

Murray Hill Enterprises.

The word enterprises
sounded huge to me,

and it gave me the impression

of a big studio beyond the show.

I've managed to locate Murray
Hill's two daughters,

Robin, who lives in New Jersey,

and her younger sister, Nada,
who lives in Pennsylvania.

From them, I've learned
that Murray hill,

who's real name is Arlan
Seidon, died in 2013.

I soon found out that
the big studio

was actually a small
family business,

with its roots in
Brooklyn, New York.

Murray and his wife, Denise,

were the driving force of
my childhood favourite show.

- When my parents got together,

my mother was a
nightclub dancer,

and my dad, I guess,

was a really bad comic
and accordion player.

And in those days one
could make a living

by driving around, going
from nightclub to nightclub

and doing your act.

- My dad was a really
unusual person.

He was raised in a very
traditional Jewish home,

and he was never
traditionally Jewish.

He didn't do anything
traditional.

He was the black sheep
of the family.

He knew early on that
he wasn't going

to be the average Joe out there.

He always needed to
be in charge.

My mum was a dancer at the time

and they got together
and they got married,

and my dad bought his first
chimp which was Chatter,

and put Chatter into his act,

and became somewhat of a success

because he had a
chimp in the act.

And he found that he
got along with the chimp

far better than he
did most people,

so they had a good
rapport going,

and they did really well.

At a certain point, they moved
to Downers Grove, Illinois,

decided to have children,
establish a home,

and my father made the
Chatter's World.

[whimsical instrumental music]

♪ Chatter's got the
whole place in a mess ♪

♪ Chatter doesn't know
that he's the best ♪

- They worked with Chatter and
they did the nightclub scene.

I was born, and I guess we all
traveled around together.

I guess they had me
in a bassinet

in the back of the car
with the chimp.

And that chimp really loved me,

according to my folks.

It did not like to hear me cry.

My mother would have to
beat him to the bassinet,

so she wouldn't find
him picking me up.

I mean, I guess he really
was quite fond of me.

♪ Chatter, what's the
matter with you ♪

- Well, some fellas use a cane.

Some fellas use a rifle.

I use a boomerang.

That's right, now, watch this.

I just wind up there,
I throw it out.

This comes, whoops.

They don't make boomerangs
like they used to.

♪ Chatter's got some
trouble on his brain ♪

- [Narrator] The picture
is starting to emerge

about the chronology
of this story.

Chatter, with the help
of Murray, of course,

was the one who paved
the way for Cobby's road

to international stardom.

- All right, okay.

Come on out, bad bard,
I've got you covered.

- [Narrator] Watching the few
episodes of Chatter's World

I could find on the web,

I could not help noticing
how similar they are

to Cobby's Hobbies,

even the catchy theme songs

of the two Murray
Hill Productions

sound nearly the same.

♪ Cobby, what's your
hobby today ♪

[nostalgic electric
guitar music]

- We had a lot of baby chimps,

and I remember Chatter and
Cobby both being bigger,

so they were more like
hairy brothers.

They had meals with us and

I felt like they got
away with murder.

I felt like we had to
behave better than they did.

I didn't have a great
relationship with Cobby.

He didn't like me very much.

Mum told me that he bit me.

- I was four, Robin was six.

Cobby was sitting in between.

Robin was on one side,
I was on the other,

and I have no idea.

He picked up her hand, put
it in his mouth and bit her.

Well, obviously, she
was pretty upset,

but she was also mad 'cause
she couldn't understand

why Cobby didn't bite me, too.

Dad had stories of how
they would steal our food,

and how they would stand
up and look out the window,

so that my sister and
I would stand up

and look out the window,

and then they would grab
our food off of our plate.

[nostalgic guitar music]

- They were chimps, they
would run around the house,

and they would rough house
with each other.

My dad would rough house
with them,

and they would play, and
they had a lot of fun.

I didn't necessarily have
a lot of fun with them.

I pretty much kept my distance,

I think, from both Chatter and
Cobby when they got bigger,

because when they get bigger

they get really tough
to get around.

That's why people shouldn't
have them as pets,

because they don't stay
cute for very long.

They had to know
that baby chimps

were taken away from
their mothers,

so I don't know why they thought
it was okay to do it,

and I never asked them,

but for some reason at that time

in our history, it was okay.

It wasn't frowned on, and nobody
thought it was a bad thing,

and so maybe they didn't think
it was a bad thing either.

And I think they weren't
conscious enough

to think about it in this form.

- My dad was the first person

to import baby elephants
and keep them alive.

People were importing
baby elephants

and they weren't staying alive,

and my father found a
way to do just that.

He also had the youngest
elephant act on the road.

I don't believe there
was ever an elephant act

with three young elephants
that went on the road.

I think he was the first
to integrate a chimp

into an elephant act.

So, he did a lot of
things that were firsts.

[slow guitar music]

- [Narrator] For Murray and
Denise, it was a way of life

they chose in order to
take care of their family.

By now, they had two
more mouths to feed,

those of twins Alan and Adam.

After shooting 150 episodes
of Chatter's World in 1960,

and 156 episodes of
Cobby's Hobbies in 1964,

the curtain closed
on the television

chapter of the family.

As for his ex-TV star
chimpanzees,

Murray introduced them
to a new career,

promoting various businesses.

[vigorous brass music]

- Businesses would call and say,

we want to run a promotion,

wanna draw people
into the store.

So, they would call my
dad and he'd bring in

one of the chimps and
Cobby being one of them,

and he taught them how
to walk the wire,

meet and greets, and he
would sign autographs,

and just kind of do
personal things.

[vigorous brass music]

[unsettling instrumental music]

- I think he was finding that
chimps were a lot of work,

and maybe there was a lot
of competition with chimps,

and elephants were
a lot of work,

but you could command more.

- [Narrator] Gary Ross
knew Murray very well.

He wrote a book about him.

I'll tell you about
it a bit later.

- If you had a trained elephant,

and could have them
walk down Broadway

in an American Express
commercial,

they would pay you 10 times
the money they'd pay you

just to have a chimp that could
do something on camera.

I think the economic pull was

toward the elephants
as moneymakers.

When the Mighty Mites started,

they were, I believe, the
youngest performing elephants

in circus history.

And if you could've
frozen them in time,

maybe that would've
been the ideal scenario,

when they'd all fit in the
back of a pickup truck,

or something or a cube van,
instead of an 18 wheeler.

And when they
didn't eat hundreds

and hundreds of pounds

of hay and grain every day.

[whimsical cello music]

People who can baby anything,

sometimes fail to take
into account what happens

when the animal grows up.

A baby chimp is incredibly cute,

except the chimp gets
bigger and bigger,

and stronger and stronger.

The chimp can
basically tear your

face off as has happened.

That notion of bringing
a chimp into your family,

treating it as a family member,

expecting your kids to
treat it as a sibling,

which I think Murray and
Denise basically did,

it's outlandish in
this day and age.

And it was simply
ill-advised back then.

But I don't think he
saw it as that.

He saw the chimp as
a meal ticket.

People would pay money
to see the chimp,

and see the chimp do
tricks and all of that,

and Murray had a family to feed.

- [Narrator] Murray
knew all along

that the time would
come to say goodbye

to his two ex-TV stars.

[unsettling instrumental music]

It became clear that the
safety of his children

was not something to play with.

The cute baby chimpanzees
were growing up,

and it was time to let go.

- My dad donated Cobby in 1968
to the San Francisco Zoo,

and he donated Chatter as
well to a zoo in Florida.

I remember my dad being sad

that day, excuse me.

Don't film that.

My dad was kind of sad that day,

and this was a chimp
that he loved.

And it was hard enough when
he had to donate Chatter,

and this a second chimp
that he had loved

and raised from baby and
worked with every day.

But he also knew it was a
good thing to do for Cobby.

[slow instrumental music]

We left him at the zoo
in San Francisco.

I was nine years old,
and that was the last

that I knew about Cobby.

I just went on with my
little life and grew up

and did my thing,

and really never thought
again about it.

So, it was very
heartening to hear

that Cobby was still alive.

[tranquil piano music]

- [Narrator] For Robin, it's
the first time she has seen

her childhood nemesis since
her father donated Cobby

to the San Francisco Zoo.

- I have to say that it was a

very interesting way to grow up.

I can't ever say I was
bored as a kid.

I have a lot of useless
knowledge about animals now

[laughing]

that have nothing to
do with my life.

But I'm sure growing up
with those animals

have made me a lot of
who I am today,

empathetic and sympathetic.

[vigorous brass music]

- [Narrator] The Hill Family
continued to make a living

as an act for hire in
various circuses.

Murray developed
his elephant gig

with Beanie the chimpanzee.

As time passed, Robin and
Nada moved into the ring

with the trapeze act.

They were always
expected to take part

in the constant struggle
to make a living.

- You had to practice
all the time,

and the animals had to
be taken care of.

There were a lot
of times that we

had hired help doing that.

And there were a lot of
times that we didn't.

And when we didn't have help

my sister and I had
to do the work,

which we resented,
quite frankly.

And I swore that once I got old
enough to have a choice,

I wouldn't have animals anymore,

because they are 24/7
responsibility.

I mean, we spent hours
and hours and hours

when we were on the road
sitting with the elephants

to make sure that they wouldn't
get hurt by the public

and the public wouldn't
get hurt by them.

You could never ever
leave them alone

when they were
outside the truck.

[spectators chattering]

My dad would disappear
for hours on end,

and my sister and I
would be left there,

sitting there taking
care of them.

For those who didn't know him,

he was fun and funny
and charismatic

and interesting and smart,

but he was tough to be around.

And we ended up having, I think,
a pretty tough childhood.

[steady percussive music]

- As a father, Murray
explained to me

that he really learned
how to raise other beings

by raising exotic animals.

So, he raised his children as
if he were training animals.

The best way to train an animal

is to reward its
behaviour occasionally

on such a schedule that it knows

that a reward is coming, but
it never knows quite when.

Because of the
strength of chimps

and elephants and so on,

animal trainers tend to impose
their will on the animal

as a way of showing the
animal I can hurt you.

You have to keep it
somewhat in fear of you.

And I would say, as a parent,

Murray tended toward that
way of raising his kids.

The discipline was the way

to show them who was in
charge and what he wanted,

and here's the behaviour
that's not allowed.

[elephant trumpeting]

[announcer chattering quietly]

- [Narrator]
Elephants are starting

to take over this story.

[camera clicking]

Gary Ross, a
Canadian journalist,

editor, and writer

wrote a book entitled "At
Large: The Fugitive Odyssey"

"of Murray Hill and
His Elephants."

It's a complicated story
with lots of new names,

so bear with me.

In 1984, Murray sold the
last two of his elephants,

Tory and Duchess, to the Drakes,

father and son animal trainers.

He could no longer care for them

after the third elephant,
a bull named Onyx,

seriously injured him.

When he heard that the Drakes

were mistreating the elephants,

Murray stole the trailer
with Tory and Duchess,

and for five years was on
the run all over the USA,

hiding the huge elephants at
different friends' properties.

Gary Ross, who read the
news about the case,

saw the potential for a book.

With Robin's help, Gary managed
to track down Murray.

- He was in hiding at that time.

I have no idea where he was.

And we began having
chats on the phone.

He would call me every
once and a while, collect,

from wherever he was,
and I was eventually able

to say to him, look, we
need to meet face to face.

So, I know you don't
really trust me yet.

I may be the police.

I may be working for the Drakes.

You don't know who I am.

And he said, "I'll
think about it."

So, one Thursday,
I believe it was,

he phoned me and he said,

"Be at Shreveport,
Louisiana, on Saturday."

"Stay at the Richmond Suites."

[laughing]

So, I flew down to
Shreveport, Louisiana,

checked into the
Richmond Suites,

waited for a few
hours in my room,

and before long there
was a knock on the door.

Not before long,
after a few hours.

I open the door, and this little
guy is standing there,

and he says, I'm Murray Hill.

That's how I met Murray.

[slow instrumental music]

- [Narrator] The first encounter
between Murray and Gary

led to further meetings
all over the country

that led to the publication
of the book.

The book focuses on the
time after Cobby,

the elephant years.

Besides describing five years

of hiding two giant
elephants on the road,

it's a unique insight to Murray

and his family's way of life.

That whole animal world
of circuses and carnivals,

where you're kind of
set up and get the money

or get ripped off for
the money, and tear down,

and drive through the
night to the next location,

and sleep on bales of hay,

and never take off your clothes.

It was an eye-opener to me

to enter into that
world, somewhat.

And into that mix
you throw Murray.

Here you have a
diminutive, little guy

with three massive animals
that he is in control of,

and beating up when he
has to beat them up,

showing who's boss,
this little guy.

And that was very much
his attitude to the world.

Nobody's gonna screw
with me, I'm Murray Hill,

and I may be little but
I'm tough kind of thing.

[spectators applauding]

- [Announcer] Now, look at this.

These elephants are
playing London Bridge.

It's a tight squeeze,
but she can make it.

[spectators applauding]

- In a circus, for half
an hour, it's glamorous.

For a while, the
spotlight is shining

and sequins are glittering,

and fans are clapping,

but for the other
23 hours a day,

it's brutally hard work.

The elephants are eating
a hundred pounds of hay

and a pail of grain
every day, each,

so the animals are
costing a fortune

as he goes about his business.

I'm sure he was relieved

to get out of the
elephant business

when he sold the
girls originally.

And when he took them back
he was in dire straights,

basically for five years,

and like Blanche Dubois,

he relied on the kindness
of strangers.

[energetic instrumental music]

- [Announcer] Now, our
big show is over.

And late tonight we will
load up, hurry away,

keep a date in another
town tomorrow morning.

- [Narrator] Murray, who was
60 years old at the time,

was determined to get
his girls to safety.

That's how he used to
call his elephants.

But the five-year run
finally came to an end.

[police siren blaring]

- [Newscaster] A posse of
FBI agents has rounded up

two adult Asian elephants,
allegedly stolen in New Jersey

more than five years
ago by a man

who insisted he
repossess the animals

for non-payment
and animal abuse.

When caught, he said that he
hadn't seen his four children

or met his grandson since he
took off with the elephants.

- I'm very conflicted in my
personal feelings about him.

In a way, I admire him greatly.

I couldn't have done
what he did.

And in another way, I think
he was kind of idiotic

and self-absorbed and irrational
in his decision-making

to his own detriment.

There's something
Homeric about his odyssey

of going on the road
with two elephants,

and the guy making his way home.

It's like "Cold Mountain,"
the novel, or something.

Inman is like, no matter what
he's gonna make his way home.

Murray was kind of making his
way to Mexico, he thought.

What was gonna happen
in Mexico, though.

So, Mexico was this dream where

if he could cross the
border with the girls,

they'd leave him alone.

What's he gonna do in Mexico
with two fucking elephants.

[laughing]

Teach them Spanish?

[sonorous trumpet music]

- [Narrator] Gary, whose book
focused on the elephant years,

didn't delve into Murray's
chimpanzee era.

And so it was that
Cobby, my childhood hero,

was hardly mentioned
in the book.

- I never saw an episode
of Cobby's Hobbies,

but Murray made it
sound like it was

as popular as the
Ed Sullivan Show

on Sunday nights or something.

And it was his doing
and his creation,

and he made Cobby and
he produced the show.

And, again, one always
has a different assessment

of one's own contributions
and place,

and all of that, than
perhaps other people do.

But I wouldn't have guessed that
Cobby would outlive Murray,

but there you go.

[bouncy cello music]

- [Narrator] After his arrest,
Murray had to face the court.

The newspapers of the
time telling us,

the state dropped its case
against Seidon last month

in exchange for a promise not
to steal anymore elephants.

Murray had to move on.

At this stage, divorced
from his wife Denise,

he tried his luck
selling insurance.

It seems a very sedate chapter
after the elephant story.

So, it was time to get
back to Cobby's Hobbies

and where it all began.

[contemplative
instrumental music]

I've managed to meet
with Wendel Craighead,

who was one of the
editors of the show.

He was the one who
wrote to me ages ago

when I started this journey.

- I was very surprised
50 years or so,

maybe more than 50 years,

after Cobby's Hobbies
was produced,

that there's still people
that remember the series,

and even people that
remember the theme music.

[sprightly instrumental music]

- [Announcer] What, in addition
to the right equipment,

does it take for the
job of film editing.

♪ Cobby, what's your hobby

- [Announcer] It
takes an individual

with these qualities:

manual dexterity,

dramatic judgment,

storytelling sense,

a feel for pacing and tempo,

endless patience,
and most of all,

an ability to take
genuine pleasure

in ruthlessly discarding

most of what so many
have worked so long

and so hard to produce.

But that's editing,

the elimination of all
but the essential.

[whimsical xylophone music]

- I started out as an
editor trainee.

And it was during that
period of time

that Cobby came to
live at Calvin

and we began the Cobby's
Hobby series.

So, I was involved in the
beginning of that series.

I, later on, did some re-editing
on some of the episodes.

After that, I became a producer

and then directed film
crews on five continents.

And I got to do some things

that I would've probably
paid money to,

but Cobby's Hobbies was

a little different
than anything else.

I always remembered Cobby.

I will never, never forget that.

- Speed.

- [Narrator] Before
producing Cobby's Hobbies,

the Calvin Company was the
leading production house

making industrial, educational,
and advertising films.

- Workshop film, scene one.

Take one.

- [Narrator] In order
to train the vast amount

of emerging producers using
16 mil film in the country,

Calvin developed an
annual workshop,

where they used films
to sell this idea.

- [Announcer] The film
you are about to see

represents a significant
breakthrough

in the advancing science
of the motion picture.

When viewing this film, please
keep your company name

and your product in mind.

You are about to witness
history in the making.

- John, what's happening to us?

- I think we both know Mary.

- It's just that we seem
to be drifting apart.

- I'm sorry, Mary, I've tried.

- Well, I don't blame you, John.

It's just that...

- It's not your fault
either, of course.

It's just that...
- God, it's ironic.

With all our technology
and industrial know-how,

we still don't have
the one thing

that could give us a
better way of life.

They say it can't be done,

that it's just an
impossible dream.

- [Announcer] But in the
laboratories of your name here,

there is a modest sign.

[upbeat brass music]

- [Mary] John, you mean...

- That's right, Mary,
I got the promotion.

Starting tomorrow, I'm no longer
just a shipping clerk.

I'm chairman of the board.

- And it's all because of...

- [Announcer] Your product here.

[steady brass music]

- [Narrator] At the height
of its success,

Calvin employed over 300 staff
in this seven-story building

in down town Kansas City.

[projector clicking]

- I gotta get blood.

- Sad case, huh?

Maybe, you might know him.

Fella named Jones, he's
in the movie business.

Makes industrial
films, advertising

films, all like that.

[smooth jazz music]

- [Narrator] In 1964, the
same year this film was made

the Calvin Company were looking
for new ways to expand

into the ever-demanding
field of television,

entered multi-skilled
Larry Kauffman.

- I was first hired there
a public relations person.

And out of desperation,

they finally let me
direct some film,

and of course, the films I
directed had to be edited,

and since I was the only one

that apparently knew how to do

what I was doing, I edited them.

So, I wrote, directed,
and edited

over the course of the years,

probably made as many
enemies as friends,

but they finally let me
work with a chimp.

[chimpanzee hooting]

- All right, come on,
Frank, action.

- In voice recording,

the essential quality
we must strive for is

[gibbering]

ability.

- Cut, that was good.

Good, very good.

- We didn't actually
use a script.

We knew we had to get
this shot or that shot,

or have Cobby do this or that.

And it would depend
a lot on voice

commands, or movements,

or pantomime by Murray

to get Cobby to not
act but react.

At times, I wish we'd have a
separate camera on Murray,

because he was funnier
than Cobby.

[whimsical instrumental music]

Cobby and Murray were
inseparable companions.

They had a trailer, that
was, as I recall,

it was stationed in between
the two sound stages.

And they kept pretty
much to themselves,

except when they were no
longer in the building.

[laughing]

- I'm sure employees did.

I'm sure I did, I probably
said, good morning Cobby,

or hi Cobby, or
something like that.

And

we probably didn't expect
any response in return.

- I was thinking I'd become
Ms. America, Cobby, darling.

- At the rate you're
going, Kobeena,

I don't think you'll
ever make it.

Now, let me see how you walk.

One step at a time.

- How is this, Cobby?

Do I look like a swan in a pond?

- Oh, I can't look.

Kobeena, you look more
like a duck in the muck.

Now, try it again.

- [Narrator] As well as
the theme song of the show,

it was the voice of Cobby

that I couldn't get
out of my head.

Meeting Larry and Wendel solved
one more mystery for me.

Finally, there was a face

to this voice from my past.

- Oh boy,

woof, he says.

[upbeat brass music]

- Harvey Levine was the
voice of Cobby,

and we had been using
Harvey in some other areas.

He was primarily a comedian,

and as such, he had a
variety of different voices.

And, apparently, we
heard some of his voices

at one time or
another, and said,

"Hey, that's a voice for Cobby."

- Hey, hey!

Hey, hey, hey, you
guys, come here.

I got a problem,
I need your help.

Come on, come now.

Come on now, this
is an emergency.

The client is mad.

Come on, come on, I'm
gonna tell you.

Come on, I'm going to tell you.

- He would be in the sound booth

with the work print
being projected.

A lot of ad-libbing involved,

but Harvey was familiar
with the story-line

and what we needed
to accomplish,

and would mouth Cobby as he
went through his motions.

- You really are an expert.

Here, Cobby, darling.

I think you should be Ms.
America.

- I wish to thank my friends,

and all those who voted for me,

even if I did deserve it.

Oh, ho!

- It's nice to see
something on the screen

and know that I had
something to do with that,

maybe just a little bit
to do with that.

But to me, more
important than that,

it was the people at
Calvin, the employees,

really nice people.

And I stayed there until Calvin
closed in September of '82.

- Why did they close?

They failed, I think,
to recognise tape

as replacing film eventually.

And when tape first got started,

quality was not too great,

but Calvin didn't make
the transition,

and as a result of
that, eventually

they had to close down.

- [Interviewer] What did
you think about finding out

all these years later
that Cobby's Hobbies

was really appreciated in
Adelaide, South Australia?

[Larry laughing]

- Well, it was really
gratifying, really.

There were quite a lot
of people involved

in the production of Cobby

over a long period of time.

But that was a long,
long time ago.

And to know realise that
perhaps in Australia

and maybe other parts
of the world

that people still appreciate

Cobby and his hobbies
is very gratifying.

- [Interviewer] Had you heard of
Adelaide, South Australia?

Honestly.

- No.

[laughing]

[whimsical instrumental music]

[nostalgic instrumental music]

- [Narrator] Spending
the day here

took me back to the warm
and fuzzy feeling

that I had when I
started this journey.

But I knew that I had to
ask one more question.

- [Interviewer] How do
you feel about animals

in entertainment, chimps
in entertainment?

Have you got an
opinion about that?

- I think there's a lot of
commentary anymore about

animal abuse in various uses

other than their
natural habitat.

I think it depends very
much on the circumstances.

With Cobby, as far
as I could tell,

Murray had a very good
relationship with him,

and I know took very
good care of him,

was very conscientious about

his health and his care.

After all, he was Murray's money
at that particular time,

so it would behoove him
to take good care of him.

But I think Murray had more

than a commercial
interest in Cobby.

I think they were good buddies.

[slow instrumental music]

- This silly thing
still doesn't work.

When it comes to lights, folks,

I'm completely in the dark.

Oh well, I'll give it
one more go around.

- Really, though, what
have you been doing?

You haven't been fooling around
with electricity, have you?

- Not me, Kobeena,

I know better than to fool
around with that stuff.

That could be dangerous.

- Even as soon as just
several decades ago,

there was over 50 chimpanzees

that were specifically used in
the entertainment business,

for movies and advertisements.

Today, that number is
much more reduced.

Many of these chimpanzees
have been moved

to sanctuaries and
accredited zoos,

as that business dwindles
as a result of pressure

from scientist and advocates,
who have pointed out

the real welfare and perception
issues that are surrounding

the use of chimpanzees
in entertainment.

We know that chimpanzees
used in entertainment

often don't have
particularly good lives.

To start with,
they're taken away

from their mother early in life,

and as a result suffer
long-term consequences.

But also the use of chimpanzees

in entertainment is important,

because it creates
false perceptions

among the public that are
viewing these chimpanzees.

When people see
chimpanzees in movies,

they tend not to think
that they're in endangered,

or that they might
make a good pet.

And so, as a result, there's
been a lot of advocacy work

disputing the use of chimpanzees
in entertainment,

and that number has
dwindled down

to just about 15 chimpanzees.

- Now, just flip this
disc onto the turntable,

and see what's in the groove.

I must have tired electricity.

[tranquil piano music]

- [Man] Hello, fellow Doc
Conner, this is your...

- Anthropomorphism is
an important concept

when talking about chimpanzees.

This is the imbuing of emotions

and characteristics of
humans unto non-humans.

And in fact, Jane Goodall,
when she studied chimpanzees

in the wild in the 1960s,
was criticized actually

for naming the chimpanzees
she studied.

So, this was a very critical
aspect of what she was doing.

But I think it's very
easy to anthropomorphize,

when you're talking
about chimpanzees,

who are so genetically and
biologically similar to humans.

In fact, we know through
studies that they do express

and feel a lot of
the same emotions

and cognitive processes
that we do as humans.

So, it's actually not
a problem at all.

But it does become a
problem, I think,

in terms of how we display
them and portray them

in, for instance, entertainment.

People, I think, have
a natural tendency

to want to make them
look like little humans,

and that might come in
the form of things

like dressing them up.

But, of course, they're
not humans at all.

And in fact, this divide
between what they are

and what humans are is
particularly important,

if we want to respect
them as a species,

and as a result protect
wild populations

of chimpanzees in Africa.

[chimpanzees hooting]

- [Narrator] Doctor Stephen Ross

knows a bit about chimpanzees.

He is the director of the
Lester E. Fisher Center

for the Study and
Conservation of

Apes at Lincoln Park Zoo,

and heads Project ChimpCARE.

And he's the chair of SSP,
Species Survival Plan.

In fact, he knows each one

of the 1850 chimpanzees
living in the USA.

In his office, you can find a
mugshot of each one of them,

including one of my
favourite chimp, Cobby.

- Cobby is the oldest
male chimpanzee

living in an accredited zoo.

He's over 55 years old now

although we don't know
his exact age,

because he is wild-born.

We don't know how long
Cobby will live,

but we're already
sort of planning

both with San Francisco Zoo and
the Species Survival Plan

to understand how we
want to ensure

that the remainder of his life
is comfortable and dynamic.

Obviously, Cobby's social
group is shrinking.

He lives with old individuals,

so we have to find
situations where he has

at least some social
opportunities

to be with other individuals.

So, there might come a time

where the best thing for Cobby
is to move to another zoo,

where he can have other
individuals to be around

and still maintain that social
aspect of his character.

This is a difficult
decision for a zoo

that only has a few chimpanzees,

but at some point it
might become necessary

for Cobby and for other
older individuals like him.

[urgent brass music]

- [Newscaster] Something
is happening

in the San Francisco Zoo.

A tough decision has to be made.

- [Reporter] Upgrade the
aging exhibit to house

more chimpanzees in order to
create a bigger social group,

or send the three senior
chimps away to another zoo.

The second option seems to
trigger a public outcry.

- [Blogger] Help save the
San Francisco Zoo chimps.

Welcome to this blog
dedicated to the attempt

to stop a move by the
San Francisco Zoo

to boot the family group
of three senior chimpanzees

from the only home they
have ever known.

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Share any and all information

to help get the message out.

These senior chimps deserve
to be a priority for once,

be given the new home
they were promised,

and most important, to
live out their lives

in the place they have called
home for over 45 years.

Please help in any way you can.

[dissonant string music]

- [Narrator] It was
heart warming to find out

that Cobby gets this
kind of support

even when he is old and gray.

I wasn't sure about what was
the best thing for Cobby.

But for one San
Francisco Zoo member

and animal advocacy
blogger, Kim Forwood,

there is no doubt
that it was wrong

to move chimps to another zoo.

Kim was the one
that uploaded the

video of Cobby to YouTube,

where I first saw him alive.

♪ Happy birthday to you

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday

♪ Cobby, Maggie, and Minnie

♪ Happy birthday to you

- [Narrator] She kept uploading
videos from the zoo,

celebrating important
milestones.

For her, the fight
to keep Cobby,

Minnie, and Maggie here

is very personal.

- It would just be
heartbreaking to me,

because I don't know what
would happen to them.

I don't know what
kind of situation

they would be going into.

Like I said, I don't think it's
a safe situation for them.

I mean, obviously,
people will tell you

that they can be adopted and
this, that, the other, but

why should they?

This is their home.

It's like sending your
grandparent away.

It's just not right.

It would just mean everything,

'cause it's what they deserve.

[slow electric guitar music]

Cobby is grooming
one of the girls.

I think that they lead
a very simple life.

There's not a lot
for them to do.

Well, the dynamics
changed a little bit

when Tallulah passed away.

She was pretty
much the matriarch,

so she was in charge.

She was even above Cobby,
from what I understand.

And now I don't really
know what the hierarchy is,

if there is one, or what.

Some people have told
me that the girls

tend to boss him around a lot.

But I have noticed
different pairing ups,

like him and Minnie
used to be a couple.

They had four babies together.

But I've seen him lately hanging
out with Maggie a lot.

They've been together
for 40 years,

so I'm sure that
partners change.

[laughing]

A couple weeks ago, he was

really being kissy-faced
with Maggie,

and then Minnie came over,

and she started kind of
hooting a little,

like, hey, what's going on here?

I don't know, he's been

the only boy among three
girls for 40 years.

I'm sure there's a lot of
different dynamics going on.

Oh Maggie, you're
giving Cobby kisses.

Oh my God, so sweet.

Aw, you guys are
precious together.

Look how sweet you are.

- [Narrator] After an instant
social media campaign,

and enlisting the support
of mainstream media,

a meeting was called at
the San Francisco Zoo.

A friend took a
camera and managed

to get a few shots for me,

not a Calvin Film Production,

but you can still get
a glimpse of Kim

here in the white hat.

She is listening to the zoo
director Tanya Peterson,

informing the audience of the
news they were waiting for.

- This is where, in
my dreamworld,

if you could see in
the middle here

to the right, that's
the gorilla exhibit.

Thank you, Schrust.

So, you could have
gorillas on the right side

and chimps on the left.

- We had so many signatures
that within 48 hours,

the next zoo meeting was,

and Tanya had made a
complete turnaround

and decided to keep the chimps,

and announced that they would
always have a home here.

And that they were gonna

sorry, I'm getting emotional.

They would always
have a home here,

and that they were gonna

build this new chimp
forest for them,

and that they were gonna
launch this biggest campaign

to raise money that they've
ever launched before.

It all seemed that it was
gonna be fantastic for them.

[soft piano music]

I want Cobby to be
respected in his home.

Yes, I do, I think that I want
him to have a happy life.

I want him and the
girls to be happy there.

I mean, they're older,
they deserve to be happy

every moment that they're there.

[bright xylophone music]

- [Narrator] While the future of
Cobby's living arrangements

look secure, at least for now,

I wanted to find out what
happened to other chimpanzees

after they finished servicing
some kind of human purpose.

In the Los Angeles
National Forest,

I'm visiting the Wildlife
Way-station, which since 1976

has helped 76000 abused,

abandoned, orphaned,
and injured animals.

Now, there are 43 chimpanzees
that call this place a home.

I met the founder
Martine Colette.

In the 1960s, she
left her Hollywood

Costume Design Business

and began caring for
exotic animals.

- This sanctuary was created

to help people address a
problem of their own making.

Exotic animals were frequently
purchased as pets,

and when people got tired
of the animals,

or the animal was not
what they expected,

they created damage and
havoc in their home life,

they had no place for
these animals to go.

The Wildlife
Way-station was created

to accept those animals.

Chimps are probably one of the

most dangerous animals
you can have

in a captive environment.

And as intelligent as they are,

first and foremost,
they're a chimp.

And as such, they
behave like a chimp.

Boys.

Good boys.

Chimps normally scare the
bejesus out of most people,

and especially when big males
hare up and they display

and become who they really
are scares people to death.

[chimpanzee hooting]

Most of these chimps came
from biomedical research.

Some of them came because
they were people's pets,

and others came from
entertainment industry.

Hi baby boy,

Chuckles.

- [Narrator] Among the residents
here is another chimpanzee,

TV star Charlie Chuckles.

Most people know him as
Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.

He was a huge success
in the 1970s,

even in Australia the show
was broadcast nationally.

But here, he's just
known as Charlie.

- Charlie Chuckles is
a wonderful chimpanzee.

We've had him here for
many, many years.

And he's quite an old boy now.

Gosh, he's pushing 50,
if not over 50.

We never really had the accurate
age on Charlie Chuckles.

His trainer died and when
the owner trainer died

we took the chimps.

They need to live in a society
where they can be chimps,

where their power and
strength and their

ability to display as
to who they are

is not going to be viewed
in a negative manner.

When any animal first
comes here,

they all need to go through some

a little bit of rehabilitation.

A lot of our biomedical
chimpanzees that came here,

they've never sat outside
and watched birds fly

over their heads,
and tree leaves

fall down into their pens,
and things like that.

[somber piano music]

- [Narrator] The story of the

biomedical research chimpanzees
is a very sad one.

I know that it's hard
to measure pain,

but compared to what laboratory
chimps had to go through,

Cobby's journey was not as bad.

I wanted to find out more.

- [Theodora] Doctor Capaldo.

- [Donna] Hi, it's Donna and
Michael again, we've got you.

- [Theodora] Perfect.

- [Narrator]
Dr. Theodora Capaldo

is the president of NEAVS,

the anti-vivisection
body in the USA.

Vivisection is a practice
of animal experimentation.

This can include
administering drugs,

infecting with diseases,

poisoning for toxicity testing,

drain damaging,
maiming, blinding,

and other painful and
invasive procedures.

Our shrinking film
budget forced us

to conduct a phone
interview with her

instead of traveling to
Boston where she lives.

Dr. Theodora Capaldo started

by giving us a brief
history lesson.

- [Theodora] We've been
trying to use chimpanzees

in biomedical research since
the early 1930s or '40s,

because we assumed that
because they're

so genetically similar to us,

they'd make a good model for the
study of human diseases,

the prevention's, vaccines,
cures, et etcetera.

So, what happened at a
certain point in the history

of biomedical research was

we were up against this
worldwide epidemic.

It was called HIV and AIDS,

and researchers were looking
for a "animal model."

And they discovered
that chimpanzees

could be infected with HIV.

So, they started
a very aggressive

breeding program.

And it's probably at
the time in history

when the most chimpanzees
from entertainment

ended up in biomedical research,

because labs were very
hungry for chimpanzees.

The reward they got for trying
to bring entertainment

to their human world

was often to be
unceremoniously dumped

at a biomedical
research facility,

where they, then,
endured decades

of egregious research.

What happened, though, is that

what we came too late to learn

is that HIV in a chimpanzee

is a whole different
viral infection.

They thought that
the chimps were

gonna be a magic bullet.

And they were an
absolute failure,

and they paid the
price for that.

[somber instrumental music]

- [Narrator] As well
as chimpanzees,

several species of monkeys

were used for space
exploration research.

Scientists used them
to investigate

the biological effects
of space travel.

The first ever primate
astronaut was Albert.

In 1949, he died of suffocation
during a rocket-test flight.

In the name of progress, many
more ended their lives there.

As for the chimpanzees used
in the unsuccessful attempts

to cure the AIDS epidemic,

what happened to them
the day after?

- [Theodora] Private
laboratories now

which have housed
chimpanzees for decades,

and literally brought in
revenue in the millions,

are now starting to
dump their chimpanzees.

Some of those chimpanzees
have had the good fortune

to finally make it out
of biomedical research

and into sanctuary.

And the rest, there's
still about, six, 700

that are still in laboratories,

and we're waiting
to get them out.

They need to be cared for

by sanctuary caregivers
who have only one agenda,

the well-being of
their residents.

Not zoos, not laboratories,
but sanctuary.

[slow instrumental music]

- [Narrator] Dr. Capaldo
recommends a visit

to one of those sanctuaries.

When I started the search for
my childhood hero Cobby,

I did not see myself
traveling to Canada,

but in many ways the Fauna
Foundation in Montreal, Quebec,

is connected to his story.

Cobby could easily be
one of those chimpanzees

that were dropped
from the spotlight

of the entertainment world
into tiny laboratory cages.

Some of them were lucky
to find a new home here.

- Some caught in Africa,
brought to America,

put in biomedical cages
after they spent years

in entertainment, perhaps, or

in a circus or something
like, like our Sue Ellen.

Sue Ellen was most
likely caught in Africa,

brought over, put into
the entertainment world.

She worked at roadside
fairs, dressed in clothes.

She was 15 years old

when she was sent into
biomedical industry.

She spent 15 years in
biomedical cage,

a five by five by
seven foot cage,

and she was infected
with the HIV virus.

Brutal studies, we have
her reports from the lab.

It was relentless all
things they did to her,

and what she was subjected
to in those 15 years.

It's remarkable today to see

that she actually can even
tolerate a human around her.

She's not the easiest
character, that's for sure.

She's not very trusting.

And you can't blame
her for that.

But when she loves
you, she loves

you with all her heart.

She's been through all of it.

And it's an honor
to serve her now.

Sorry.

It matters to rescue one.

It matters to rescue two.

It's really not freedom.

It never will be, but for these
individuals this will be it.

For me, the journey is
not over for them.

We brought them here, we
need to care for them,

and now I feel it's
just as important

for us to take them to the next,

to the end of their lives,

'cause it's as important to
me as the life their living.

It's to help them exit the world

with those who love them and
care for them, around them,

with dignity and respect
as much as possible,

something they didn't experience

in the laboratory environment.

[chimpanzees hooting]

- What would be a happy
ending for chimpanzees,

we can care for them
with compassion.

We can build wonderful
places for them to

we can't take chimps
from North America

and put them back into the wild.

It doesn't work.

And so

they will, for the rest of
their lives, be prisoners.

And when someone is your friend,

it's a very difficult situation

to see them in that situation.

And they're only out as
the day they die.

I've spent 30 years working
with captive chimps, and

I look forward to the day,

it won't happen in my lifetime,

the day when there are
no chimps in captivity.

[chimpanzees screeching
and hooting]

[slow instrumental music]

- [Narrator] I find
myself standing

on a rooftop in Montreal.

Soon, I'll be traveling
back to home.

It's a good place, as any,
to reflect on this journey

that started long ago in
Adelaide, South Australia.

It began with a few
lonely children

that were glued to a
television screen,

hoping to be transformed
to another world,

definitely not the world
that I discovered

while making this film.

When I saw Cobby in the
San Francisco Zoo,

I realised that the
television clown

that I thought I knew
was a construct.

The Cobby that I was
searching for doesn't exist.

The real Cobby is a
beautiful animal

who has his own identity,
his own personality,

his own good and bad
habits, just like you or me.

At the end of the
phone interviews

with Dr. Theodora Capaldo

there was something
that she said

that feels like the right
ending to this story.

This one is for you, Cobby.

- [Theodora] What I would
like to see for chimps

is something I would like to see

for the development of
human consciousness,

which is that human
beings who interface

with all animals, and in
particular with animals

who you look at and you
can so identify with.

You can understand how
they think, what they need.

Their senses of humor,
their family commitment.

I would like to see the
chimps, a major shift,

in how human beings interface
with other animals,

and that we finally get

that it's not a
subject-object relationship.

It is a subject-subject
relationship,

and that means that we
have a high, ethical duty

to now provide for them

in a way that we have
compelled ourselves

to provide for other
oppressed groups

that at one time we considered
lesser beings than us.

And it's time for us to
get that relationship,

because it's not just
for the chimpanzees

that we need to get there,
but for the development

of human consciousness
and compassion.

And sometimes it's so
interesting focusing

on one chimp's story,

and your relationship
to that story

has such a profound effect.

It's kind of like when you
watch six million bodies

being buried, you just
kind of numb out.

And when you hear a
one-person story,

boy, doesn't it make
you pay attention?

Thank you for giving
him his time.

[Donna laughing]

- [Donna] Well, it's the
least I can do for him,

seeing that he entertained
me for so many, many years.

You know?

- [Theodora] Yeah, yeah.

When you were innocent

and you didn't understand
the cost he was paying.

[slow guitar music]

[birds twittering]

[unsettling instrumental music]