While swimming across the pool, the current carried him closer to the wall at end of the pool than it had in previous takes.
In the next shot, Hercules entered the pool from his rehearsed location. We cannot identify the voice that appears on the videotape saying “Just gotta throw him in,” but there were many people on the film set and it was not anyone with any authority over Hercules’ welfare as some of the news coverage implied. It quickly became apparent that Hercules did not want to enter the pool from this location.Īfter less that one minute of Hercules insisting on getting back to his original starting point, this plan was abandoned and he was brought to the end of the pool from which he’d been conditioned to enter, and he did so happily. As the camera started rolling, the trainer in the water began to call the dog. The shot that Hercules performed began with his jumping from the end of the pool into the water as he’d been conditioned to do, then swimming out to a stunt actor and pulling her to safety.Īfter many successful takes throughout the day, a request was made to have Hercules perform the same behavior, but changing the point from which he was to enter the pool. He was chosen for the film based on his love of the water. Hercules, a two-year old German Shepherd, had been in training for months to perform the swimming scenes for this film. A voice can be heard saying “Just gotta throw him in.” Next, Hercules can be seen in the water, the false implications being that Hercules was actually placed in the water against his will and that the voice that can be heard belongs to someone supervising Hercules. In one sequence, the videotape shows our animal actor Hercules appearing resistant to being placed in the pool. No such thing occurred, nor would it ever occur under the supervision of our animal trainers. It portrayed a dog being forced to enter a pool against its will and suggested that the dog was traumatized as a result.
Last week a falsely edited video was released to the media.