The creative team behind the iconic film The Shawshank Redemption had to think on their feet after being barred from using live animals in a particular scene.
In a memorable moment from the classic movie, character Brooks Hatlen is seen tending to his pet crow within the confines of the prison walls, but the American Humane Society took issue with the original plan for this sequence.
Despite its initial lukewarm reception, the film, which is based on Stephen King’s novella and stars Hollywood heavyweights Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, has since been elevated to legendary status, often hailed as one of the greatest films ever made.
However, the journey to create The Shawshank Redemption was not without its challenges. One particular hurdle involved a scene where Hatlen feeds his crow, prompting the filmmakers to embark on an unusual quest.
A recent revelation on the r/TodayILearned subreddit illuminated the behind-the-scenes struggle with a seemingly simple shot that turned out to be quite problematic for the crew.
According to the post: “During a scene in The Shawshank Redemption in which a crow was to be fed a maggot, the American Humane Society objected against the idea of a live animal being killed for the scene meaning the team had to find and use a maggot that had died of natural causes.”
Director Frank Darabont reflected on this peculiar situation in his screenplay notes, which were later made public following the film’s release.
He remarked that the maggot could not have been intentionally killed by the production team, and that even a joke about locating one that had perished naturally did not amuse the American Humane society.
A fan reminisced: “Darabont talks about this in his published annotated script. The crew had to find a maggot that was already dead (as in, the crew couldn’t just kill one and then feed it to the bird).
“When the crew dug through the tin of bait they had purchased at the local fishing store and found one that was already dead, Darabont offered to have it autopsied to make sure it had died of natural causes. The ASPCA rep on the shoot didn’t, apparently, find it funny.
“By the end of the day, the prop department had made a tiny director’s chair out of matchsticks to give the live worms somewhere to rest between takes.”
Additionally, further details emerged when Darabont revealed that a waxwork worm was used instead during the scene. In the DVD commentary, Darabont confirmed a representative was present on set to “protect the rights” of the maggot.
He recounted: “This was a waxworm my prop guys purchased a local bait store. We had the ASPCA lady come on this day because we had that little baby crow in Jim Whitmore’s vest pocket, and I figured they were there to make sure nobody mistreated the baby crow, right? No.
“This woman was also there to protect the rights of the ‘maggot’ in the scene, and was insistent that we do not feed a live maggot to the baby crow.
“I was trying to reason with this lady by pointing out that it was from a bait shop and anyone in the country could walk in, buy a box of worms, ram a hook through them and drop them in a river to be eaten by bass, but for some reason a filmmaker with $100,000+ a day pouring out the door is not allowed to feed a live waxworm to a baby crow?”.
“I laud the ASPCA because there were a lot of filmmaking abuses back in the day, when filmmakers used to trip horses with wires and do a lot of very cruel things, and the ASPCA has put a stop to that. However, when you can’t kill bait because of the bureaucracy I think it has gotten a little bit silly.”