Pigs Trot to Fame in the Great Escape
Mon Apr 12, 2004 10:29 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Only the British would make national heroes out
of two pigs who escaped from a slaughterhouse and made a dash for
freedom.
Britons are often mocked for treating their pets better than their
children. So the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) clearly
felt it was onto a winner immortalizing the exploits of Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Pig.
They were two Tamworth ginger-haired pigs who sparked an
international media frenzy in 1998. Even Japanese and American
networks flew in to cover the chase.
"The Legend of the Tamworth Two," being screened by BBC Television
on Monday, relives the frenetic week when the porcine pair were
billed the world's most famous fugitives.
The plucky porkers escaped the abattoir knife in the western
English town of Malmesbury by burrowing under a fence and swimming
across an icy river to freedom.
Tabloid newspapers offered huge rewards for the fleeing pigs. TV
helicopters hovered over the sleepy rural backwater. The Vegetarian
Society begged Britons to save their bacon.
The mission to save Butch and Sundance became a public obsession in
animal-worshipping Britain where the film "Babe" -- about a talking
piglet -- was a smash hit.
Journalist Wendy Best, who broke the tale in her local newspaper,
said: "I knew it was a good story. It was January, the weather was
foul, it was after Christmas and people needed cheering up."
Astonished by the way the story snowballed, she recalled: "The
international media joined in the feeding frenzy. American and
Japanese film crews were among them. It was very strange after
spending 17 years as a journalist that what was basically a
ridiculous little story should gain such notoriety."
The story had a happy ending both in fact and fiction.
The original Tamworth Two were finally recaptured and bought by the
Daily Mail newspaper before becoming a tourist attraction at an
animal sanctuary.
The eight pigs used in the BBC film will not be ending up as
another great British tradition -- roast pork for Sunday lunch.
They have been retired to a farm park.
Actors are always warned never to work with children or animals
because they are such scene-stealers.
But actor Gerard Horan, who plays the pigs' original owner in the
film, was full of admiration for his co-stars.
"They have been a lot less trouble than most actors I've worked
with. You don't have to drag them out of the bar at two in the
morning. They turn up on time."
But he did confess in the Radio Times listing magazine to a twinge
of envy: "I want their agent -- they only work two hours a day and
they are treated like royalty. They spend the rest of their time
either lying down or eating."
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