'Born Free' story to get its own nature documentary

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the book, producers plan on telling the true story of one couple's efforts to raise a lion cub.

Fri, Aug 06 2010 at 4:32 PM

Related Topics:

Endangered Species

Who hasn't seen the movie "Born Free"? At the very least, most people would probably be able to hum a few bars of John Barry's memorable score from the film.

The 1966 classic was based on a book by the same name and told the story of Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised an orphan lion cub named Elsa to adulthood before releasing her into the wilds of Kenya. To celebrate 50 years of the inspiring tale, PBS will air "The Born Free Story: 50 Years Later".

"Joy was a much more complex character than she was in the script," said Virginia McKenna, who played the role of Joy in the movie. "The heart of the film was not about the Adamsons and their relationship, it was about their relationship with Elsa. Joy was complicated and passionate as well as enormously dedicated to understanding the individual animal. Many people criticize her — she was hard to get along with — but she poured all the money she made back into conservation."

According to Show Tracker, Sacha Mirzoeff, who directed the documentary, said the film will also show the difficulty of living among wild animals. "Living in the bush with animals was much more complicated. The couple struggled in different ways."

Expect the documentary to air on PBS sometime later this year.

The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of their information.

Previous Post
Celebrity farmer to show Chinese how to grow giant vegetables

Next Post
Alec Baldwin to narrate National Geographic series

You might also like:

Join the conversation

Comment: 1

maxeythecat Dec 04 2010 at 12:01 PM

Wonderful to see someone honoring the Adamsons the way they should be honored, but frankly speaking, I'm glad Joy and George are no longer with us, cos if they could see what has happened to their beloved Africa, they'd both die from heartbreak. .All the things that they fought against, all the battles that they sacrificed their LIVES for....since their demise, the lion population in Kenya has been reduced by a jawdropping 95%....that's near total extinction in just 20 years. Poachers, illegal trophy

.... More

hunting, canine distemper from domestic dogs and poisoned baits have taken one of the most successful species on this planet, the symbol of Africa itself and has brought it to the brink of .annihilation. I cried when I read this....I'm still crying now.