Ya' Know what Firefly was missing?....
POSTED BY: GrayFury
UPDATED: Friday, December 2, 2005 00:01
VIEWED: 11774
PAGE 4 of 5
Well, if we entirely ignore the fact that in the Firefly verse, animals are food...
( "If wishes were horses, we'd all be eatin' steak." Jayne)
Then I would tend to agree with the idea that animals wouldn't do well in space. In "Safe" River comments that the cows weren't cows inside the ship, that they forgot who they were. It wasn't until they saw the sky that they remembered.
Now, cows, admittedly, are stupid animals. But honestly, how would a dog or cat react the first time the gravity unit shut down?
And do you REALLY think Simon is going to catheterize a cat with a UTI? Well, okay, if Kaylee and River were crying crocodile tears at him, he probably would....
But I think the place of animals in Firefly verse was well established in the series.
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In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the only bit of audience reaction was when Filch danced with Mrs Norris.
That got an "Awwwwww" (And from a British audience too. Disgraceful show of emotion.)
Did it myself too, and don't mind admittin' to it. (Because it was dark.)
I'd have to say our cats wouldn't be suitable for a spaceship. Not enough room in the hold for the daily medication for the cute one or the food for the runty one, who isn't any more, being as she's been making up for it ever since finding out I'm a pushover...
G
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
Will Rogers.
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Thinking about it, there's a distinct lack of pets all through the Whedonverse. The only one that springs to mind is Miss Kitty Fantastico - and that didn't end well.
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Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
Submariners have had pets for a long time. USS Holland has a mascot dog (that nearly got shot out a torpedo tube once, but that’s another story), as did some boats in WWII. Another boat had a mascot skunk that a crewmember won in a card game. On a sub its constantly “daytime” except in sleeping areas, at least on Serenity there is a day-night cycle of some sort as seen in Objects in Space. Heck on the old 'smokeboats' its been said the roaches were part of the crew, Serenity's got a few (as seen in OIS) so maybe they could have a mascot roach?
Did those animals live full, healthy lives?
"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam
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I think having a pet on board is definitely a cliche. Spot with Data springs to mind immediately, and god how boring was that!
Of course you have the cat on board in 'Alien' and it got a guy killed in that movie. Plus from a expense point of view in filming episodes it's very hard to control a cat especially for a particular scene. Dogs are alright I gues but they always look off camera at their trainer a.k.a Frasier.
Also I can imagine River taking a knife to a ships pet when nobody is looking, she did after all cut Jayne just to confirm he looked better in red.
Firefly is about how the crew interacts, and having a pet would have slowed that down and introduced unnecessary breaks.
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You want to avoid a return to the dark days when everyone had to have a cute sidekick.
Few, if any of these, will not have you reaching for Vera:
Dr Who - K9
Battlestar Galactica - Muffy? Buffy?
Buck Rogers - Twiki. Neither know nor care about the spelling.
Oi, Binks! You're barred.
Very puzzling... If feels like there should be more, But I can't think of any. Maybe there weren't so many, and the extreme annoyingness of those ones warped my perceptions some.
Hmph. Nobody likes a short list. This is what happens when you embark on a rant without doing your research first...
G
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That was graphic.
And disturbing.
Yet informative.
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Quote:They probably lived as long as most animals were expected to live in the 1st half of the 20th centaury. Before we started feeding them food designed for them (on a sub they are probaly eating mainly table scraps) and giving them vaccinations. I know one dog that was aboard a US Destroyer in the Pacific during WWII lived quite a long time.
Originally posted by Giantevilhead:Quote:
Originally posted by GunRunner:
Submariners have had pets for a long time. USS Holland has a mascot dog (that nearly got shot out a torpedo tube once, but that’s another story), as did some boats in WWII. Another boat had a mascot skunk that a crewmember won in a card game. On a sub its constantly “daytime” except in sleeping areas, at least on Serenity there is a day-night cycle of some sort as seen in Objects in Space. Heck on the old 'smokeboats' its been said the roaches were part of the crew, Serenity's got a few (as seen in OIS) so maybe they could have a mascot roach?
Did those animals live full, healthy lives?
"I swallowed a bug." -River Tam
Oh and I just remembered a Russian sub Black Lila (K-108) had a mascot mouse or rat. Also based on a pic I have I think another Russian sub had a cat on board and it hunted rats (the pic is of a Russian sailor holding a cat with a rat in its mouth.)
EV Nova Firefly mod Message Board:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/GunRunner/index.php?act=idx
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Ok the food thing!.... ONE episode showed dog eating and you belive its that way in the whole Verse? They eat dog in Asia in THIS day and age. That doesnt mean that its that way in the whole world. Dogs and even cats are beloved members of the family for most of the world.
You mean to tell me that if Mal's life was saved by a mutt that hung around the trenches of Serenity valley, that he wouldnt go to all ends to preserve it? He has a DEEP, DEEP, DEEP sense of loyalty...(much like a dog) remember the line... "Because your a member of my crew, why are we still discusing this?" If A dog were "a member of the crew" I'm sure he would set a little protien aside to nurture it.
In old westerns, there was always a dog hanging around the gravy train... I mean there are a few western themes in the show right?....just a few!
"Dear God In Heaven!" - Plastic Dinosaur
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There is a practical reason for no pets, they take up a lot of time in shooting scenes.
The three main time sinks in TV or film production are animals, young children and water action (boat work). Firefly was a fast shooting show with limited time and budget for production. Any experienced producer, writer or director is aware of the limitations of filming with animals so unless they are needed for a major plot point, tend to avoid useing them in TV production. Shooting days are measured in the number of script pages read, most TV shows shoot 7+ pages a day, while feature films shoot 3 or less each day. Movies have the time for working with animals, TV usually does not.
Another reason for lack of pets is that animals almost never repeat what they do even with direction. The way Firefly was shot with handheld cameras and several takes from different angles, continuity would of been impossible.
Horses are the easiest animals to film since they are almost always in direct control of the rider or teamster. Even then, horses are seen rarely in the series.
I'd rather see the time and money spend on the characters than on animals not necessary to forward the characters development and stories.
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