Rhinos and Leopards and Lions - Oh My!

Our Buttery Bits of Wisdom about this film:

• Why this Film is Worth It: Duma is a superb family film that our kids ask for time and time again. We recommend the film for children over seven. Be warned that this is not a typical Hollywood animal film. Your children will be taken into the story on a visceral level because of realistic acting and gorgeous photography. Our kids wept at the film's ending. (Don't worry, nothing bad happens to Duma.)
  
• Alternate Animal Viewing: Younger viewers will enjoy Black Stallion (G), a spectacular film about a boy and a horse who are marooned on a deserted island and become friends (the first 45 minutes are breathtaking). We also love Two Brothers (PG), a film that tells the story of two tiger cubs who are separated at birth in Indo China; alfter surviving animal shows, princely menageries and human indifference, the animals are united with their mother.
  
• Red Flags: The story is intense, and begins with the father's death. Xan, the boy, takes Duma into the Kalahari Desert without having a clue how to survive there. They're "rescued" by an unreliable, and at times ominous, character called Rip with whom they cross the deadly desert. Rip is bitten by tse-tse flies in a frightening sequence, but all ends well.
• For Younger Animal Lovers: Duma is a bit mature for young kids; however, the Oudry exhibit will delight even toddlers. To help get little ones excited before seeing Oudry's paintings, we recommend reading the wonderful new book about My Travels With Clara before seeing her portrait. For details on where to buy the book, see KOTC Kernels, below.
  
• COOL FACT: Duma is the Swahili word for cheetah.

• Cinema Savvy: Director Carroll Ballard has directed several exquisite films for families (see KOTC's Film Festival) and he is known for his ability to tell a story with images. The story telling is simple and goes right to the heart - of children, and adults. Ask the kids how many pages of dialogue they think are in this story - not many at all!
  
• Animal Savvy: One of the wonderful things about Duma is that it was made without special effects. That's a real live cheetah (okay, six were used in filming). How'd they manage? The filmmakers found a real boy who grew up with cheetahs ... and who can act! Ask the kids how a wild animal would do in their household?

Our Buttery Bits of Wisdom about this Popcorn Adventure:

• What Worked for Us: We were sure to prep the kids with stories about Miss Clara and her world travels. By the time they entered the gallery to meet her, the kids felt as though they were meeting a celebrity. The first and third rooms of the show are the most kid friendly (the first room is the large-scaled paintings, the second room contains Oudry's drawings and the third room contains artifacts from Clara's world tour and fun rhino facts). The story of the paintings restoration also fascinated the kids; we watched a five minute video about the restoration in the final room of the exhibit.
  
• Younger Kids: Introduce the kids to Clara's story through a book commissioned by the Getty for this show, "My Travels with Clara". The book, which chronicles Clara's travels throughout Europe and her relationship with the sea captain, is available only thru the Getty online or at The Getty Gift shop. Plan to visit the store and read the book before visiting the exhibition as a way to get the kids to understand the story.
  
• Art History Savvy: Curator Mary Morton says that the Clara painting is memorable because Oudry portrayed her as he might have portrayed a person. Turns out, rhinos have lousy eyesight but excellent hearing. Ask the kids if they can see how the painter depicted this. (The eyes are slightly timid, yet the ears are bold and alert.)
• Medieval Beasts Is A Great Companion Exhibit: Be sure to spend a few moments in the related Medieval Beasts exhibit in the East wing that explores animals in illuminated manuscripts. There are excellent scavenger hunt cards, available as you enter the exhibit, that challenge kids to search for farm animals like cows and greyhounds, and hunt for mythical beasts like sirens and dragons. It's a fun way for them to focus on these spectacular art pieces. The Family Room, located in the Courtyard, has a giant illuminated manuscript to which your kids can add their own design.
  
• Rhino-mania: Be prepared for your kids to want to spend some money at the Oudry gift shop. Every cool rhino toy has been gathered in one place. Our kids loved the animal puzzles and the custom menagerie animal crackers.
• Documentary Is A Must-See: Filmmaker William Friedkin chronicled the Clara restoration in a documentary - you can watch five minutes of this film in the final room of the show.
• Cultural Summer Safari: Four LA institutions have collaborated on a summer "passport" program allowing visitors to experience The Getty, the Los Angeles Zoo, The Skirball Cultural Center, and the Natural History Museum. Get your passport stamped in all four locations between May 28 and August 31 and the kids will get a gift! (More on this in a later KOTC E-mail).
  
• Online Menagerie Switch: It's really fun to see what art historians do by playing this game on the Getty's web site. Players look at two nearly identical paintings and try to find what details have been altered.
• Mark Your Calendars: The Getty has lots of great family programming associated with this show throughout the summer: Check out the Family Art Lab: Bring the kids for an outdoor workshop in which kids will make their own animal masterpiece. Thursdays-Sundays, May 26-July 15, 2007, 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Garden Concerts for Kids in August: Mark your calendars now for three fun musical weekends with songs about animals. Saturdays and Sundays, August 11 and 12, 18 and 19, and 25 and 26, 2007, 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. Storytelling: Listen to a story about Clara the rhinocerous Saturdays, May 26-September 1 (except August 4), 2007, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.
• COOL FACT: Clara weighed 5,000 pounds and consumed 60 pounds of hay, 20 pounds of bread and 14 buckets of water a day.
  

Here are all the facts you need to know before heading up to visit the Oudry:

• Clara's story:  Clara was an Indian white rhinocerous adopted by humans at the age of three months. She was allowed free reign of the house and often cavorted through the dining room, developing a lifelong addiction to oranges. (She also loved beer!) When she got too big to live indoors, she was sold to a Dutch sea captain, Douwe Van der Meer, who brought her to Europe. Clara was an overnight sensation, and was feted and adored for the next 17 years, visiting royalty and exhibiting at fairs. Clara was most people's first introduction to the species; her legacy lives on in Natural History books, in several novels and in Oudry's magnificent portrait.
  
• History of Menageries:  One of the spoils of European colonialism was that exotic animals from faraway places like India and Africa could be displayed in one's menagerie to impress one's friends. Louis XIV began the Versailles menagerie, and received animals as gifts from all over the world. Louis XV had a chance to purchase Clara from Van Der Meer, but most likely expected the animal as a gift; he ultimately got a rhino from someone else, years later. William Randolph Hearst likewise had a menagerie at The Hearst Castle.
  
• The Getty's Restoration Projects:  The Paintings Conservation wing of The Getty has restored over 105 important paintings around the world since 1974 (free of charge). Check out the exhibition catalogue to see how utterly ruined both Lion and Rhino were when the Getty scholars found them in Germany. Lion, as you can see in the excellent exhibition catalogue, was rolled, folded and then squashed in storage; it took the Getty five years to restore the painting! Check out the Oudry blog, which contains testimonies from many Getty employees who worked on this show.
  
• COOL FACT: There is a third large painting, a Tiger, which is still under restoration at the Getty Paintings Conservation.