Big cats and their predators

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Television series
German title Big cats and their predators
Original title Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Country of production United States
original language English
year 2020
Production
company		 Netflix
length 41 minutes
Episodes 8 ( list )
genre Documentary series , True Crime
Director Rebecca Chaiklin ,
Eric Goode
production Chris Smith ,
Fisher Stevens ,
Eric Goode,
Rebecca Chaiklin
music John Enroth ,
Albert Fox ,
Mark Mothersbaugh ,
JD Thompson
camera Damien Drake
cut Doug Abel ,
Pedro Alvarez Gales ,
Nicholas Biagetti ,
Dylan Hansen-Fliedner ,
Camilla Hayman ,
Daniel Koehler ,
Geoffrey Richman
Initial release March 20, 2020 on Netflix

First publication in German		 March 20, 2020 on Netflix
occupation

Main actor:

Supporting cast:

Big cats and their predators (Original title: Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness ) is a documentary series published worldwide on March 20, 2020 via Netflix . By Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode turned documentation deals with the self-proclaimed "Tiger King" Joe Exotic (actually Joseph Allen Maldonado Passage), one in the United States private zoo with big cats operation.

action

Joe Exotic

Joe Exotic's eccentric life is portrayed in seven episodes from founding the zoo to his imprisonment and sentencing to 22 years for contract killing and violating the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Lacey Act of 1900 .

Joe Exotic founded the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in 1999. The documentary was filmed from 2015 and shows the story through archive material and interviews. The film is particularly dedicated to the conflict with Carole Baskin , the chairman of the non-profit organization Big Cat Rescue , who accused the protagonist of animal cruelty and mobilized her supporters against him. In return, Joe Exotic threatened her several times on his YouTube channel Joe Exotic TV. Among other things, he alleged that she was responsible for the death of her second husband, the multimillionaire Don Lewis.

Each episode is dedicated to its own topic and therefore occasionally jumps in the chronology. The last episode documents the trial that led to his conviction. At that time, Jeff Lowe had already taken over the zoo from Joe, who was at times completely penniless after a legal battle with Carole Baskin. Joe allegedly offered money to Allen Glover, a Lowe employee, to kill Carole Baskin. However, this got scared. One of Joe's other partners, businessman James Garretson, testified extensively to the FBI and actively led to Joe's arrest. The series ended with Joe Exotic meeting with PETA activists in prison to testify against his colleagues.

In addition to the two main protagonists and Joe Exotics business partners, Joe Exotics ex-husband John Finlay, his current husband Dillon Passage and Carole Baskin's husband Howard Baskin have their say. Additional interviews were conducted with Joe's employees as well as colleagues such as Bhagavan Antle and filmmaker Rick Kirkham, who worked for Joe Exotic TV and wanted to make his own reality show.

The series was viewed from 64 million user accounts on Netflix in the first four weeks. As the series was very successful, Netflix released a bonus episode on April 12th in which actor and comedian Joel McHale interviewed various actors via video call.

background

The documentary series was shot over a period of five years. During this time there was also a fire in the zoo, in which much of the archive material that was supposed to be used for the documentary was destroyed. Originally, the animal suffering and smuggling should be documented, but in the course of shooting, the two filmmakers Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode noticed that the people behind the scenes are also very interesting and redesigned their series.

Episode list

No. German title Original title
1 Not normal Not Your Average Joe
The first episode gives an overview of Joe Exotic's complex, extroverted personality. Furthermore, topics from the later episodes are hinted at, such as his attempts as a country singer, a gubernatorial election and the fundamental conflicts with Carole Baskin. In addition, the beginnings of the zoo are described as well as the first appearances as a kind of traveling circus.
2 Cult personality Cult of Personality
In this episode, the foundation of the zoo is discussed again. In addition to Joe's increasingly eccentric personality, there is also a focus on working conditions in the zoo. Reference is made primarily to employee Kelci "Saff" Saffery, who lost an arm at work but went back to work seven days later. This episode also focuses on the relationships between Joe and his two husbands and Bhagavan Antle with his at least three girlfriends.
3 The secret The Secret
In this episode, Carole Baskin's role is the main theme. Reference is made to a rumor circulated by Joe Exotic and others that she had something to do with the disappearance of her second husband, millionaire Don Lewis. His family also believes that Baskin is (partially) guilty. However, the investigations have so far not led to any result.
4th play with the fire Playing with Fire
Joe tries his hand at being a TV star with his own TV team that accompanies the events in the zoo with the camera. At the same time music is published by him. His attacks on Carole are getting tougher. But suddenly the crocodile house burns down, it is obviously an arson attack. A perpetrator was never identified.
5 Make America Exotic Again Make America Exotic Again
In Jeff Lowe, Joe Exotic finds a new investor who can cushion his debts with Carole because of a lost trademark litigation. But while Joe Exotic is apparently going crazy and running first in the presidential election as an independent candidate and then in the 2018 gubernatorial election in Oklahoma, Lowe usurps the zoo as much as possible. In addition, Joe's second husband Travis accidentally shoots himself, which Joe plunges into a deep mental hole.
6th A noble gesture The Noble Thing to Do
James Garretson blackens Joe at the FBI. The investigation against Joe is in full swing, something that Jeff gets to feel, too, who was only paroled after an arrest in Las Vegas and is now no longer allowed to owe anything. Joe is under investigation for contract killing. He is said to have put a killer on Carole. It is Allen Glover, but he backs down. James Garretson approaches the FBI as an informant and smuggles in an FBI agent. When there is an argument between Jeff and Joe, Joe hastily leaves the zoo with his third husband and some wild animals and hides in a secret location. But the FBI arrests him.
7th Dethroned Dethroned
The final episode describes the legal process and the media's doubts about Joe's sole guilt. Several former friends and employees testify against him and he is ultimately sentenced to 22 years in prison. Meanwhile, Jeff's relocation plans fail, trying to get rid of Joe Exotics' bad publicity by attempting a fresh start. In the end, Joe testifies against his former friends and business associates in revenge at PETA.
8th The Tiger King and I The Tiger King and I.
Joel McHale speaks to those involved about the series.
The first 7 episodes were released worldwide on Netflix on March 20, 2020, the eighth on April 12.

Reaction of those involved

Carole Baskin said that the filmmakers had promised her a kind of Blackfish and was negatively surprised by the direction of the documentary series, especially since in episode 3 the disappearance of her husband was only told relatively uncommented by her enemies, thus creating the impression that she actually murdered her husband. She also received some threats and shared her views in a long post on her website. They also bothered with further inaccuracies in their wildlife parks and the glorification of Joe Exotic.

Bhagavan "Doc" Antle also criticized the portrayal of himself in the documentation. So he actually wanted to show his efforts for a ranger station in Sumatra to the public, instead the focus of the two directors was only on his private life. His statements were also taken out of context. Barbara Fisher, a former employee of Antle, who also appears in the documentary, however, said that Antle's depiction was realistic. She was happy that the world could now see that and that something could be done for better treatment of the animals, even if she herself left Antle for good.

reception

The series became an internet phenomenon . The large number of absurd scenes also plays a role, which in many places seem unbelievable to the audience in German-speaking countries.

Mandoline Rutkowski from Die Welt said: “The series is addictive, but does not question what is shown. The questionable attitude of animals in the zoos also fades into the background when the human abysses of the dispute between Schreibvogel and Baskin are revealed. ” Andrea Diener of the FAZ was initially a little disappointed because of the redesign of the series. “But if you know that you are not watching animal documentaries, but rather a cultural anthropological approach to a very strange milieu, then television is very big. And that it is not species-appropriate for baby tigers when they are dragged through hotels in Las Vegas in trolleys to cuddle with all kinds of celebrity people for a fee - yes, heaven, there is that too, you really don't know where to start and where one should stop - the mature viewer can then discover that on his own. "

Anja Rützel from Spiegel also rated the documentary series positively: “ Big cats and their predators are quickly developing into a dark sociological lesson about obsession and the desire to manipulate, researched and filmed over five years, told in an almost laconic tone, as if the two directors had Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin at some point accepts that the story they tell just has to keep getting more insane. "

On the other hand, Dorian Hannig comments critically on Macroscope about the makers of the series. In this way they succeeded in “capturing the impressive picture of a social dynamic in which nobody and nobody can be trusted”, since all the characters “have internalized the dogma of opportunistic calculations deeply and firmly in their curious and eccentric way. “Due to the suggestive prejudice of Carol Baskins from Hannig's point of view, the media workers would then, in the end,“ orient themselves on the same opportunistic calculations that they document in the personalities they portray ”.

literature

  • Ijoma Mangold : Big cats, big egos, in: Die Zeit No. 16, April 8, 2020, p. 48.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): People in quarantine, Netflix in the gold rush | DW | 04/22/2020. Accessed April 27, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ a b c Mandolin Rutkowski: "Tiger King": That's why everyone is talking about the new Netflix series . In: THE WORLD . April 6, 2020 ( welt.de [accessed April 8, 2020]).
  3. ↑ a b Andrea Diener: Netflix documentary: When tigers get under the wheels . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed April 8, 2020]).
  4. ↑ Quentin Lichtblau: Review - "Tiger King" on Netflix. In: Sueddeutsche.de. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Elvis Anderson: The Top 5 Songs by Joe Exotic, That Musicians Say He Used Without Crediting or Paying Them. April 2, 2020, accessed April 8, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Refuting Netflix Tiger King. In: Big Cat Rescue. March 31, 2020, accessed April 8, 2020 (American English).
  7. ↑ Lia Lewine: Doc Antle's Full Name Apparently Means Either 'Lord' Or 'Friend Of God'. April 3, 2020, Retrieved April 14, 2020 (American English).
  8. ↑ a b Barbara fisher as told to Rose Minutaglio: I Trained Tigers For Doc Antle. Here's the truth. April 8, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 (American English).
  9. ↑ Quentin Lichtblau: Review - "Tiger King" on Netflix. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  10. ↑ a b Anja Rützel, DER SPIEGEL: Big cats and their predators on Netflix: Human Curiosity Cabinet - DER SPIEGEL - Culture. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Dorian Hannig: "The Tiger and the Wild West". In: macroscope. Retrieved May 1, 2020 .