TCA Press Tour: 'Born Free' roars again in new documentary

"Born Free," the inspiring book about a real-life British couple living in Africa who raise a lion cub, inspired a heartwarming film, other movies and even a TV series.

But the actual story of George and Joy Adamson and the making of the classic film was much more complicated and is the subject of "The Born Free Story: 50 Years Later," a documentary that will air on PBS' "Nature" series. The broadcast marks the 50th anniversary of the book.

The beloved 1966 film starred Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers as Joy and George Adamson, a real-life couple who raised the orphan lion cub Elsa and raised her to adulthood before releasing her into the jungls of Kenya. The memorably sweeping theme song for the film by John Barry was a huge hit.

McKenna said the scope of the film, while uplifting, was not totally accurate to the true story of the Adamsons.

"Joy was a much more complex character than she was in the script," McKenna said. "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."

Sacha Mirzoeff, who directed the documentary, said the "Nature" 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."

Executive producer Fred Kaufman added there is a lot of footage of the Adamsons interacting with the big cats: "I'm stunned that no one got hurt."

— Greg Braxton

Photo: Virginia McKenna. Credit: PBS.

Comments

[Jeff Hansen]

Executive producer Fred Kaufman added there is a lot of footage of the Adamsons interacting with the big cats: "I'm stunned that no one got hurt."

The animals were dangerous but sadly both Joy and George were each murdered by locals:

Joy Adamson was murdered in 1980 not by her lion, but by a disgruntled employee (Paul Wakwaro Ekai) whom she had previously fired.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/kenya/story/0,,1143565,00.html

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_126.html

and George by poachers, as mentioned in the article.

[maxeythecat]

Yeah, that is pretty shocking....what's even more shocking is what's happened to George's beloved Kenya since his death. Conservative estimates claim that the population of lions have been reduced anywhere from 50% to a jaw-dropping 95% in the twenty years since Adamson's murder. Poaching, illegal trophy hunting, outbreaks of canine distemper from domestic dogs and rampant poisoning by Masai farmers have taken what was once considered the most successful predator and the symbol of Africa itself to the brink of extinction. So much for showing your gratitude to a man who practically created the modern conservation movement and changed the way we think about our fellow creatures...congratulations, Kenya, you win the Darwin Award for Stupidity for the next decade, cos once you realize how much money could've been made from the wildlife you destroyed you're gonna get reeeeeeaally pissed.