The France Télévisions group will ask the producers with whom it collaborates to limit the use of animals in cinema as much as possible, replacing them for example with computer-generated images, which is a novelty for an audiovisual player of its magnitude.
The debate on the use of animals is emerging little by little in the sector, revolutionizing habits and sometimes provoking controversy, as recently with the announced return of the “Intervilles” program, a priori without its famous cows, on one of the public channels.
After Dax and Mont-de-Marsan, the city of Bayonne announced on Thursday, November 14, that it would not participate in the new version of “Intervilles”, scheduled for the summer of 2025. Sixty-three years after its creation, the show Cult will return It will return to France Télévisions for four nights, but this time without the ordeal of the cows, according to these bullfighting cities in the southwest.
Asked by Agence France-Presse (AFP) about the presence or absence of cows in the new show, the audiovisual group did not respond. But star presenter Nagui, a fervent defender of the animal cause, indicated in 2020 that he was against the return of cows. The thought is not new. Already in 1996, the treatment reserved for cows in the television contest was denounced by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, which considered it a “permanent stress” for “intelligent animals transported from one city to another”.
Favors “animatronics”
In general terms, France Télévisions has just modified its “code of conduct for business partners” require all your suppliers to prioritize, “Whenever possible, the use of images provided by image banks, special effects or animatronics (types of robotic puppets)”according to the new version of this document, consulted by Agence France-Presse.
Recently, the program “Fort Boyard” broadcast on France 2 replaced its tigers with 3D animations.
If animals continue to be used, France Télévisions asks for guarantees on filming conditions to avoid any suffering or a prohibition on anesthetizing them (to simulate death). It also calls for guarantees for contracted trainers, who must not have “He is not subject to any conviction for animal abuse”.
The public group is the first major actor in the audiovisual sector and “the only group” respond to this request from animal defenders, underlines to AFP the association PAZ (Projet Animaux Zoopolis), which presented the petition. The association, which contacted all the major chains, welcomes the decision, but regrets that the clause “it’s still just an incentive” and I wish that she “it becomes restrictive”its director, Amandine Sanvisens, explains to AFP. PAZ is opposed on principle to the use of wild, captive and trained animals in filming.
