Animal Planet special on Chris (next year)

[erikhalfacre]

So I was surfing around today when I stumbled on this gem:

http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=122172

It appears Animal Planet is doing a 20 year special on Christopher McCandless. Interesting.

[solovoyager]

That does sound interesting.
Apparently Wayne Westerberg is no longer contractually bound to not talk about Chris - as he and others in Carthage were - when Ron Lamothe shot The Call of the Wild documentary.

Interesting that Animal Planet is filming this special. What does Chris' travels have to do with animals really?
I kind of hope they show some of the route and area Chris travelled when he canoed down the Colorado River to Mexico. That part of the trip, I have always found somewhat amazing.
Would love to see some of the route by train he took but doubt they'll be able to film that.

Good find Erik!

[Anewanddifferentsun]

From the link...."The show revisits all the people he met and places he went and retells it through pictures and the people he met," Animal Planet Producer Greg Francis said.
If the pictures are the photos his parents published in "Back to the Wild," then their inclusion suggests the parents are cooperating in this production if not directly making it possible. And if this production "retells" the story, I wonder if we'll see more revisionism.

[GoNorth]

Thanks for the link. Yes, it is interesting, however I agree with Anewanddifferentsun's scepticism.
And anyway, isn't this becoming a bit too much, now? I mean, Krakauer's book is great, the movie is great, even though not as close to the facts, and ok, the new book "Back to the wild" also shows some stuff that had been unpublished so far. And of course it's always interesting to read new stuff and to get new insights in the story, but another production about the same topic after all these years - I don't know. I mean, it's great that there will be something in the media for the 20th anniversary of Chris's death, as his story has become so famous in the meantime. But it sometimes seems to me that people are just using this guy's fate for... whatever - money? fame? forgiveness?

[erikhalfacre]

I'm wondering if there is really enough demand to justify a production of that scale anymore. I guess I could be wrong.

[solovoyager]

I'm wondering if there is really enough demand to justify a production of that scale anymore. I guess I could be wrong.

Good point. Although with so much total crap and filler on the multitude of channels these days, this will surely be no worse than that.