Reports of animal abuse are emanating from the movie set of Speed Racer, a live-action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese “anime” cartoon that was recently revived and updated by Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons channel. The movie - starring Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman – also features a character that is a pet chimpanzee named Chim-Chim. Complaints received by People from the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) allege that the chimp bit one of the human actors and then was hit or beaten, according to an MSNBC article. The studio in charge of the production, Warner Bros., denies that the chimp was mistreated, although it did confirm there was a bite incident.

Warner Bros. also says the American Humane Association backs up their assertions that the chimp is being treated well. However, PETA responded: “No humane representative is closely monitoring those animals while off-set or during pre-production training, the very places where abuse is most likely to occur, so we regret to say that the assurances you offer are meaningless.” While the AHA film guidelines do include sections related to the care of animals in training and off-set, it is not clear when and where AHA officials are physically present to observe what's happening. The movie-going public has come to rely on the American Humane Association’s “no animals were harmed” disclaimer as an indication of the humane treatment of animals in the film industry. However, the AHA film guidelines are just that - guidelines. The AHA “recommends” and “encourages” certain standards, but it doesn't seem to have the authority to require compliance. I guess films that don’t comply simply don’t get the humane stamp of approval.

Most of the background sets and many of the film’s car-racing scenes will be computer-generated, and PETA is urging the show’s producers to use animatronics or similar techniques for the chimpanzee, instead of using live animals on the set. The studio replied in a letter: “We appreciate the concerns of your organization. We also respect the vision and choices of the filmmakers with which we work. Every option on a film is carefully weighed, and for this production, the decision was made to use live animals.” Considering that the film is made by the same directors and special effects wizard of The Matrix fame, you’d think making a realistic-looking chimpanzee would be a piece of cake.

The film is being billed as “family-friendly.” Exploiting animals isn’t a very good lesson for us to be teaching our children. Instead, we should be teaching them about the wonder of chimps as part of our wild heritage. They are classified as apes (not monkeys), as are gorillas, orangutans and bonobos. All four subspecies of chimpanzees are endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)’s “Red List.” And although these animals are one of our closest genetic relatives (we share more than 98% of the same genes), humans destroy their habitat and use them in lab experiments, for entertainment and even for meat. For more information about chimpanzees, read Jane Goodall’s website Chimpanzee Central.