Early Hollywood continued this trend. The golden age of Westerns used horses in dangerous stunts; chimpanzees in comedies were torn from their mothers and beaten into submission. Iconic films like The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (dog) and Flipper (dolphin) popularized the idea of animals as co-stars, but behind the scenes, welfare standards were virtually nonexistent. The 1980s and 1990s marked a turning point. Shocking undercover investigations—such as those revealing abuse at Hollywood’s animal training facilities—sparked public outrage. In response, the American Humane Association (AHA) intensified its on-set monitoring, issuing the famous “No Animals Were Harmed” certification. While imperfect, it pushed the industry toward better veterinary care, rest periods, and the use of mechanical or deceased animals for dangerous scenes.

The answer will determine not just how we watch, but how we coexist.

Meanwhile, the decline of traditional circuses accelerated. Public sentiment turned against using wild animals for human amusement. Ringling Bros. retired its elephants in 2016, and dozens of countries have since banned or restricted wild animal acts. The most profound shift came from computer-generated imagery (CGI) and performance capture. Movies like The Lion King (2019) and Planet of the Apes (reboot trilogy) feature photorealistic animals that never existed on set. Actors in motion-capture suits perform the roles, while animators imbue digital creatures with realistic muscle movement, fur texture, and eye expression.