Summary
- Captive tigers are more common than people think, with more tigers in captivity in the US than in the wild worldwide.
- The real tiger in The Hangover did not appear disturbed and was described as "chilling" by a mountain lion biologist.
- The movie accurately depicts certain behaviors of captive tigers, such as displacement behaviors and attempts to drug the animal.
A big cat expert reveals the truth behind the captive tigers in The Hangover. As The Hangover crew wakes up from a drunken night with no memory of what happened the night before, they wake up one morning with a Bengal tiger in their bathroom. This iconic tiger was shot throughout the movie using a combination of a real tiger owned by Mike Tyson and a tiger puppet that featured in the action-packed tiger sequences, including when the tiger ends up in Phil (Bradley Cooper), Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and Doug’s (Justin Bartha) backseat, nearly crashing their car as Phil drives.
According to mountain lion biologist Mark Elbroch, the captive tiger phenomenon presented in The Hangover is more common than the public might think. Speaking in a video with Insider, Elbroch explained that “there are more tigers in captivity in the US alone than there are wild tigers in the entire world.” Analyzing the presentation of the real tiger in The Hangover, Elbroch did not think the animal looked disturbed but rather “was chilling.” He also comments on other moments from the movie, including the trio's attempt to drug the tiger and when the tiger awakes in distress in their car. Check out his full comments below:
This is a pet animal, a pet tiger. There are more tigers in captivity in the US alone then there are wild tigers in the entire world. And that’s just a crazy thing to ponder. The ears were forward, you always watch the ears of cats, and so this was not a threatened animal, it wasn’t an agitated animal. It was chilling.
Interesting idea to try to drug the tiger. In fact, I know people who have tried this on wild animals. They use syringes and load ‘em up with drugs. I’ve seen that work in the field, so that’s real. I mean, real-ish, depending on what they’re giving it.
When you saw the tiger chewing on the seat, we call those displacement behaviors. A lot of captive animals exhibit sort of stress in different ways. You know, they’ll bit things, they’ll claw things. I’m going to give this movie a 5 [out of 10].
The Tiger Accuracy Rating Is Surprisingly High for The Hangover
While a 5 out of 10 score is far from a perfect tiger representation, a rating that high is somewhat surprising for The Hangover. As an over-the-top comedy, The Hangover is not necessarily expected to showcase anything close to realism surrounding captive tigers. However, it got some details right in that captive tigers are a widespread phenomenon (and one that Tyson engaged in real life), and they do exhibit “displacement behaviors” in times of stress, such as that witnessed in the car scene.
The Hangover still had its comedic goals in mind when it came to portraying the tiger on set. While there was an ounce of realism in the scene where they drugged the tiger, for example, even the other parts of the scene relay some absurd tiger facts, which are likely baseless. For instance, Alan claims, while peppering a raw chunk of meat for the tiger, that “tigers love pepper. Hate cinnamon.” Later, The Hangover crew even tries to calm the tiger with sweet melodies.
The Hangover’s approach to the tiger may not be entirely encyclopedic, and Elbroch’s scoring may have even been generous. Nonetheless, it is interesting to consider the real-life, tragic reality of tigers held captive, many likely as irresponsibly as The Hangover characters. The truth behind this has since come to light with Netflix's documentary series Tiger King, which brought attention to exotic pets and the problems behind animal captivity.
Source: Insider
