UPLIFTING DOCUMENTARY
Animal trainer captures wolves’ transformation
The first glimpse we get of the wolf pups is not promising.
Among the opening scenes of Andrew Simpson’s documentary Wolves Unleashed: Against All Odds are images of tiny, fragile animals huddled together and shaking behind a radiator in a cage at a zoo in northern China.
It was also Andrew Simpson’s introduction to the nine Mongolian wolves that would quickly become a central part of his life for more than three years. The Alberta-based animal trainer, who has worked on films ranging from The Revenant to Game of Thrones, admits in hindsight he didn’t realize what he was getting into when he agreed to work on the Chinese blockbuster, Wolf Totem, back in 2011. While he specializes in wolves, Simpson’s experiences raising and training the pups for use in Jean-Jacques Annaud’s ambitious 2015 adaptation of Jiang Rong ’s novel surpassed even the trials he endured working with wolves in the frozen wilds of Siberia for the 2009 French film, Loup. Simpson chronicled those experiences in his first documentary, 2011’s Wolves Unleashed, which debuted at the Calgary International Film Festival.
It may seem unbelievable to those who watched Simpson’s frozen adventures in Siberia, but his followup project in China and Mongolia proved even more gruelling.
“Had someone said to me at the beginning that this was going to be three years, I don’t know if I would have taken it,” says Simpson, now back at his Alberta ranch outside of Calgary. “It’s like the Siberian movie; I’m glad we did it because it’s something that no one else has done and probably won’t go to that length again. At the same time, it takes a toll on you.”
In fact, Simpson jokes that it was alarming to watch his own physical evolution in the documentary, which screens as part of CUFF. Docs at the Globe Cinema on Dec. 2. As the wolf pups grow in stature and confidence, he seems to become more grey and exhausted.
Still, cameras were rolling throughout the three-year experience, capturing the amazing, occasionally heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting story of the wolves’ transformation from shaky pups to assured movie stars. We see Simpson and his crew patiently groom the nine pups near Beijing and then follow the cadre to the sprawling Mongolian set where Wolf Totem was largely shot.
Like its predecessor, Against All Odds is a gentle, old-school documentary featuring Simpson’s voice-over narration that outlines his often touching relationship with the wolves as they grow. But that doesn’t mean it is without drama. Simpson and his team were behind the 8-ball from the get-go thanks to their relatively late first contact with the animals.
As trainers they would usually be introduced to pups much earlier, when the animals are eight to 12 days old. But negotiating the redtape required to source and adopt the pups in China took a considerable amount of time. They were 12 weeks old before Simpson and his team laid eyes on them, unwilling to be touched by humans.
“The way they were sourced and the way they were kept until we could get them were not, let’s say, the best conditions for them as you can see in the opening beats of the movie,” Simpson says. “Everything the wolves experienced until we go to them can only be described as negative for them. That just put us way behind to start with. So, for us on a personal level, what we achieved with them given the start we had was pretty amazing.”
While Simpson has vast experience training wolves, often Arctic or timber, he had never worked with this particular breed.
“They are the most agile wolf I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “Compared to the North American wolf, it’s like a gymnast versus a sumo wrestler. These animals are smaller and agile and so athletic. It was exciting for us to have that energy. But you’re putting that energy into an animal that you don’t have that relationship with that you think you need from the start. As it unfolds, we discovered that even without touching them the relationship we built enabled us to get what they needed on camera.”
The development is fascinating to watch, as are the dynamics of the pack as the wolves grow older. We meet various characters, including the precocious scene-stealer Cloudy, who developed a special bond with Simpson. The male, which Simpson refers to as a “hero wolf,” is initially the alpha of the pack but is soon challenged by male sibling Parker for the dominant spot.
Within four months of taking on the job, Simpson says he was ready to quit the production because nothing seemed to be working. He often turned to Cloudy for strength and inspiration.
“From Day 1, he was just like a beacon of light,” Simpson says. “He gave you this little piece of hope. He was the one that showed us we could do something different. He was the one that gave the other wolves confidence to follow him and understand what was happening.”
Simpson, who was born in Scotland, got his start as a trainer while backpacking in Australia. His first job was as an assistant to an animal trainer working with kangaroos and dingoes for the western film Quigley Down Under. At the time of this interview, he just returned from spending months in Morocco training dogs for the third instalment of the Keanu Reeves action franchise John Wick. But his specialty is wolves, including providing his Arctic wolf Quigly to the Game of Thrones series in which he played Jon Snow’s dire wolf, Ghost. As with his first documentary, Simpson hopes Against All Odds shines a light on these often misunderstood animals. Throughout the film, we see the wolves’ attitude toward humans change, despite their rough start in life.
“When you see how they can change their experience with humans, it would be nice if humans can do the same,” he says. “There’s a lot of hardcore mentality with a lot of people toward the wolves. When people watch these movies, hopefully, they will just take a second to think before they react to a wolf or to a story they’ve heard.”
They are the most agile wolf I’ve ever worked with. Compared to the North American wolf, it’s like a gymnast versus a sumo wrestler.