Creature cinema

The Bell Museum is preserving its wildlife film collection with a gift from the National Film Preservation Foundation

Breckenridge shooing a racoon from a wood duck house.

Photo by Walter Breckenridge

by Joel Hoekstra

From M, winter 2003

On Sunday afternoons in the 1950s and '60s, before the days of "Animal Planet" and "Wild Kingdom," children and adults alike gathered in the auditorium of the University's Bell Museum of Natural History to watch the wildlife movies of Walter J. Breckenridge and to listen to him describe the action and answer questions.

Breckenridge was among the first filmmakers to produce feature-length nature documentaries, says David Wells, a program manager with the National Film Preservation Foundation. While previous cameramen had caught animals on film, their footage often amounted to only short clips. The results were amateurish. In contrast, Breckenridge's work stands out because of its length and careful construction, Wells says.

A longtime director of the museum and a 1941 U graduate with a Ph.D. in zoology, Breckenridge traveled across the state and made forays into upper Canada and Alaska to capture images of birds in flight, courtship rituals, and animals raising their young.

Breckenridge's films slipped out of sight for a few decades after his retirement, but now, thanks to a $10,000 gift from the National Film Preservation Foundation, a new generation will have a chance to see such classics as Wood Duck Ways, Migration Mysteries, Island Treasure, and Spring Comes to the Subarctic. All four films were unearthed from the Bell's basement and sent to a Maryland-based, film-preservation company for restoration and copying. The Bell now has new prints and video masters. Soundtracks using the latest technology have been added to two of the films. Although Breckenridge once toured the nation with his films on behalf of the Audubon Society, Bell officials believe the museum owns the only extant prints.

"If you compared an episode from 'Animal Planet' with one of Breck's films, it would be clear that the Breckenridge film was grounded in science. Plus, his films had a clear conservation message."

Despite their age, the films remain entertaining. "They don't look like the Discovery Channel, but they've held up pretty well over the years," says Katie Nyberg, a development manager for the Bell who oversaw the effort to restore and preserve the films. The museum has already developed a permanent exhibit showcasing the films, and clips will be added to the Bell's Web site. Next spring, the museum will host a wildlife film festival featuring Breckenridge's work.

The filmmaker's daughter Barbara Franklin says her father, now in his 90s, is delighted with the effort to make his work available to future generations. "The last time I saw Wood Duck Ways, I was surprised at how much it had deteriorated," says Franklin. "So I'm glad they've been able to restore it and preserve it." She and other Breckenridge family members were often participants in the films, feeding chipmunks or passing through landscape scenes.

The restored films will also be used in a freshman seminar next spring. The course, Creature Features: Wildlife in Film, will examine messages about hunting, ecology, and conservation that are conveyed in films, says instructor Emily Pullins, a researcher with the fisheries and wildlife department of the College of Natural Resources. Students will view "Animal Planet" episodes and rare documentaries, as well as mainstream films such as Jaws and Grizzly. Breckenridge's films, which will also be shown, clearly differ from many of these films, says Pullins. "If you compared an episode from "Animal Planet" with one of Breck's films, it would be clear that the Breckenridge film was grounded in science. Plus, his films had a clear conservation message. I don't think you can say that for every wildlife film or documentary."

Sixteen additional feature-length Breckenridge films remain in the Bell's collection, says Nyberg, awaiting potential restoration.

A Day of Wildlife in Film: The restored films of Walter Breckenridge will be shown at the Bell Museum at a daylong film fest on April 26. Watch for more details on the museum's Web site at www.bellmuseum.org.