Boone Narr (born January 30, 1948) is an animal stunt coordinator[1] and trainer.[2] He founded Boone's Animals for Hollywood animal training facility located in Castaic, California in 1998. It operated until 2023. Narr is a Vietnam veteran and got into the entertainment industry in 1971.[3]
Boone Narr, a native of Seattle, has been credited as an animal trainer, wrangler and supplier for a number of films and television programmes.
Animals trained at Boone's Animals for Hollywood have also been featured in many other television series, including , Ugly Betty and Criminal Minds.
Boone's Animals for Hollywood has also trained and supplied animals for a number of television commercials, including such brands as Budweiser, Disneyland, Walmart, John Deere, McDonald's, Cisco Systems, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard and American Express, among others.
It was reported in the Los Angeles Times that on the set of Narr's first film Any Which Way You Can, Clint Eastwood's sidekick orangutan "Clyde" (originally named "Buddha") was "trained with a can of mace and a pipe wrapped in newspaper."[4] The article actually drew from a book by Dale Peterson and Jane Goodall, who claimed that information from three observers suggested that the orangutan was frequently beaten, and that, some time toward the completion of the film, Buddha was punished for having stolen doughnuts from the set. They state that he was beaten for 20 minutes with a three-and-a-half foot ax handle, and that, after his death some months later, an autopsy suggested evidence of a cerebral hemorrhage.[5] Makeup effects artist William Munns has cast doubt on these claims, saying that Narr was "truly one of the best and kindest trainers I knew."[6]
| Title | Year | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any Which Way You Can | 1980 | ||
| The Beastmaster | 1982 | ||
| Three Amigos | 1986 | ||
| Who's That Girl | 1987 | Cougars | |
| The Accidental Tourist | 1988 | The Cardigan Welsh Corgi dog Edward, which is trained in the film by Geena Davis, was trained in real life by Boone Narr | |
| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | 1989 | Snakes ("Indy's flashback" segment) and Lion. He trained them along with David J. McMillan. Jules Sylvester (who supplied these snakes),[7] Hubert Wells of Thousand Oaks, California's Animal Actors of Hollywood and Sled Reynolds of Lebec, California's Gentle Jungle trained Sudan the Lion with Narr for that same scene. Wells generously supplied Sudan for this scene. This sequence was supervised by Michael Culling of London's Animal Actors UK.[8] | |
| Flatliners | 1990 | ||
| Edward Scissorhands | 1990 | ||
| White Fang | 1991 | Principal animal trainer | |
| L.A. Story | 1991 | ||
| Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead | 1991 | dog trainer | |
| Grand Canyon | 1991 | ||
| Falling Down | 1993 | ||
| Top Dog | 1995 | Trainer of the dog Reno | |
| The Craft | 1996 | ||
| The Rock | 1996 | ||
| A Time to Kill | 1996 | Boon Narr adopted II (yellow Labrador retriever) from the Castaic Animal Shelter in 1993 | |
| Buddy | 1997 | ||
| Mouse Hunt | 1997 | ||
| 1997 | |||
| Paulie | 1998 | Twister (terrier mix) was adopted by Boone Narr from the Castaic Animal Shelter in 1995 | |
| The Parent Trap | 1998 | Bob (golden retriever) and Nugget (terrier mix) were adopted by Boone Narr from the Lacy Street Animal Shelter in 1993 and 1994 respectively | |
| Mumford | 1999 | Boon Narr adopted II (yellow Labrador retriever) from the Castaic Animal Shelter in 1993 | |
| The Green Mile | 1999 | Boone Narr and his team bred and trained the mice[9] | |
| Girl, Interrupted | 1999 | ||
| Stuart Little | 1999 | Boone Narr was the animal stunt coordinator | |
| The Kid | 2000 | ||
| The Crew | 2000 | ||
| The Cell | 2000 | David Allsberry was the head trainer | |
| The Mexican | 2001 | ||
| Cats & Dogs | 2001 | ||
| America's Sweethearts | 2001 | doberman trainer | |
| Rat Race | 2001 | ||
| The Majestic | 2001 | ||
| The Ring | 2002 | ||
| Stuart Little 2 | 2002 | ||
| 2003 | |||
| Open Range | 2003 | ||
| 2003 | |||
| Peter Pan | 2003 | ||
| Willard | 2003 | ||
| Catwoman | 2004 | ||
| Christmas with the Kranks | 2004 | ||
| Must Love Dogs | 2005 | ||
| Everything Is Illuminated | 2005 | ||
| Elizabethtown | 2005 | ||
| 2006 | |||
| The Holiday | 2006 | ||
| The Number 23 | 2007 | ||
| Firehouse Dog | 2007 | ||
| 2007 | |||
| Underdog | 2007 | ||
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall | 2008 | ||
| Tropic Thunder | 2008 | ||
| 2009 | |||
| Shutter Island | 2010 | ||
| 2010 | It took six months to cast the animals for the film; the Boone's Animals for Hollywood ended up with 80 different animals and 18 to 26 trainers at any time[10] | ||
| You Again | 2010 | ||
| Due Date | 2010 | ||
| The Conjuring | 2013 | ||
| The Dognapper | 2013 | ||
| Daddy's Home | 2015 |
Maui, who played Murray the dog in Mad About You, was discovered by Boone Narr at the Castaic Animal Shelter along with its mother Bingo, who starred in the 1991 film Bingo.[11] Maui was twice voted the most popular dog by the readers of TV Guide.[12]