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Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of stuffing animals. The compulsion to keep animals intact after death goes back to ancient Egypt, where animals of all description were mummified. Though the methods and motivations have changed, the desire has remained pretty constant.
Meet Beth Beverly, a young taxidermist turning the craft on its head; John Whitenight, a faithful and eccentric collector of Victorian taxidermy; and the polar bears and gorillas that stand motionless in the natural history museum. Together they relay taxidermy’s long history of combining art and science, and fighting the inevitable decay all creatures ultimately face.
Directed and Produced by Mariel Carr
Animated by Jacob Rivkin
Assistant Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Re-Recording Mixer: Mark Schultz, CAS, Shake Audio Post
Images courtesy of John Whitenight and Wikimedia Commons
Archival footage courtesy of The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Music: “Bit Rio,” “Climbing the Mountain,” and “Movin on up” by Podington Bear, courtesy of the Free Music Archive. Additional music courtesy of the Audio Network
Mariel Carr produces for Distillations magazine, a publication of a science history non-profit organization called the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
