Altghough I always thought the film was cute, I agree with Cass that there are some cruel and neglegant acts in this film. I've done research on this movie before, and there are no special effects. The animals do their own stunts. The director apparently took very good care of the animals, and there is even a note at the end of the film saying that no animals were injured, they were under supervision, etc. However, I also believe I remember hearing of some things that 'went wrong' in the movie (if you know what I mean) and so it had to be edited down quite a bit. It was such a long time ago that I don't know if we'll ever know the truth.