The Shocking Truth Behind Disney’s Fake Lemmings Suicide Scene Will Blow Your Mind

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It’s not exactly clear when I discovered that lemmings symbolized individuals who unquestioningly follow something without critical thinking, but it wasn’t much later that I found out where this comparison originated. The movie “White Wilderness,” a wildlife documentary produced by Disney in 1958, is notorious for depicting a scene of countless lemmings jumping and tumbling off a cliff into the ocean, resulting in their death. This staged event sparked controversy as it was later revealed to be fabricated.

According to the documentary makers, these animals are remarkably persistent in their quest to reach their destination, even if it means risking their lives. Essentially, they’re arguing that this behavior is akin to mass suicide. In other words, individuals who are foolish enough to perform such reckless acts for something they don’t fully comprehend are comparable to lemmings.

Absolutely, none of what I previously mentioned is accurate. Here’s the real account, and despite any preconceptions you might have, it’s far more troubling than you could imagine.

The Scene Was Completely Staged

During the 1950s, Walt Disney and his team ruled the Best Documentary category at the Oscars. They managed to produce three winners in this category within a decade, all from a series called True-Life Adventures. Additionally, they bagged another five Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short from the same series, bringing their total count to eight wins. The last film to win was 1958’s White Wilderness, which gained significant attention for a scene showcasing unfortunate lemmings jumping off cliffs into the ocean, where they perished by drowning.

For several decades, Disney’s wildlife documentary series enjoyed a spotless reputation, making the phrase about lemmings a common part of everyday language. However, this changed in 1983 when Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) produced an investigation into wildlife documentaries, revealing that a well-known scene was manipulated for deception. The filmmakers were found to have staged the scene.

As a movie buff, let me clarify something I’ve known for quite some time: The misconception about lemmings leaping to their death en masse is just that – a misconception. I used to believe that filmmakers had coerced these tiny creatures into jumping off cliffs, but the truth is far from it. In reality, the lemmings weren’t even heading towards the ocean, and the scene was not filmed in Canada where lemmings naturally reside.

What White Wilderness Claims

The documentary depicts lemmings supposedly plunging to their demise from a cliff near the Arctic Ocean in northern Canada. Lemmings are known inhabitants of extremely cold regions worldwide, such as that particular area. In this sequence, viewers witness the lemmings laboriously making their way on ice and snow towards the precipice, followed by them leaping off one after another in a dramatic fashion.

Following a series of dramatic moments where the lemmings plummeted off a cliff, the narrative unfolds with them swimming further and further into the sea. Ultimately, they succumb to their journey, dying due to exhaustion. The movie’s narrator communicates this somber conclusion through a voiceover.

This is the last chance to turn back. Yet over they go, casting themselves out bodily into space.

As a movie enthusiast, I recall the closing scenes of that documentary vividly – they depicted countless lifeless lemmings drifting in the sea, a sight that, as per “White Wilderness,” these tiny rodents mistake for another lake, driving them to continue their journey. The scene was presented as a marvel of nature, yet it left many of us puzzled due to its mysterious nature, a mystery that scientists are still trying to unravel. However, as time went by, we discovered the reason behind this unexplained phenomenon: it never truly occurs in reality.

It Was Shot On The Banks Of A River In Alberta

As revealed in the CBC investigation, the truth behind the staging of the scene is more shocking than many initially thought, even myself included. This particular shot was filmed along the Bow River in Alberta, situated outside the town of Canmore, approximately 60 miles west of Calgary. It’s important to mention that Alberta is a landlocked province, meaning it doesn’t have any coastline, not even with the Arctic Ocean.

The scene is quite striking when the presenter of the CBC program is depicted on the banks of the Bow, and the camera gradually widens to reveal a sizable bridge over the river and Calgary cityscape in the distance. To put it mildly, it was more like a zoo where you’d expect to spot river rats rather than lemmings. Interestingly, lemmings aren’t native to that region of Alberta. It seems the filmmakers brought those rodents for the scene.

The Lemmings Came From Hundreds Of Miles Away, And Pretty Much Everything Was Fake

It appears that the lemmings were captured in Manitoba, often by Inuit children who received a quarter for each creature and subsequently transported them to a filming site in Alberta. The actions of the filmmakers in this situation are shockingly cruel. Notably, even the scenes depicting the animals struggling on the ice were fabricated.

Based on an account from someone interviewed by CBC, the filmmakers employed spinning devices akin to lazy susans to depict the lemmings having trouble walking on ice. In reality, there were significantly fewer animals than stated, as the same group of around 30-40 (not hundreds) lemmings were repeated multiple times with film tricks. The filmmakers didn’t venture up north to capture genuine footage; instead, they fabricated the entire scene.

Initially, I believed that the creators of what was labeled as a documentary had discovered a location where they could push lemmings off a cliff into the sea following a fall. However, upon reading a report, it turns out that scene wasn’t authentic. Instead, they drove the lemmings to the edge, and when the animals didn’t jump on their own, the producers ended up shoving and throwing them over the cliff, then recording what followed.

Disney And Walt Disney’s Family Have Disavowed The Film

It’s worth mentioning that neither the CBC report nor any other source asserts that Walt Disney or his production company were aware of the dishonesty by the filmmakers of “White Wilderness”. The company has distanced itself from the movie, placing it in storage alongside films like “Song of the South”. Unlike other movies in the “True-Life Adventures” series, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription, this one is not available and may never be.

According to The Walt Disney Family Museum’s website description for the movie, it was filmed without Walt Disney’s knowledge or approval, as he had passed away before the report of animal cruelty emerged. There’s no evidence suggesting that Disney was aware of the incident, and it seems unlikely they will re-release the controversial film in the future.

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2025-04-30 17:10