Cinderella (2015)

In all the scenes featuring horses and horseback riders, all horseback riders were stunt riders or experienced actors who were skilled at riding, mounting and dismounting. All running/galloping scenes were well choreographed, and actors used caution while on and near animals. The horse(s) rearing was a trained behavior. When teams of horses pulled wagons or carriages, the drivers were experienced and teams of horses were familiar with each other and accustomed to the pulling action. Whenever horses were seen tied to posts/fences, they were attached to lead ropes tied to posts.

Additionally, whenever we see chickens, goats, rabbits and ducks in front of Ella’s house, trainers were just off-camera and fed the animals prior to shooting the scene to keep them stationary.

In the scene when the evil stepmother arrives with her daughters and walks into Ella’s house with the cat on the leash, trainers made sure the leash was loose enough, and prepped actress on how to handle the leash. When the cat hisses at the mouse, the trainer was just off camera holding a bait stick to achieve the eye line with the cat. The cat was then called to run from point A to point B. Special effects will make it look as if the cat ran into the wardrobe. The cat and the mouse were never filmed together.

In the scene where Ella and the Prince meet and circle each other on horseback, the actors were well trained and prepped on horseback riding and how close they should ride next to each other.

The elk was created through CGI.

In the scene where the goose runs across the backyard flapping his wings and it transforms flying to the top of the house, the geese were carried to set in a secure cage.  A wire pen was erected and both geese were placed in there and fed a few pellets. On action the cage door was opened by one handler and the other handler shook the food bucket and called the goose to return to the pen. The goose ran to the pen, while the first handler walked behind him encouraging him forward. The rest was done with CGI.

Similar to the duck trotting transformation, when the mice transform into horses, trainers brought mice to the set, filmed them up close as they ran on top of a wall from point A to point B. Again, the rest was done in post production with CGI.

In the sequence where the carriage turns into a pumpkin, the driver turns back into a goose and the horses turn back into the mice, all the animals were filmed individually then the transformation scenes were finished in post with CGI. Prior to filming the sequence, the route was checked for debris and holes prior to filming. The horses were walked to set from their on location stables. The chariot carriage was placed into position manually. The horses were hitched and on action the carriage was pushed forward manually by handlers. A crane camera was at the end of each run taking overhead and low level shots whilst the tracking vehicle took different positions, side, front and behind. Between takes the horses are rugged, watered and rested.

When the carriage turns into a pumpkin, a special carriage rig was prepared for this scenario. A plain grey carriage was connected to another plain grey chassis. Behind the chassis is an independent KoKart which steers the chassis. On top of the chassis is a blue foam pumpkin shaped carriage ball. The chassis is connected to a pivot so that when the KoKart driver steers the chassis into a weave the carriage remains on its normal line and does not affect the horses’ movement. Two horses were hitched to the special carriage and cantered in a straight line. So as the stuntman steered the KoKart and Chassis into an erratic weaving action, the horses rode in a straight line.

Due to schedule changes and American Humane Association’s budgetary constraints, the American Humane Association did not monitor some of the horse, cat and chicken action.