Beautiful, majestic, and super smart they are…
Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus is closing in a month. You can’t survive without Elephants.
With much respect paid to the “Main Attraction” of every circus, this week’s movie and wine pairing is Chateau Des Annibals Rose with Water for Elephants.
The Annibals estate, as the story goes, is named in homage to Hannibal the Conqueror. Around 200 B.C. he led an army of Elephants and Men in an attempt to take over Rome, they trampled the grounds where the winery now lives.
When you watch Water For Elephants you realize how terribly these traveling circuses treated their animals. But it was set in the Depression when you had to survive. The Animals, or us!
I’m assuming that “Hannibal the Conqueror” wasn’t too easy on them either. But, at least his were able to run, and weren’t confined to a train car or a Big Top.
The star of this movie is not human, it is an Elephant named Rosie. She is purchased to bring the show back to life, sell tickets, and basically sustain a living for all the Circus workers. Although she suffers great abuse, she is there to save the Circus!
To set the stage for the movie, check out Camille Saint-Saens’ The Carnival of the Animals. Let your imagination hear and see!