I loved this video, Amy! It has a warmth and charm that made me smile. Thank you.
1
Wonderful Op-Doc. What I don't get in the Comments are all the people comparing aminals to humans. Humans are animals. Watch this vid every morning and your day will be great!
I can't even count how many animals have died in this video
I'm thinking maybeeeeee these animals might do better as unadopted, maybe unborn ....many of these critters don't do well as "owned". Love this couple and their sweetness, but keep the wilder animals wild, and keep cats indoors.
1
I cannot tell you how thoroughly I enjoyed watching your wonderful parents, both so beautiful and inspiring, both so dimensional, intelligent, humorous and unbelievably fascinating.
30
I absolutely loved this story & video. Thank you for sharing this story.
21
I loved this film.
Thank you.
Thank you.
10
There must be a special award for people like this....and if there isn't, we must create one!
22
What a great film. I never intended it, but my house is a "Last Chance Ranch" for some older dogs. The ones no one wants because each has an issue of some sort that had seen them go through several prior owners. These folks, though, deserve the gold medal! What a beautiful story.
I feel invigorated as Reiser, an old obese beagle who always wants to go outside until he is out and then wants in, is scratching at the back door (again). He's a piece of cake to care for compared to their lovely, crazy menagerie.
I feel invigorated as Reiser, an old obese beagle who always wants to go outside until he is out and then wants in, is scratching at the back door (again). He's a piece of cake to care for compared to their lovely, crazy menagerie.
13
These are my kind of people. Fantastic film!
25
I adore your parents!
16
I clicked on this because of the unexpected title and was so surprised and delighted that I have watched it three times and can't stop talking about it. I just loved this! Thank you for introducing us to your father and his wife's sweet, quirky world!
19
Delightful morbidly funny look at lives committed to pets and how they shape us.
8
This brought a smile to my face. How nice to learn about the kind people out there.
14
Appreciate altruism of the Nicholsons, and we need more like them.Every time I returned from an African assignment, I brought 1 or 2 4 legged creatures who, if they had been left there, would have no doubt perished. Like Pottery barn analogy,if u break it, u own it, and if u befriend a dog in a developing country,ur obliged to bring him back with U. But most memorable was Juma, found in park in west Village in summer of '69, a politically exciting year by the way, and always remember in Lion's Head bar Pete Hamill defending Mario Procaccino,mayoral candidate,and his malaproprisms by saying that just because he didn't speak the king's English, u shouldn't hold it against him. But I digress. Neighbor on w.10th offered to adopt her. One hot August day I saw neighbor guzzling beer on the stoop, with poor little Juma tied to railing. "Can't u even give her water?" I asked. Then I knew I had to get her back. Asked another neighbor, Chuck Dynamite as he was called, to help. We freed Juma from a basement cage and rest was history. She came out to home in LI and proved to be a real pet.Got name,"Juma"from a book I had been reading by a late friend and fine writer,Blaine Litttell,author of "South of the Moon," in which he retraced H.M Stanley's excursion through east and central Africa almost a century later. "Bref,"remembances of Juma r still engraved in my memory.Bravo for the Nicholsons, who merit a "triple ban!"
12
Very cute couple, with a very healthy take on life. I like that they seem to see the bright side of every one of the tragicomic situations they encounter. And the illustrations helped de-dramatize, with talent. Great doc!
13
Great short film. As kids we always tried to rescue animals...and ops nature took its course eventually. Very funny!
6
Oh I loved this!! This could almost tell the story of the fairy tale life my best friend and I have talked about.
4
These are the humans that make our species worthy!
It's the embracing of big Love!
It's the embracing of big Love!
17
Thank you! I so got lost in this film. Smiled and laughed and found a place safe from the tumult of these times.
Animals and their Animal intelligence warrant love and respect and inclusion
Animals and their Animal intelligence warrant love and respect and inclusion
3
I just love the couple in this film. I can't imagine how much love and effort must go into caring for all of these animals. I think it is a noble thing to take care of our fellow creatures that way.
4
That was amazing. Brought back all the ups and downs of raising chickens. The world is both beautiful and harsh, no more so than in the world of animals.
5
Lovely and charming. Like a non-fiction Wes Anderson film. Bravo!
15
Sweet. Poignant. Real.
8
Thank you for making this film. How lovely and charming your parents are and how wonderfully you have captured their compassion and whimsy.
5
Is it too harsh to suggest these folks had the best intentions but were just not great at raising animals? Maybe find another hobby.
6
Yes, it's too harsh.
16
Great story about a menagerie of misfits and their caretakers. Sponge fish or the crooked-neck cat are my favorites......kudos to a wonderful couple doing their best to make the world a little better for our furry and feathered friends. Brought a great big smile to my face.
9
I loved this so very much.
Thank you, Amy Nicholson. You made my day.
Thank you, Amy Nicholson. You made my day.
12
Like my cat Kitty of nearly 20 years who I saved from certain death at the animal shelter animals are easy to understand unlike humans.
If you care for animals---provide them food, shelter and affection that is what they give back. It is not so certain and more difficult with humans.
My cat meets me at the door to the bedroom almost every morning when I go to the bathroom after waking up because the cat is always happy to see me. If it is happy because it expects a treat I am not going to get complicated and wonder "Does it really love me"? I will just enjoy the fact that it is happy and making my cat happy and getting its purr box going in the morning always manages to make me happy no matter how difficult the previous day was.
Would that humans were so easy to understand and so free with affection.
If you care for animals---provide them food, shelter and affection that is what they give back. It is not so certain and more difficult with humans.
My cat meets me at the door to the bedroom almost every morning when I go to the bathroom after waking up because the cat is always happy to see me. If it is happy because it expects a treat I am not going to get complicated and wonder "Does it really love me"? I will just enjoy the fact that it is happy and making my cat happy and getting its purr box going in the morning always manages to make me happy no matter how difficult the previous day was.
Would that humans were so easy to understand and so free with affection.
26
Loved loved it. Your dad and stepmom have a wonderful attitude: love, hope, and joy, and a clearheaded recognition that death is a part of life. And you are a wonderful filmmaker.
15
Lovely.
6
This was an absolute delight for this animal lover. Thank you for introducing me to your father & his wife - two very unusual & kind people.
9
Saw this in the spring at HotDocs in Toronto and loved it. How fantastic that it is now on NYT. Congratulations!
7
I love that their first instinct is always to help. But they also show an odd, sweet acceptance of nature's ultimate verdict.
8
Wonderful! Thank you so much.
3
What a wonderfully eccentric and lovely couple, living was seems like an idyllic life. Love the film, they are absolutely charming.
6
Gee, a lot of death...
6
I was so pleased with this story .what wonderful people ! Talented with hands and heart and respect for the animals of all kinds.lucky animals ! Even respected in death,which was explained with candor,humor and caring at all times. Thank you,thank you,thank you!
3
This piece is such a missed opportunity for why the animals they rescued were the way they were. For instance, the broiler chickens they rescued were constantly hungry to the point of obesity because they are bred to eat until they are obsese. The film makes the couple seem totally ignorant of how the animals in their care should actually be treated. For an example of the films I have made for Naturestage's One Language Project which have a completely different tone, please check out www.onelanguageproject.com
6
There was poetry in this story, which was never intended to be an exegesis on the evils of factory farming.
3
One of my favorite documentaries of all time. Thanks for having it here on the Times Op-Docs!
3
What a nice video to watch! It made me very happy. Thank you!
6
Brilliant. Pickle made my day.
3
This short should win an award. Touching, funny, and entertaining. A story of love, hope, and acceptance. So full of life among all the tales of death. I had a sense of envy for their lives more than any showy display given by attention-seking billionaires. And if were I a billionaire, I would live like they do. These are some of the faces that I wish came to mind when people think of America, hard-working farmers with hearts of gold.
4
These people seem irresponsible to me. I have had chickens and ducks and other creatures and they are free range during the day but in a coop and safe at night. The oh-just-oops negligent quality of this story really put me off
7
Yeah, me too. Our chickens are in a predator-proof enclosure. Our cats live exclusively indoors. Nothing has ever been "gotten" by anything else.
8
Maybe you guys should consider calling the Chesapeake Bay Humane Society in on these monsters.
1
Delightful--loved the overweight chicken story, the paraplegic possum and of course...Pickle the deformed fish.
6
Fantastic film. Subtle and hilarious at the same time. I loved every second of it.
3
I completely understand this, since we now have a rooster living in the house.
I accidentally stepped on Frosty's foot a month ago while cleaning the chicken pen. He was limping, but not seriously hurt. Unfortunately his brothers - Flurry, Snowball and Snowdrop - couldn't handle an injured coop mate and so for Frosty's safety he had to be moved into the spare bedroom. He shares that room with a cat with feline leukemia and a blind turtle. It does get a little noisy in the mornings, but that's OK.
For a while we had a house duck named Pumpernickel (I bought her for $4 at the flea market to save her from someone who planned to eat her) but she kept chasing the kitten we found nearly starving next to a laundromat, so she had to be moved outside.
I accidentally stepped on Frosty's foot a month ago while cleaning the chicken pen. He was limping, but not seriously hurt. Unfortunately his brothers - Flurry, Snowball and Snowdrop - couldn't handle an injured coop mate and so for Frosty's safety he had to be moved into the spare bedroom. He shares that room with a cat with feline leukemia and a blind turtle. It does get a little noisy in the mornings, but that's OK.
For a while we had a house duck named Pumpernickel (I bought her for $4 at the flea market to save her from someone who planned to eat her) but she kept chasing the kitten we found nearly starving next to a laundromat, so she had to be moved outside.
21
Oh this was exactly what I needed to help me with my Trump Aversion Malady. I wonder if maybe he would benefit by watching it, maybe evoke a bit of empathy?? Loved this film !
5
Adored this documentary immensely. Love Tom and Debbie to death. What great stories they tell and what deep compassion they have for all living things. Love the opossum. Great story telling - Thank you!
4
Heaven!
3
I loved, loved, loved this film. And the cartoons. Fantastic.
5
Wow, so beautiful and funny. I feel better. Thank you!
6
thank you for so much joy!
3
Amazing story-telling. Thank you to your father and his wife for sharing. My kids - huge animal lovers - were mesmerized. Four stars!!
4
What an amazing piece!!! What a beautiful life , so peaceful , so emotional and yet light. It made me reflect about the True joys in our journey in this planet!
Thank you so much for sharing for this story.
Thank you so much for sharing for this story.
5
This was my favorite film shown at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival in August 2016. Op Docs was at the festival as well; one wonders whether this helped make the decision to include the film here at the NYTimes.
Thank you thank you!
Thank you thank you!
6
Fabulous. I laughed. I cried. Better than a lot of movies I've seen .
8
I intended to be guilty of the crime of forwarding a video to someone else without looking at it myself. Who has 15 minutes to invest in a pet video while scanning the headlines over morning coffee? But I was hooked, mesmerized actually, by Amy's short film. It was like an ASMR sleep video that induces that euphoric skin tingling sensation that is supposed to relax you and help you sleep except that I really wanted to see this one to the end. Amy had me. And I did make it through, relaxed, tingly, and wide-awake, and was rewarded with "Bumblefoot", and "Stumpbody". I am going to forward it to all my uptight, insomniac friends, that is, everyone I know.
8
Loved the piece
The animations, people and music
The animations, people and music
16
I loved this so much. Superb storytelling. Bravo!
28
One of my favorite Op-Docs EVER
24
Your dad is so charming! Lucky you! Truth is stranger than fiction. Thank you so much, I loved this.
20
Lovely film, people, and sentiment. It made me both smile and reflect. Thank you.
22
What a funny, charming, fatalistic and yet somehow quite hopeful portrait of people, animals, and lost causes made good (at least for a while). It's the undeniable human instinct to help (no matter how questionable said help may turn out to be) that just might pull us through the hard times ahead. Thanks.
39
that was just wonderful. thank you Amy for your story, and hilariously dark illustrations. And to Pickle's people for being terrific humans, living and rescuing lovely little beings in the world at large.
33
It's funny, but why if everything seems to suddenly make sense when we get a chance to get out of the city to see how life works out there, do we keep wanting to go back into it afterward? It only adds to the confusion. Cities are kind of a trap, I guess.
12
What a brilliant piece, Amy! Despite the unfortunate endings of the furry, finny and feathery friends of this sunny couple, my smile could not have been broader while watching this story. What does it take to get an invite to a vegetarian dinner with this amazing, big hearted, rescuing duo? They and you, Amy, made my rainy day sparkle. Thank you to one and all, including beloved Pickle.
19
I love them and their endless patience even though most of their pet stories end with, "...but the X got him."
Charming short.
Charming short.
23
really nice, made me thankful to be alive and healthy...
12
Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.
15
wonderful! the only thing that's made me smile since the election besides RuPaul's drag race
24
Thank you, Amy, for making this spectacularly touching and funny doc. You made my day, and I truly laughed for the first time since 11/9.
54