Pigs Trot to Fame in the Great EscapeMon Apr 12, 2004 10:29 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Only the British would make national heroes out of two pigs who escaped from a slaughterhouse and made a dash for freedom.
Britons are often mocked for treating their pets better than their children. So the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) clearly felt it was onto a winner immortalizing the exploits of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Pig.
They were two Tamworth ginger-haired pigs who sparked an international media frenzy in 1998. Even Japanese and American networks flew in to cover the chase.
"The Legend of the Tamworth Two," being screened by BBC Television on Monday, relives the frenetic week when the porcine pair were billed the world's most famous fugitives.
The plucky porkers escaped the abattoir knife in the western English town of Malmesbury by burrowing under a fence and swimming across an icy river to freedom.
Tabloid newspapers offered huge rewards for the fleeing pigs. TV helicopters hovered over the sleepy rural backwater. The Vegetarian Society begged Britons to save their bacon.
The mission to save Butch and Sundance became a public obsession in animal-worshipping Britain where the film "Babe" -- about a talking piglet -- was a smash hit.
Journalist Wendy Best, who broke the tale in her local newspaper, said: "I knew it was a good story. It was January, the weather was foul, it was after Christmas and people needed cheering up."
Astonished by the way the story snowballed, she recalled: "The international media joined in the feeding frenzy. American and Japanese film crews were among them. It was very strange after spending 17 years as a journalist that what was basically a ridiculous little story should gain such notoriety."
The story had a happy ending both in fact and fiction.
The original Tamworth Two were finally recaptured and bought by the Daily Mail newspaper before becoming a tourist attraction at an animal sanctuary.
The eight pigs used in the BBC film will not be ending up as another great British tradition -- roast pork for Sunday lunch. They have been retired to a farm park.
Actors are always warned never to work with children or animals because they are such scene-stealers.
But actor Gerard Horan, who plays the pigs' original owner in the film, was full of admiration for his co-stars.
"They have been a lot less trouble than most actors I've worked with. You don't have to drag them out of the bar at two in the morning. They turn up on time."
But he did confess in the Radio Times listing magazine to a twinge of envy: "I want their agent -- they only work two hours a day and they are treated like royalty. They spend the rest of their time either lying down or eating."
-------
![Laughing Laughing](/images/emoticons/classic/icon_lol.gif)