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| Going Wild with Jeff Corwin | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Wildlife documentary |
| Written by | Jane Bahk Paul Storck |
| Directed by | Mark Cole Scott Firestone (8 episodes), Kathryn Douglas (first season) |
| Presented by | Jeff Corwin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Tim Braine Kevin M. Meagher |
| Producers | Scott Firestone Paul Storck |
| Cinematography | Matthew W. Davis |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Popular Arts Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel |
| Release | August 10, 1997 (1997-08-10) – June 13, 1999 (1999-06-13) |
Going Wild with Jeff Corwin is a nature documentary television series produced and aired in the late 1990s on theDisney Channel. Hosted byJeff Corwin, the show lasted for three seasons from August 10, 1997, to June 13, 1999, before it was canceled.
The show was first announced in an August 1997, simultaneously with another nature-oriented Disney show,Omba Mokomba.[1][2] In the show, Corwin travels to natural places around the world, including Florida, South Africa,Papua New Guinea,Death Valley, and Hawaii, searching for wild animals. In each episode, Jeff searches for a "Feature Creature", and always finds it at the end of the episode. Creatures previously featured includemanatees,cobras, crocodiles,bighorn sheep, dolphins, and bears. As he explores, Jeff looks for "Creature Clues" to help him find the animal. In some episodes, Jeff also explores ancient ruins, including,Gila Cliff Dwellings,Port Arthur,Rhyolite, andAyutthaya.
Jeff and his crew filmed in some of the most exotic places in the world. In some episodes, they filmed in special wildlife parks. This was revealed in theSpecial Thanks section of the credits. In some episodes, Jeff also met up with some locals, who gave him hints on where to find his "Feature Creature". Filming time depends on the location. InDeath Valley, they only filmed for 2 days, but in South Africa, they filmed for 3 months.
Jeff mainly filmed animals in the wild, but some animals were borrowed from museums and nature parks. Thecougar cubs, he showed inSouth Dakota, were actually cubs out of wildlife rehabilitation, that were being released back into the wild. In theSpecial Thanks section of the credits, in some episodes it has the names of zoos and wildlife parks. The credits also state that,No Animals Were Harmed During The Making of This Program, andSome Animal Situations Have Been Recreated. It's not always easy to find the animals they need. In Los Angeles, Jeff spent 3 hours on a surf board, looking forpelicans, and in South Africa, him and his crew spend 3 weeks searching for anaardwolf, but the editing made it look like he was only there for 2 days.[3]
Jeff had some close encounters while filming his show. While filming an episode in South Africa, Jeff got attacked by aleopard, but he had a stick with him, and stood his ground, and the leopard backed off. In his journals, Jeff also stated that an African lion jumped on him, and pawed his head. In Alaska, Jeff was nearly trampled by amoose, and in Thailand, he had to keep dodgingking cobra strikes.[4]
The show has been canceled since 1999, however, all the episodes from the series are available for purchase on VHS online.