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NATIONAL LEDGER (Phoenix, Arizona) 22 August 06 Live Rattlesnakes Released in Arizona 'Snakes on a Plane" Theater (CK Rairden)
Two live rattlesnakes were released in an Arizona theater during a showing of the new film, 'Snakes on a Plane.' The snakes were released after the film began rolling in the dark theater at the AMC Desert Ridge multi-plex at Tatum and the 101 in north Phoenix.
The two baby diamondbacks were actually slithering around the theater while the snakes on a plane were slithering around on screen with Samuel L. Jackson.
A bit of a panic ensued, the theater was emptied and the Arizona Herpetological Association was called in to remove the snakes.
"People are carrying them in - we believe - in backpacks - and releasing them form a container," Tom Whiting of the Arizona Herpetological Association said.
Baby rattlesnakes are even more dangerous than adult diamondbacks. A report online from James Q. Jacobs notes that baby rattlesnakes are very venomous.
"They're very deadly, very, very dangerous right from the start. Babies actually will eject all of their venom, as opposed to the adults that will eject some of their venom some of the time."
Baby rattlesnakes also can't warn their victims as they do not have rattles; rattles develop after several skin 'sheddings.'
No one was bitten by either of the snakes and the baby rattlers were captured and released into the surrounding desert.
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The western diamondback is one of six rattlesnake species found in the surrounding deserts of Phoenix and one of the most common snakes in Arizona.
Snake experts in the valley are suggesting that theater owners check any backpacks that are carried into the theater for containers that may carry the snakes in case any copycats try the very dangerous stunt.
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"Snakes on a Plane" captured the weekend box-office title with a take of $15.2 million.
Live Rattlesnakes Released in Arizona 'Snakes on a Plane" Theater

If the idiots who did it are caught, they should be charged with as many counts of reckless endangerment as there were people in the theatre.

wouldn't do a bit of good for our hobby.

Your 100 percent right. Idiots like that should be jailed for a long time. That pisses me off to think that someone would do something that idiotic. Just amazes me.

The film is not good or bad for the hobby. People releasing snakes in a movie theater is not good for anybody however.

how can you say that this film is not bad for the hobby? it portrays snakes in a completely bogus manner and is obviously going to create more snake haters and make existing snake haters hate them even more. there are a lot of idiots out there that will believe this movie portrays snakes as they actually are. ive actually heard quite a few herpers say that this movie wont hurt our hobby and im shocked to say the least.
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Dylan Lutz

1.1 BCI, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

It's a MOVIE! It's so lame that the computer generated snakes are a joke. I don't beleive it will affect snakes but the stupid idiots that released them certainly will. Here are my public reviews.

http://blogs.chron.com/tmi/2006/08/post_5.html
or this one
http://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_230232405.html
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
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Conservation through Education

I agree it's just a movie but you have to remember we are snake people and see it as harmless fun but it will generate a new generation of people with phobias. I imagine the existing people with real phobias won't even go see the movie but I also think it might hurt the shipping business, especially ones flying Delta and the other carriers that allow the snakes on the planes with people up top.

Hope all is well. I am going to call you in a bit, just have some questions.

Brett

The how I can say it is that I believe it. People should be held 100% accountable for their actions. The need for personal responsibilty is not forfeited because of a movie, TV show, etc.

Dylan;
I had to chuckle (in a good way) when I read your comment ... a couple of days ago I responded on another forum to another posting that mirrored yours exactly.
I once was concerned about the depiction of snakes in movies ... but the experience of the last 9 years indicates to me that 'SoaP' won't have much of an effect on the 'general public'. If you like them, you like them ... if not, the movie is just an excuse to keep disliking them for no real reason.
Your comment was a 'deja vu' of my own back in 1997 when another snake movie was due for release ...

Back in Dec of 96, I sent a letter into the now defunct Reptiles and Amphibian Magazine. Editorially titled: “Killer Anaconda is coming to terrorize your neighbours!”, my note expressed much the same concerns as yourself and others above about how snakes were to be depicted in the film … and the possible repercussions from an all-ready snake phobic public.

From another posting ...

When I read ShadOw’s comment “Its a MOVIE guys... RELAX!!!”, I had to laugh. In the following Apr 97 issue of Reptile & Amphibian, Mike Barnes of California Zoo Supply wrote in the same tone with his “Killer Anaconda: Lighten up” in rebuttal to my posting my concerns about the effect of the movie on the public's herp perceptions. He then proceeded to write that the public knows that it’s all ‘in fun’ and what is depicted is in no way real. What a small, small world we herpers live in.
Anyhow, the movie Anaconda and Anaconda II didn’t have much effect on the publics’ herp perceptions, nor did the straight-to-DVD Boa vs Python! And lets not even pretend we rented Komodo!
As for me, I’ll agree to disagree with Roy about attending the movie … I’m attending the movie with some of the OARA to “sotto-voce” disassemble the herp scenes … and to see how many Ball pythons we can identify amongst the bosom-bouncing, toilet-terrorising, man killers! Afterward, when I hear my non-herping friends and public discussing the movie, I can (hopefully) educate them on why what they saw was not accurate and perhaps to give them some good information in return.
In my case, I see going to the movie as ‘know thy enemy’ … plus I enjoy most of Mr Jackson’s films (one of those guilty pleasures you don’t mention in polite company).

yoyoing: i think you misunderstood me. i meant how can you say the movie isnt going to hurt our hobby, not how can you say the people that did that should be punished severly LOL.

i realize this is "just a movie", but i guarantee you it will still have some type of negative effect on snakes in general and our hobby. even if one idiot kills a snake because he saw this movie and thought it was going to attack him, the movie has had a negative effect already and i strongly believe that more than just one snake is going to have to suffer because of this movie.
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Dylan Lutz

1.1 BCI, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

"if one idiot kills a snake because he saw this movie and thought it was going to attack him"

Actually, I think you misunderstood me. An idiot CANNOT kill a snake BECAUSE he/she saw this movie. He/she can kill a snake because he/she is an idiot, and bear the responsibility.
As mentioned, the killer snakes portrayed in this movie are along the lines of the talking cartoon characters in Roger Rabbit. If I start expecting rabbits to talk beacause I saw that movie...

but the thing is, people know animals dont talk. however, there are MANY people that think snakes are truly evil mosters that are trying to hunt down and kill humans. why else do you think a good 70 % of people will kill (or try to kill) a snake on site if they see one? if people realized how snakes REALLY acted, they would have no reason to run from them or kill them. they would realize that all the snake wants to do is be left alone and live its life just like any other animal on this planet.
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Dylan Lutz

1.1 BCI, 1.0 Bearded Dragon

I am not defending ignorance. I am refusing to excuse it.

I know this one is not venomous, but it does fall under the same subject of the previous posting. Respects to all, Wes

ECHO (Basildon, UK) 21 August 06 Snake! A real life theatre drama (Rob Pritchard)
Moviegoers are flocking to cinemas to view the hit film Snakes on a Plane - but this was more a case of Snake in Box Office.
Basildon Towngate Theatre manager Albert Gardner got a shock as he closed the box office and found a 3ft long Asian stripe-tailed rat snake.
Mr Gardner, 55, said: "I was going around closing the office doors.
"One would not shut properly so I looked down and saw a rubbery tail waggling.
"When I opened the door I saw a snake lying on the floor."
The non-venomous snake was collected by the RSPCA and is now at a wildlife hospital in Orsett.
http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local/display.var.887469.0.snake_a_real_life_theatre_drama.php

ARIZONA REPUBLIC (Phoenix) 23 August 06 'Snakes in a theater' a hoax (Lindsey Collom)
Police say reports that rattlesnakes were let loose during a showing of Snakes on a Plane at a north Phoenix theater have taken moviegoers for a ride.
There is some shred of truth to the story, Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter said. A 10-inch-long rattlesnake was found Friday in a hallway at AMC Desert Ridge 18, near Tatum Boulevard and Loop 101. But it likely slithered inside on its own, Tranter said.
A security guard swept the snake outside and held it in a container until a member of the Arizona Herpetological Association could take it away. Snake handlers had been called earlier in the day to retrieve a rattler from outside the theater.
An AMC spokeswoman told the news organization Reuters that the rumors were true, but Tranter has been refuting the story to news outlets from across the U.S.
'Snakes in a theater' a hoax

NATIONAL LEDGER (Arizona) 23 August 06 Snakes on a Plane in a Theater Debate: Where Did They Come From? (CK Rairden)
The 'Snakes on a Plane' in a theater debate rages on in Phoenix. The slithery debate has all of Phoenix buzzing as police and snake experts differ on exactly what happened and how a baby diamondback rattlesnake made its way into a theater complex where the film 'Snakes on a Plane' was being shown.
This much is agreed on. There were not two snakes in the theater as originally reported on Phoenix television. There was one snake in the theater and another in the parking lot of the AMC complex at Tatum and the 101 Freeway in North Phoenix.
The National Ledger talked to several Phoenix police officers on Tuesday and the consensus from the department is that one snake was captured by an off-duty female officer in the hallway of the theater complex.
She was working on security detail and on site when the incident occured.
The baby rattler was literally scooped up with a broom and dustpan and placed in a Tupperware container, Officer Stacie Derge told TNL. The officer on the scene then called the Arizona Herpetological Association and they took the baby rattler.
Officers believe that the snake may have entered the complex on its own, perhaps from a construction site nearby.
That theory was scoffed at by snake experts. The consensus from those that handle snakes for a living is that the snake was likely placed in the building, perhaps being brought into the cinema in a container placed in a backpack or purse.
The theory is that no baby snake could make it across traffic from the construction site and into a building where all of the doors are closed unless people are entering the building.
Handlers called it a reckless and dangerous stunt, and if the snake was brought in by a moviegoer they would be correct.
The National Ledger also spoke with AMC on Tuesday and they told us that they recognize the release of the film “Snakes on a Plane” has generated a lot of attention.
The spokesperson called the situation an "isolated incident that occurred this weekend at a Phoenix theatre was taken care of immediately and none of our guests were harmed. We hope our guests will continue to respect their fellow moviegoers by not engaging in any disruptive activities during the film and, as always, AMC takes steps that are both proactive and cautionary to ensure the safety and security of our guests and associates."
The incident has dominated local news now for nearly 24 hours as stories seem to continually change and reports vary.
But the general consensus of those interviewed the AMC Desert Ridge 18 theatre was that the whole incident was a little scary and very creepy.
Snakes on a Plane in a Theater Debate: Where Did They Come From?