Friday, October 29, 2021
Feld Entertainment Plans Return of Ringling Bros. Circus (Minus Animals)
www.ticketnews.com: Feld Entertainment is planning on bringing back the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, four years after the “Greatest Show on Earth” was retired from active performance. The circus will reportedly return without the animal attractions, which had become a lightning rod for protest and led the the promotion’s retirement.
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I think this is amazing. As a kid, I often attended the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as it toured through the Staples Center in Downtown LA. I do have to admit, as a kid, I never thought about the animals. To me, the circus was just spectacular and exciting to watch. As I got older and began to hear more and more about how the animals were treated and movements of removing them from circus became more and more prevalent, I understood why the circus ended up disbanding. That being said, to me, the animals weren't the only spectacular part of the circus. There was so much more to it. With this, I think Feld Entertainment is doing the right thing in planning a return of a new and improved Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that does not involve animals. This shows how companies can adapt to new ideas if they try hard enough.
I remember how big of a deal it was when the Ringling Circus closed. It’s been running for such a long time, across generations even, and people have a very hard time with change. But the circus definitely needed updating, as it has stuck to traditions that cause harm for a very long time. Animal acts definitely don’t belong in the circus now that we are fully aware of the physical and mental effects that they can have on these animals. Not only are they affected by the performance, but the travel aspect of a circus can be extremely taxing on an animal. I never felt a connection to the circus, I’ve never seen it nor wanted to. But I have been in animal training my entire life, specifically horses, and there are absolutely right and wrong ways to go about training any kind of animal. While I don’t know the specifics of their practice, I think that with the return of the Ringling Circus, it’s for the best to remove the animal acts.
I'd actually never seen or heard of the Ringling Circus but I'm excited to see its comeback. I am curious however how they plan to combat the lack of ticket sales due to the closure of live animal entertainment portions. Given that that was such a large factor in why they closed in the first place, I was surprised the article didn't include information on how they plan to change/revamp the show to draw in guests despite the lack of animals. Maybe it's too soon after their announcement to really know and report on. The main reason I've never seen a circus performance with animals is you never really know what you're supporting. Without first hand reportings or experiences, it's hard to say whether animal conditions are safe, sustainable, and good for them. I've always chosen to err on the side of caution and not support any act that includes potentially overworked or mistreated animals. Good to see the Ringling Circus attempting to create a new and less morally ambiguous entertainment for all.
This is such exciting news! I remember attending the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus each time it came to my hometown when I was younger. It is such a fun event for the whole family to attend. I hope that Feld Entertainment will put in the work to actually update this circus and make sure that it is responsibly presenting this show across the US. I remember all of the controversy when people were protesting about the treatment of the Circus’ animals. You could just see how mistreated these animals were by the way they looked in the show. Hopefully Feld can reexamine what made the Circus so great and what people enjoyed about it so much. I think it is a great start to not include animal acts at all. There was so much else that was spectacular that I really don’t think they need animal acts anyways. This all seems like it will work out really well and I am excited for this tradition to return!
I am glad that Ringling Brothers finally realized they do not need to abuse and exhaust animals for entertainment in order to get an audience to fill their seats. Hopefully they are able to make up for the years they spent lauding their animal ‘attractions’ to patrons. Personally, I have never been to one of their circuses, and I do not think I plan on it either. I know they are an iconic piece of entertainment to some, but I personally prefer circus acts like Cirque du Soleil. I enjoy seeing the artistry that Cirque includes in their performances, and I am not sure that you could get the same level of that at a Ringling Bros circus. Perhaps they will use this as an opportunity to rebrand a bit? See what other opportunities they now have access to and branch out from the traditional way? I guess we will see.
I am interested to see how the new Ringling Brothers’ show will be structured. I know that in the past, a major part of their attraction was the animal acts. They are certainly enjoyable, watching animals perform, but the conditions they were kept under were terrible, and I am quite glad that the use of live animals has been ended. But that brings me back to my point, wondering what they will replace these acts with. I remember an article from last year or the year before detailing a circus from Germany (if I recall correctly) which used a very interesting implementation of technology to create a faux hologram of performing animals, and the videos they showed of the act were absolutely marvelous. I think it would be really cool if Ringling Brothers adopted this technology in their shows. Some people may disagree with me, but the holographic animals can perform “tricks” that no live animal would ever be able to do – the possibilities are quite literally endless. If not that, I do wonder what other acts they may add to supplement their shows. There is so much creativity involved when creating such a show, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with.
Prior to reading this article, I have never seen or really heard of a Ringling Bros circus show. But immediately after reading about how there was so much backlash in the past regarding their cruel treatment of their circus animals, I was hesitant to be comfortable with their announcement of a reopening in the near future. The article does state that the circus plans to completely omit the usage of animals in their performances going forward; the specific adjustments and new practices to be implemented are not discussed or outlined in detail, which is somewhat of a disappointment. It would have been valuable to understand their specific plan of action in creating a new environment free of animal cruelty. I am hoping that in this revival of a somewhat problematic show, there will be much more care and awareness surrounding how to create entertainment in the circus industry without the abuse and exploitation of animals.
I'm glad to see the circus coming back because I would always see them when they came to Baltimore. It was such big news when they decided to close down but I remember being thankful that we were moving past the practices of using animals in such an exploitative way in live entertainment. So it's good to see that the people in charge have actually put the work in to work on an act that operates without the cruel treatment of animals (and maybe we will even get the same rights for the people working on these shows someday).
That said, jesus I am old. It feels like yesterday that Ringling Bros. closed down. I feel that I've grown out of circus in particular but I guess it would be cool to work a load-in for a circus one day. I've always really wanted to see how a show like that comes together.
I think the decision to bring the Ringling brothers’ circus back without animals marks an interesting change for their brand. I remember seeing ads for that circus-based almost solely on their usage of big cats and I believe their logo has/had an elephant on it. PETA has done many things that I disagree with in terms of activism, but this feels like a good move. I wonder what they’re going to put in place of their animal acts and how that’s going to fix the issue of them losing ticket sales without their animal acts. It’s interesting to see a company have to lose and bring back their flagship property. I hope Feld’s relaunch of Ringling Bros’ circus allows for that iconic property to continue touring. I hope that moves like this encourage the industry to grow and change with activism. Live performance is not set in stone and should change with the needs and values of its’ audience.
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