Viral retro photos of animals made popular by fake captions

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The worldwide virtual network feeds us with new portions of information every day. By tradition, a person is inclined to believe everything that is written. However, the example of some viral posts shows that today it is better to follow the "trust but verify" rule. Especially when it comes to such favorite topics as children and animals. This review contains five replicated photographs that are true on their own, but presented with false stories.

A soldier drags a donkey through a minefield

The story that is replicated along with this photo can be found in different variations, but it sounds something like this: a soldier in the 40s drags a donkey on him through a minefield so that a stupid animal does not blow up and ruin everyone around. Further, often, in accordance with the spite of the day, the moral is added that today, in difficult times, the strong and smart should bear on their shoulders the care of who is weaker (or more stupid). The photo turned out to be so cute that, along with the “catchy” signature, it instantly gained popularity.

Unfortunately, if you get to the bottom of the truth, several important elements must be thrown out of the story. In fact, there was no minefield there and the picture was taken not at all on the fields of World War II, but in the summer of 1958 in Algeria. The French colony was then proving its right to independence. In the picture we see a soldier of the 13th Foreign Legion Semi-Brigade. The story of this donkey, who became the "son of the regiment", is very amusing even without embellishment. The soldiers found a weakened, emaciated animal and took pity on him. In the photo, Bambi (as the pet was named) is being carried on the shoulders, because he is not yet strong. Then the animals came out and left in the unit "for good luck." The insolent talisman then ran after the soldiers and begged for tasty food, everyone loved him very much. The war ended in September 1959. Leaving, the soldiers left the donkey at the base and nothing else is known about its fate. The story in those years was very famous, since the donkey got into the lens of the military correspondents and then they wrote a lot and willingly about it. After 60 years, Bambi again became a media star, now electronic.

The matador repented and surrendered to the bull

Another touching photo that animal rights activists simply adore. This, by the way, is a worldwide fake. It spread across social networks in different countries. The caption to the picture tells that the outstanding matador Alvaro Munera, in the midst of a fight with a bull, suddenly realized the inhumanity of his profession, stopped and sat down on the edge of the arena. The startled bull looks at a man who has refused to be his killer. For reliability, the words of the former matador are even quoted:

Colombian Alvaro Munera really fought bulls in the arena in his youth, but unfortunately he did not grow up to the famous matador. He was considered a novillero - a novice master. In 1984, a failure awaited him, the bull hooked a 19-year-old boy by the leg and dragged him across the arena. The result is a spinal injury, a wheelchair for life and later remorse. Now the elderly Muner actively opposes bullfighting. He spoke the above words in an interview for the Spanish newspaper El Pais in 1995. And the picture shows the Spanish matador Xavi Sanchez Varu, who performs the desplante technique: when the fight is close to the final, the master mocks the tired animal for the show. Here he sat down and pretended to be resting.

"Smiling" kitten

The author of this famous photograph is the famous photographer Walter Shandoch. He passed away in 2019 at the age of 98. The photo artist became famous for having photographed almost only cats for 70 years. These lovely animals can truly be an inexhaustible source of inspiration! One of the most famous photographs was taken in 1955. The daughter of the photographer laughs at it cheerfully, but the kitten actually just meows (perhaps yells heart-rendingly), but the overall positiveness of the picture makes us believe the impossible. In fact, cats do not know how to smile.

Grasshopper mutant

This photograph of a one-meter-long grasshopper, allegedly shot by an American farmer, was first published on September 9, 1937, on the front page of the provincial newspaper Tomah Monitor-Herald. The note said that in the town of Tom, a certain A. El Butts shot a huge insect in his apple orchard. This "news" shocked the public so much that it "flew" to us through a century. In principle, in those years no one tried to deceive the scientific community. Newspapers strongly and did not hide the fact that this is a "duck" showing an excellent photo collage (surprisingly, many years before the era of Photoshop, people knew how to fake photos). Moreover, after the good luck with the shocking news, postcards with giant grasshoppers were always in demand in the United States for many years.

Domestic deer Audrey Hepburn

The history of these photographs is not as far from reality as the previous one. The great actress really communicated closely with the little deer Pippin on the set of the 1958 film "Green Manors". Audrey played the role of a forest maiden and was supposed to be in contact with an animal according to the script. To make the deer get used to her better, the actress almost replaced his mother for a while - she fed him from a bottle and sometimes even took her home (on the recommendation of the trainer). The paparazzi, who were always trying to photograph the star in an informal setting, then took many unusual pictures of these "partners on the set": in the supermarket, on the street and even at a party. After the filming was over, the deer was sent back to the zoo, as living at home with an adult deer is not a very pleasant prospect.

Today, photographs that were popular 60 years ago have again found a "second life", but now they are not always viewed positively. Many see Audrey's behavior as indiscretion and claim that she is torturing an animal. In fact, these pictures are just a small episode from the life of the great actress, and there was no "domestic deer" with which she would not part for many years.

Today, much of the past is being revised by the human community. One of these painful issues is the attitude towards animals. So, for example, recently in the German circus, instead of living animals, they began to use holograms.