Post the true tale of HACHI The Dog, this is one of the most emotional, heartwarming and never seen before kind of documentary, about an unbelievable loving relationship between humans and The Jungle King, a Lion. So even if you have seen numerous features and videos of similar references, the story of Christian stands apart as one of the most unique, pleasantly shocking and blessed tale of man-animal relationship till date.
In 1969, a lion cub was purchased from a London department store, Harrods (they were allowed to sell then), by two Australian travelers Ace Bourke and John Rendall. They named the cub Christian and in no time he grew too big for the surroundings and even after making some new arrangements (like playing in the fenced-in cemetery of a church), it was decided that the cub now had to return to the wild in the most natural manner. Since a Zoo or Circus was not preferred, the two friends located a wild refuge in Kenya and said a heart wrenching good bye to their dear child like friend, eventually.
One year later, in 1971 Ace & John decided to give it a try and visit him in the wild where he was last sent into. Now though it was believed that the lion would never remember the two after such a long period of separation but nature proved them all wrong with a loving contradiction and Christian did come back recognizing his human parents like a child with the same love and passion. Their reunion was a rare, unforgettable sight to see which truly proved that love really could surpass all limitations of species, origin or language and was the supreme power ruling this world unarguably. The duo again went to see Christie one year later in 1972 and that was the last time they saw him turned into a big giant lion of the wild.
Depicting this rare tale of love, two one hour documentaries were made (produced by Morningstar Productions) titled "The Lion from World's End" & "Christian the Lion" showcasing the cub's life in the city, return to Africa and then the reunion after a year with the help of George Adamson. Ace and John also wrote a book called "A Lion Called Christian" in 1971 as the story of a lion who returned to Africa after spending his two years in London. The book was published in many countries in more than three languages.
Interestingly the story might have got lost in this over-crowded new age world of information, if a student fan had not posted a video of this exceptional reunion, edited from the documentary on a website in the new millennium, after more than three decades. The video was fast picked by many other friends and sites, reaching YouTube finally from where it introduced Christian to the whole world by becoming a viral video and an instant world-wide sensation. Now though at present there are several versions of the video at YouTube, but its original clip had Whitney Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You” used to portray the true love (getting more than 20 million hits), which was later removed from the portal but has now been reposted again on demand.
Post the overnight success of the video clip, in 2009 Ace and John updated and republished their book "A Lion Called Christian", which now included their return visits to Kenya in 1971 and 1972. The new edition included loads of new information from George Adamson's own books and his works on Wildlife Preservation. At present it has been translated in several languages and is also considered a best seller world-wide. Following the book release, Ace and John gave many interviews and were also invited on the famous OPRAH WINFREY SHOW in 2009. And it is believed that post their appearance on Oprah Show, their YouTube Clip has now been seen by more than 100 million people.
After witnessing the huge interest in Christian story, Blink Films produced the documentary "A Lion Called Christian" in 2009 which features original footage, the duo's recent interviews and also has the filming of their second reunion when they last saw Christian as the big lion. And believe me, when you watch that one moment of Christian walking slowly and then faster to just jump over his human parents to give them a loving hug, tears naturally start flowing out of the eyes and the world truly feels like a very blessed place to live despite all its hardships and pain.
The extraordinary documentary of this unique relationship can certainly be called a true representative or ambassador of human-animal relationships and wildlife conservation in the world over. And in order to make this urgent message reach the young minds, a children's book about Christian was also published in 2010 titled "Christian, the Hugging Lion".
In few words, if you are an animal lover and can instantly understand the language of their innocent eyes and silent gestures then you get to see this urgently within the next few days only. But in case you are not an animal lover and haven't felt that warmth and love ever, then you got it see this even more essentially as it may change your entire perception about the animal world and their honest, undemanding relationship with the mankind.
Directed By Jackie Osei Tutu
(For friends interested in knowing more about Christian, Ace & John, here are some valuable links of their blessed world of love, care and compassion)
http://www.alioncalledchristian.com.au/ (Official Website)
[And you can also search for more clips of this Documentary (& may be complete) on YouTube too.]
Cheers!
