A moving solution, mechanization

A Team's Know-How and Industry Leading Expertise

The story of White Tuft - the Little Beaver (Mèche Blanche, les aventures du petit castor) is an important turning point for BILODEAU Canada. This Franco-Canadian film by Philippe Calderon was produced in 2008. Mainly filmed in our beautiful Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, it stars many animals from the Zoo Sauvage de Saint-Félicien.

For this project, the taxidermy team had to dig deep and wide into their skill sets. The producers' order was peculiar, they needed remote-controlled beavers! Easier to direct than the true little beaver, and much safer for it, these mechanized doubles allowed the filming crew to create awesome scenes without exposing their little star to any danger.

The challenge for the taxidermists was to depart from their usual solid, unmoving piece and make parts of it move in a believable manner. Essentially, they had to make a robot! Three mechanized beavers were made. Two could swim, and one could walk. The filming crew could control them the same way you'd control a RC car, with a remote controller. In the film, it's very hard to tell the real beaver from its mechanized doubles. For us, it's a source of pride.