*NEWSBITES
BERLIN – Mooooove over Mickey Mouse.
She may just be the world’s most famous cow: Yvonne, a Bavarian bovine who became an international media sensation last year when she famously fled into the woods. The story of Yvonne, the “the cow that wants to be a deer,” is pure Hollywood, which didn’t wait long to make an offer that couldn’t be refused.
Last summer, Yvonne’s escape in the German region of Bavaria made headlines around the globe. She managed to avoid capture for 100 days before, of her own volition, she joined some calves in a pasture. The whole saga concluded with a happy ending when space was found for her on an animal farm, Gut Aiderbichl, that bills itself as an “animal paradise.”
Yvonne’s heart-warming tale is now set to be the subject of an animated movie about “the cow that wanted to be a deer,” said Michael Aufhauser, the founder of the farm. It will hit theaters in 2014, with a working title of “Cow on the run.”
The producer, British-born Los Angeles-based Max Howard (“Lion King”), came to visit the farm where Yvonne now lives and spent the day there. He and Aufhauser signed a contract in February. Aufhauser, who was present as events unfolded and was the one to finally capture Yvonne, is to be a “consultant” during production of the 90-minute film. The idea for the movie originated with a Munich production company, Papa Löwe, whcih is co-financing the movie’s 30-million euro budget.
Aufhauser was amazed to receive the movie offer, but also said he wouldn’t have agreed to any filming of the actual animal. Yvonne will instead be left in peace, allowed to live on quietly at Aufhasuer’s farm while the animators work on the film elsewhere.
A spokesperson for the Gut Aiderbichl animal farm, Britta Freitag, said Yvonne is doing very well. She now enjoys the company of other members of her family, which were also given shelter on the farm. As a health precaution, Yvonne and her relatives are being kept away from the farm’s other animals. The quarantine period, however, is almost over, meaning they will soon be able to graze in the meadows with the other cows.
“We’re in the process of reinforcing the fencing now,” said Freitag – just in case Yvonne gets the idea she wants to run like a deer again.
Read the full story in German by Britta Schultejans
Photo – Facebook
*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations