Skip to content

Meet the animal stars who made it to the big screen

Lilly-Mae MessengerWest of England
PA Media Hugh Jackman playing a shepherd. He's wearing a brown flat cap with a blue jacket with rolled up sleeves. Underneath he has a white shirt. He's looking down at and cradling a muddy lamb in his right arm while feeding it with a plastic milk bottle.PA Media
Hugh Jackman plays a shepherd in his latest movie, which features a ram from Somerset

Nobby the sheep went from peacefully grazing in a Somerset field to appearing on the big screen alongside some Hollywood stars.

The Norfolk horn ram was picked to appear in new film The Sheep Detectives with Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson and left his farm in Williton to get behind a camera in Pinewood Studios.

His owner, farmer William Sully, explained he was "really happy" for Nobby to take part in the film to show off the rare breed.

Sully said: "This breed is fantastic and the older breeds are getting less and less, it's cost of living causing them to die out".

The Sheep Detectives Two CGI Norfolk horn rams in the likeness of Nobby in a field looking at each other. They have dark faces and long brown horns which curl around their ears. They have thick fleeces of off-white wool and round stomachs.The Sheep Detectives
Nobby was duplicated using CGI to create two characters, Ronnie and Reggie, who are twins in the film

He explained how Nobby wasn't specially trained for the role but "he was very fit for the part".

"A lot of these breeds are hand tame which makes things easier," he explained.

He added how the ram was given treats to chew, which later went on to simulate him speaking.

He said: "He's definitely cheeky, a real character, the film shows it really.

"The sheep, the cows, the pigs, everything on the farm all have their own personalities."

Nobby died from old age shortly after filming, however he will be immortalised on our screens by the new mystery tale.

Lloyd and Rose Buck with their goshawk Mabel. Lloyd is wearing a brown jacket with a grey gillet. He is smiling next to the camera next to his wife Rose. She has short grey hair and glasses. She is wearing a dark green quarter zip jumper and holding Mabel. The goshawk is slate-grey on top with white, finely barred underparts. She has a distinct white eyebrow stripe over orange eyes.
Lloyd and Rose Buck with their goshawk Mabel

Nobby is not the only star from the West Country.

Lloyd and Rose Buck from Bristol have been living with and training birds for more than 30 years.

From eagles to geese, to goshawks to starlings, their birds have starred in various productions such as Conquest of the Skies (2015) with David Attenborough.

Their goshawks Mabel and Lottie starred in these roles to illustrate their behaviours in the documentary.

Mr Buck said that nearly all of the birds are hand-raised and they get them used to being around cameras, drones, green screens, blue screens.

He added: "There's no big secret to it. It's just time, patience and observation."

He explained that, "just because one bird of a breed is good at something, another bird of the same breed might be better at something else."

This could be said for the movie 'H' is for Hawkes, which came out January this year.

It starred Claire Foy and four different goshawks, including Mabel, and Lottie which all played the same bird.

He added: "Just as people have characteristics, so do birds, but it's spending all your time with them to see their personalities.

"When you live with them you'll find things that they like and what they don't, and that then helps us tell [the crews] what ways they can film."

Lindsay Mattick A black and white photograph of Winnie the black bear cub. She has fuzzy dark fur. Lt Colebourn is wearing a military attire, sat leaning down to Winnie. He his holding one of Winnie's paws as she stands up to reach his other hand. They are in a muddy field with white tents in the background.Lindsay Mattick
Lt Colebourn permanently donated Winnie to London Zoo after seeing how much children enjoyed seeing her

Our furry friends in the West Country aren't always on the big screen, but they have a history of inspiring some famous stories.

Brought to England in 1914, Winnie the black bear was sent from Wiltshire to London Zoo.

The bear's owner, Lt Harry Colebourn, was a vet from Canada who had enlisted at the outset of World War One and travelled to Europe.

AA Milne's son Christopher Robin saw the cub and named his teddy bear after her, this is how Winnie-the-Pooh became a generational classic.

On a muddier note, escaped pigs, Butch and Sundance from Malmesbury, went on their own adventure in 1998.

They planted the seed in writer Jed Mercurio's head to create the film The Legend of the Tamworth Two before he went on to make BBC TV series Line of Duty.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.