RIP Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

[Bob Juch]

ELLENTON, Fla. (AP) - After 146 years, the curtain is coming down on "The Greatest Show on Earth." The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus told The Associated Press that the show will close forever in May.

The iconic American spectacle was felled by a variety of factors, company executives say. Declining attendance combined with high operating costs, along with changing public tastes and prolonged battles with animal rights groups all contributed to its demise.

http://www.wistv.com/story/34262877/apn ... -146-years

[Bob78164]

I went to the circus for the one and only time in my life as a birthday gift to myself on my 30th birthday. It was Ringling Brothers. This news makes me wistful. --Bob

[jaybee]

The Felds say their existing animals - lions, tigers, camels, donkeys, alpacas, kangaroos and llamas - will go to suitable homes.

I understand that a part of BAM's two season renewal pact that they are taking several of the llamas.

[silverscreenselect]

I guess they won't be remaking this Oscar winning film then,

[The Bearded Lady]

The Felds say their existing animals - lions, tigers, camels, donkeys, alpacas, kangaroos and llamas - will go to suitable homes.

Anyone want to provide a suitable home for me too?

[BackInTex]

This is sad, but inevitable.

I think it is less to to with PETA and more to do with the product life-cycle. With all the CGI in the media, what happens in a circus doesn't seem so incredible. Plus, it is a very costly form of entertainment from a manpower and logistical point that has trouble competing for the entertainment dollar against many other new and more popular forms of entertainment.

They will try to make PETA the villain and PETA will gladly take credit, but at the end of the day it is a business decision that they can't make the return on their investment.

I'm glad I was able to be with all my kids as they experienced the circus with the awe that came with them being young and seeing the performers.

[silverscreenselect]

With all the CGI in the media, what happens in a circus doesn't seem so incredible.

Call me old-fashioned, but movies in which super-powered heroes and villains destroy large portions of the world just don't excite me very much. I'd almost rather see an actual animated film portraying the same thing than the "real thing." These films are so lacking in any semblance of plausibility that there's little involvement by the audience, even when they add 3D. I would much rather see sequences in which real actors (or real stuntmen) are doing all the work and at least appear to be in actual danger.

One of the best action movies of all time (from the action perspective) was How the West Was Won. All the main set pieces were filmed without any of today's post-production trickery, and the effect, especially if you saw it in the original Cinerama or a comparable widescreen process was stunning. For the buffalo stampede, they actually stampeded a herd of real buffalo towards cameras mounted in the ground. The train shootout sequence was so dangerous that a stuntman lost his legs. I don't advocate some of those non-safety practices and I've got no problem with using CGI to do things like digitally remove safety harnesses the stunt people wear, but I'd much rather see HTWWW than any of those big-CGI films in which the only sense of danger is whether some poor developer will get a case of carpal tunnel syndrome from drawing too many pixels.

[Bob Juch]

With all the CGI in the media, what happens in a circus doesn't seem so incredible.

Call me old-fashioned, but movies in which super-powered heroes and villains destroy large portions of the world just don't excite me very much. I'd almost rather see an actual animated film portraying the same thing than the "real thing." These films are so lacking in any semblance of plausibility that there's little involvement by the audience, even when they add 3D. I would much rather see sequences in which real actors (or real stuntmen) are doing all the work and at least appear to be in actual danger.

One of the best action movies of all time (from the action perspective) was How the West Was Won. All the main set pieces were filmed without any of today's post-production trickery, and the effect, especially if you saw it in the original Cinerama or a comparable widescreen process was stunning. For the buffalo stampede, they actually stampeded a herd of real buffalo towards cameras mounted in the ground. The train shootout sequence was so dangerous that a stuntman lost his legs. I don't advocate some of those non-safety practices and I've got no problem with using CGI to do things like digitally remove safety harnesses the stunt people wear, but I'd much rather see HTWWW than any of those big-CGI films in which the only sense of danger is whether some poor developer will get a case of carpal tunnel syndrome from drawing too many pixels.

I saw How the West Was Won just after I turned 13 at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. I was blown away by the 360° view. I'll agree that was much better than today's CGI but it was also very expensive and the film lost money.

[T_Bone0806]

I think it is less to to with PETA and more to do with the product life-cycle. With all the CGI in the media, what happens in a circus doesn't seem so incredible. Plus, it is a very costly form of entertainment from a manpower and logistical point that has trouble competing for the entertainment dollar against many other new and more popular forms of entertainment.

This.


The circus is yet another "old-fashioned" relic of an earlier time. Things that pleased us or fascinated US as kids are too "boring" and slow-paced for the young folks in this day of 24/7 texting/social media/videogames that look like movies/instant gratification whirlwind entertainment choices.

Things like the circus, county fairs and other, simpler entertainments just don't cut it any more. Hell, we had 3 or 4 TV channels as kids (and it seems like there were more appealing choices of things to watch than there are now with the 575 channels plus infinite streaming services). I have surrendered to the necessity of digitally downloading music (especially since a fair share of it is not available in physical form at all), although I still burn the purchases onto a cd...but nothing will ever replace the coolness of going to the record store, buying an album or two, taking them home, opening them up, and putting 'em on the turntable, while gazing at the album artwork and liner notes. Not to mention the smell of new vinyl..to me, superior to that "new car smell". Then again, I was captivated by watching a jukebox pull out a 45 and play it, so maybe it's a "simple things amuse simple minds" sort of thing...


I could go on and on about all the simple joys of our childhood, but you'll have to excuse me...I think I have to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn...probably just wandered onto it by mistake because they were too busy looking at their smartphones...

[Pastor Fireball]

I haven't been to the circus in twenty years. My mother was the assistant manager at the local Kmart at the time. She won four RBB&B circus tickets in an employee raffle. She took me, my girlfriend, and our infant son. It was the only time that any of my kids had been to the circus... mostly because I had lost interest in circuses when I hit college.

On a related note, game show announcer Randy West had the best comment about this news. On his Facebook page, he claimed that president-elect and Russian watersports aficionado Donald Drumpf got the circus shut down because he thought the clowns were mocking him.

[lilclyde54]

Well, that certainly shoots down the old children's threat of "I'm going to run away with the circus".

[jaybee]

T-Bone nailed it.

In it's day, the circus showcased amazing things that could not be seen anywhere else. People were naturally going to try to see these "one of a kind" attractions. Even long before the internet - TV, movies and easier travel can take us to many "Greatest on Earth" places that are beyond what the circus can offer. So the death of the circus has been long in coming.

Got me to thinking back. The last time I went to RB&BB was when my girlfriend and I took my GF's 6-year old sister to see the circus. That would have made my last time there somewhere around 40 years ago.

[silverscreenselect]

I think that a large part of the allure was also the outdoor effect, where you could walk around the midway and soak in all the atmosphere (some of which consisted of the smell of what the animals left behind them). The last time I wen was a couple of years after our marriage when we took our younger daughter to the show. Sitting in the same coliseum in which we also saw hockey and basketball just wasn't the same feeling, even though, at that time the acts were pretty much the same.

At least here in Georgia we have plenty of fairs, especially in the fall, so you can still soak up a bit of that atmosphere.