Anaconda: How The Animatronic Snake Almost Killed Jennifer Lopez

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Anaconda: How The Animatronic Snake Almost Killed Jennifer Lopez

The animatronic puppet used in Anaconda endangered the cast and crew and almost killed Jennifer Lopez. Following the success of Steven Spielberg's Jaws and the subsequent rise of the Piranha franchise, Anaconda tried to become the next big horror movie based on an elusive apex predator. The film enjoyed a significant amount of success at the box office, gained fame as a cult classic, and spawned four Anaconda sequels—including a crossover with the crocodile-centered franchise Lake Placid—despite it not reaching a fraction of the critical acclaim that put Spielberg's Jaws in the cinema hall of fame.

Anaconda follows a documentary film crew led by director Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez), who meets snake hunter Paul Serone (Jon Voight) while searching for an indigenous tribe along the Amazon River. In typical giant-animal horror movie fashion, two giant anacondas start hunting down the crew one by one until Terri, Serone, cameraman Danny Rich (Ice Cube), and anthropologist Steven Cale (Eric Stoltz) end up being the last survivors. To their surprise, an even bigger snake appears, but they're ready to fight for their lives.

Even scarier than the movie itself is the cast and crew's real-life fight with the snake. Anaconda didn't count on the necessary technology and budget to render a realistic digital model of the titular animal for each and every one of its appearances. So, two massive animatronic puppets were made instead. One of them measured around 25 feet long and the other stood at 40 feet long. They were made out of metal, loaded with wires, and were clad in rubber. As if working with these mechanical monsters weren't already difficult, the snakes' complex mechanisms decided to fail in the middle of shooting, prompting the snake to attack Jennifer Lopez for real.

Due to the nature of the set, which was brimming with water and vegetation, it was difficult for Jennifer Lopez to escape the animatronic puppet, and even more difficult for anybody else to come to her aid if something worse were to happen. More than one ton of metal and wires came close to striking her, or even worse, drowning or electrocuting her. Fortunately, the only result of the puppet's malfunction is some footage of the snake's incredibly realistic movements, which found its way into the movie.

As the main character, Jennifer Lopez got a closer look at Anaconda's titular monster and ended up actually fighting it, though Ice Cube and the rest of the cast and crew also had a very real threat to keep an eye on. Thankfully, the colossal snakes were defeated, both inside and outside the movie screen. These mechanical malfunctions were more common before CGI took over. Therefore, a similar incident in the upcoming Anaconda remake is hopefully out of the question.