As reviews for Kevin James’s newest “I’m a clumsy doofus” movie, Zookeeper, start coming in tepid and unimpressed — the L.A. Times said it was all a big “ineffectual gabbing menagerie shtick” — animal-rights supporters say they don’t much care for it either. According to the Century City Patch, PETA staged a protest outside the west L.A. theater where Zookeeper had its premiere this past Wednesday. Among the protesters’ main complaints: the death of the giraffe, Tweet, who collapsed and died the day after his last scene was filmed in 2009. (The film earned a “no animals were harmed” disclaimer from the American Humane Association’s Film and Television Unit, which had representatives on set.) Movies have overcome worse press in the past, to be sure, and talking animals do resonate with a hefty portion of the grew-up-on-Disney set, but early box-office returns suggest no surprise success in the offing for Zookeeper. [Century City Patch]
