The Humane Society of the United States has created a powerful stop motion animation called “Save Ralph,” which is about a cosmetic test rabbit named Ralph. The character is played by Taika Waititi, who gives a first-person view of Ralph’s life as a tester for a major cosmetic company. Ralph gets up every day and approaches his day in a pragmatic way, but the terror of his “coworkers” grows daily, along with his own injuries. At some point, Ralph’s innate stoicism starts to falter and he has a hard time coping with the reality of his hopeless situation.
Every day in the U.S., cosmetics companies continue to experiment on animals to test cosmetics like deodorant, lipstick, and shampoo. The Humane Cosmetics Act aims to end this cruelty by prohibiting animal testing for not just some but all cosmetic products that are manufactured in the United States. There are already alternatives to animal testing, but the industry continues to use animals even though the advanced scientific technologies are usually cheaper, faster, and more relevant to human beings. The animal tests are archaic and unnecessary. In 40 other countries in the world, animal testing is illegal.
For example, every country in the European Union, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, India, and Israel, already outlaws animal testing. The “Save Ralph” film was directed by Spencer Susser and uses puppets by Andy Gent. Several celebrities are featured, including Zac Efron, Ricky Gervais, Olivia Munn, Rodrigo Santoro, Pom Klementieff, and Tricia Helfer. The film tackles this horrifying issue in an unexpected and original way, using the story of one rabbit to shine a light on the plight of rabbits and other animals in labs around the world.
YouTube
This movie is powerful and it’s important. Watch it in the YouTube video below.