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German Circus Uses Holograms Instead Of Live Animals For A Cruelty-Free Magical Experience
For a very long time, people couldn’t have imagined a circus show without horses, elephants, monkeys, and lions. But recently, Circus Roncalli has shunned tradition, swapping flesh and blood for hologram projections. The shows, however, remain just as spectacular.
More info: roncalli.de
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Circus Roncalli has been entertaining crowds with its animal shows since 1976 but has decided to change things up in an attempt to fight against animal cruelty in the industry.
Its shows still feature tusks and tails, fiery circles and acrobats, but in a world’s first, not one of the circus animals are real. Roncalli wanted to create 3D images from hologram projectors while filling the arena measuring 32 meters (105 feet) wide and 5 meters (16 feet) deep with 360° visibility for the entire audience.
Roncalli’s agency TAG/TRAUM in cooperation with Bluebox partnered with Optoma, and 11 ZU850 laser projectors were installed for a mesmerizing holography experience.
Birger Wunderlich at Bluebox said, “We have been using Optoma projectors for 6 years and have consistently had a very positive experience in price, performance, and reliability. We needed a high contrast projector with great colors for the 3D effect and the ZU850’s 2,000,000:1 contrast is perfect for this project.”
The bold move comes amid increasing worldwide concerns about circus animals living much of their lives under horrible conditions in captivity.
Activists have accused many circuses of beating, starving and keeping their show animals in unsanitary conditions while they perform for large crowds according to very tight schedules.
In the UK, for example, legislation is before the government which would ban traveling circuses from using wild animals from 2020.
Check out the holograms in action in the video below
Here’s what people had to say
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What do you think ?
Bobbi Newell 6 years ago
Combined with human clowns and acrobats, that would be a fantastic show!
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tuzdayschild 6 years ago
This is wonderful! I stopped going to circuses because of the inhumane treatment of animals (I saw a tiger abused). All circuses should do this or opt to use no animals at all.
Michelle Muirhead 6 years ago
Maybe I’m perverse, but it sort of reminds me of Bladerunner in a devastated future where all the animals are gone due to man’s stupidity with refusing to do all we can about the environment.
Christina Uhlir 6 years ago
Thank you Circus Roncalli for your compassion to animals; everything human beings do, can do humanely, our own survival depends on it. "Compassion is the chief law of human existence." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (universal compassion, that is).
Cat person 6 years ago
I'm glad they are combating animal cruelty, but personally I wouldn't go see this. It's very unoriginal, the same thing every time, just like a movie (except I doubt there's any sort of plot here). Instead, go see a ballet or some kind of show where humans do tricks. Much more ethical and original, and LIVE, not pre-made
Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
You know what the thing is? Some people suck and some don't. I've seen performers with animals where in the off season those animals live practically in their home, where they treat their animals great and you can see that the animal is happy. I think better overview and control is needed, but I am not categorically against animals in the circus. The pictures above are great but those do not reflect hours, days, months, years of training and companionship between human performer and animal performer. I don't know. I understand the no cruelty point , especially with those bears on chains made to dance, but I also understand the good people who have had animals for generations and love them but now can't work.
Bobbi Newell 6 years ago
Combined with human clowns and acrobats, that would be a fantastic show!
Load More Replies... tuzdayschild 6 years ago
This is wonderful! I stopped going to circuses because of the inhumane treatment of animals (I saw a tiger abused). All circuses should do this or opt to use no animals at all.
Michelle Muirhead 6 years ago
Maybe I’m perverse, but it sort of reminds me of Bladerunner in a devastated future where all the animals are gone due to man’s stupidity with refusing to do all we can about the environment.
Christina Uhlir 6 years ago
Thank you Circus Roncalli for your compassion to animals; everything human beings do, can do humanely, our own survival depends on it. "Compassion is the chief law of human existence." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (universal compassion, that is).
Cat person 6 years ago
I'm glad they are combating animal cruelty, but personally I wouldn't go see this. It's very unoriginal, the same thing every time, just like a movie (except I doubt there's any sort of plot here). Instead, go see a ballet or some kind of show where humans do tricks. Much more ethical and original, and LIVE, not pre-made
Victoria Rey Piuma 6 years ago
You know what the thing is? Some people suck and some don't. I've seen performers with animals where in the off season those animals live practically in their home, where they treat their animals great and you can see that the animal is happy. I think better overview and control is needed, but I am not categorically against animals in the circus. The pictures above are great but those do not reflect hours, days, months, years of training and companionship between human performer and animal performer. I don't know. I understand the no cruelty point , especially with those bears on chains made to dance, but I also understand the good people who have had animals for generations and love them but now can't work.
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