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Happy National Alligator Day
Well, I couldn’t let National Alligator Day pass without adding pop culture representations of this ancient reptile to our store of animal posts. Just click on links below to learn more about the gators and gator people in question. NB: you’ll find nothing about crocodiles or giant alligators here — those are entirely different posts!
St. Augustine Alligator Farm (est. 1893). One of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions, and hence one of the first places to offer shows of alligator wrestling and gator hypnotism.
Toney The Alligator Skinned Boy — early 20th century attraction at Dreamland Circus Side Show
Thanks, Eve Golden, for reminding me of Albert, friend of Walt Kelly’s Pogo (1948-1975). The popular comic strip was set in the Okefenokee, you will recall. Pogo himself was a possum.
Gatorland (est. 1949) — Gator Capital of the World, featuring thousands of gators, crocs, caimans, and suchlike creatures of the swamp.
An Alligator Named Daisy(1955): a wacky British comedy about a dude who accidentally acquires a tame pet alligator and feels responsible for it. He gets added incentive when the girl he likes takes a shining to the creature. Hey, I’ll watching anything with Diana Dors.
The Alligator People(1959)
Wally Gator (1962): Daws Butler is the voice of the the troublesome Hanna-Barbera character, who’s always escaping from the zoo, to the consternation of Mr. Twiddle (Don Messick).
Gator (1976): Florida actor Burt Reynolds plays the titular character, who makes his home in the Okefenokee and helps a federal agent get the goods on his old crime boss.
Alligator (1980): John Sayles, then still just a screenwriter, penned this humorous horror classic as his follow up to Piranha. It was one of the first films to play with the old urban legend about baby alligators getting flushed down the toilet only to grow up and menace humans through the sewers. Robert Forster stars. It was Sue Lyon’s last movie.
We’re Leaving (2011): Caught this clever short by Zachary Treitz on Criterion recently. A couple inhabit a trailer with a scary pet gator, and are kicked out for non-payment of rent. What will they do with this rather conspicuous pet monster when they move?
Crawl (2019): Too many premises! A woman and her dad are a) trapped in the crawlspace under their house b) during a category 5 hurricane, and are also c) being menaced by gators!
Arlo, The Alligator Boy (2019): Netflix animated musical feature about a half boy-half gator. Clever, original and visually appealing. Debut feature of Ryan Crego.
Sewer Gators(2022): low budget horror comedy
Meth Gator (2024): Based on a true story!
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