History Trivia / FierceCreatures

* OldShame: Creator/JohnCleese was asked what he would do differently if he could live his life over. He responded that he wouldn't have made this film.

* ExecutiveMeddling: The studio disliked the cut of the film that Robert Young turned in, which led to Fred Schepisi being hired to reshoot anything between just the ending or nearly half of the film, depending on who you believe. It could be half, since ''Fierce Creatures'' seems a bit more watered down with the language when comparing it to ''A Fish Called Wanda''.

* TroubledProduction: The film had its release delayed by nearly a year after the initial cut of the film got a severely underwhelming reaction from test audiences. The official line from the studio and writer-star Creator/JohnCleese was that due to Creator/MichaelPalin being unavailable for several months, and then director Robert Young having moved onto directing an adaptation of ''Literature/JaneEyre'', Fred Schepisi was hired to reshoot the ending, with both Young and Schepisi agreeing afterwards to share credit. However, other sources have indicated that Schepisi actually reshot most of the second half of the film -- something backed up by several characters and sub-plots suddenly vanishing just after the halfway point -- which has been variously ascribed to Cleese simply being unhappy with Young's work, the studio wanting something with more appeal to family audiences, and/or the main villain having to be substantially rewritten when Rupert Murdoch threatened to bury the film under litigation after finding out that the villain was an extremely blatant and unflattering [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed caricature]] of him.

* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Bugsy is a MotorMouth to allow Crator/MichaelPalin to speak more than he had in ''Wanda'' - as there he played a stutterer.

* ProductionPosse: ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'' and ''Fierce Creatures'' both share the same four actors: Creator/JohnCleese, Creator/KevinKline, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis and Creator/MichaelPalin. In fact, Cleese reunited the cast specifically because he enjoyed working with Kline, Curtis, and Palin so much. Maria Aitken, who played Wendy (Archie's wife) in ''Wanda'', also returns, this time playing Rollo's secretary. And Cleese's daughter Cynthia, who played his daughter in ''Wanda'', here plays the blonde zookeeper.

* ProductionPosse: ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'' and ''Fierce Creatures'' both share the same four actors: Creator/JohnCleese, Creator/KevinKline, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis and Creator/MichaelPalin. In fact, Cleese reunited the cast specifically because he enjoyed working with Kline, Curtis, and Palin so much. The same woman who played Wendy (Archie's wife) in ''Wanda'' also returns, this time playing Rollo's secretary. And Cleese's daughter Cynthia, who played his daughter in ''Wanda'', here plays the blonde zookeeper.

* ActorAllusion:
** Rollo briefly calls Willa "Wanda" by accident. Wanda was Curtis' previous role in ''Film/AFishCalledWanda''.
** John Cleese trots out ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''[='=]s Black Knight's line "It's just a flesh wound."
** The zoo the film takes place in is called Marwood Zoo. Marwood is John Cleese's middle name.
** Terry the tarantula is named after Terry Jones - with whom Michael Palin wrote a sketch called "The Fierce Creatures". The film is based partially on that sketch.
* {{Corpsing}}: After Rollo has called Willa "Wanda" by mistake, he can be seen suppressing his laughter.

** Kevin Kline puts on an Australian accent as Rod [=McCain=] [[spoiler: and when Vince is pretending to be Rod]].

* OldShame: John Cleese was asked what he would do differently if he could live his life over. He responded that he wouldn't have made this film.
* ProductionPosse: ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'' and ''Fierce Creatures'' both share the same four actors: John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Palin. In fact, Creator/JohnCleese reunited the cast specifically because he enjoyed working with Kline, Curtis, and Palin so much. The same woman who played Wendy (Archie's wife) in ''Wanda'' also returns, this time playing Rollo's secretary. And John Cleese's daughter Cynthia, who played his daughter in ''Wanda'', here plays the blonde zookeeper.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Lotterby, the giraffe guy and the porcupine guy abruptly vanish at the seventy-minute mark, and aren't seen again until the ending. This is because the actors were unavailable when the scenes were re-shot.
* SerendipityWritesThePlot: Bugsy is a MotorMouth to allow Michael Palin to speak more than he had in ''Wanda'' - as there he played a stutterer.

* {{Tuckerization}}:
** As noted above, Marwood is John Cleese's middle name, and the name of the zoo.
** Terry the tarantula is named after Terry Jones.
** Lotterby is named after Sydney Lotterby - who produced comedy such as ''As Time Goes By'' and ''Yes, Prime Minister''.

* {{Corpsing}}: After Rollo has called Willa "Wanda" by mistake, he is seen suppressing his laughter.

* FakeNationality:

** Robert Lindsay is British playing the Australian zookeeper Lotterby.

* ProductionPosse: ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'' and ''Fierce Creatures'' both share the same four actors: John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Palin. The same woman who played Wendy (Archie's wife) in ''Wanda'' also returns, this time playing Rollo's secretary. And John Cleese's daughter Cynthia, who played his daughter in ''Wanda'', here plays the blonde zookeeper.

* ActingForTwo: Kline as both the [=McCains=].

* ThrowItIn: After Rollo has called Willa Wanda by mistake, he is seen suppressing his laughter.