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This work offers a critical, colorful and informative examination of different types of monster movies, spanning the silent period to today. Chapter One focuses on dragons, dinosaurs, and other scaly giants from films like 1953's The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, an impressive stop-motion production that ushered in a new era of atomic-spawned monster films. Chapter Two examines'big bug'flicks, beginning with 1954's giant ant-infested Them! Chapter Three focuses on ordinary animals grown to improbable proportions through scientific or sinister experimentation, such as the huge octopus in 1955's It Came from Beneath the Sea. Chapters Four, Five, and Six look at films in which nature goes berserk, and otherwise innocuous animals flock, swarm, hop or run about on a menacingly massive scale, including 1963's The Birds and 1972's Frogs. Finally, Chapter Seven focuses on films featuring beasts that defy easy definition, such as 1958's The Blob and Fiend Without a Face.

Among certain fans, Roy Rogers'golden Palomino Trigger was more popular than the King of the Cowboys himself. Some are still infatuated by the horse decades after his death in 1965—and no wonder. Trigger is the most famous movie horse of all time. But in truth, “Trigger” was a composite of the original horse, a number of look-alikes and one extraordinary double (rarely acknowledged by Rogers) named Little Trigger. This book is a detailed look at the animals and men who created and nurtured the legend of “the smartest horse in the movies.” It covers the life story of the original horse and the look-alikes, as well as the story of “Trigger,” the legend. A filmography lists all films in which Trigger appeared, including some without Roy Rogers. Television and personal appearances are also discussed. Covered in their own chapters are horse hero comic books and Trigger collectibles. Also included are a biography of Trigger's trainer Glenn Randall and a chapter on Roy Rogers as horseman. Generous illustrations include many rare (some previously unpublished) photographs gathered from Trigger collectors nationwide, and even copies of Trigger's registration form and bill of sale.

One in the series of Human-Animal Studies ebooks produced as a result of the (printed) publication of the definitive HAS handbook, Teaching the Animal: Human–Animal Studies across the Disciplines. This chapter focuses on cultural studies, includes two course syllabi, and has a full resources section covering all disciplines. Includes chapter'Teaching Animal Movies'by Pete Porter.