Lion King producer to turn tale of the German cow who bolted from farm and evaded capture by hunters into animation
Yvonne the German cow evaded helicopters, dodged guns and even shunned her calf and best friend for a life on the run.
Now the tale of the runaway, who captivated the country last year when she bolted from her farm to escape slaughter and roamed free in the Bavarian countryside for three months, will provide fodder for a Hollywood animated film.
Cow on the Run will be produced by a Munich-based film company, Papa Löwe, and the film producer Max Howard, whose previous credits include Walt Disney's The Lion King.
Michael Aufhauser, founder of the Gut Aiderbichl animal sanctuary in southern Germany, which now looks after Yvonne, said the film – due to open in 2014 – was going to be very romantic. "Yvonne even falls in love," he said.
Yvonne broke through an electric fence on a farm near the Bavarian town of Mühldorf last May and lived happily off the land for three months until she bolted in front of a police car. Authorities deemed her a security risk and gave hunters the go ahead to shoot her.
But Yvonne foiled all their attempts, and plans by animal activists to lure her back to the farmyard using her calf, her friend and a breeding bull named Ernst.
She was eventually captured in September after receiving a double dose of tranquilisers and was taken to the animal sanctuary after more than 90 days of freedom.
"People thought she was a dumb cow and would not know what to do in the wild," Aufhauser said. "But she was so clever, nobody could catch her and that amazed people."