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Alaska Fish & Wildlife News: Lemming Suicide Myth - Disney Film Faked Bogus Behavior

WHAT?!!! okay, so who thought Lemmings actually ran off cliffs??  …. I did.

blownspeakers:

“Lemmings do not commit mass suicide. It’s a myth, but it’s remarkable how many people believe it. Ask a few.

‘It’s a complete urban legend,’ said state wildlife biologist Thomas McDonough. ‘I think it blew out of proportion based on a Disney documentary in the ’50s, and that brought it to the mainstream…’

…According to a 1983 investigation by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation producer Brian Vallee, the lemming scenes were faked. The lemmings supposedly committing mass suicide by leaping into the ocean were actually thrown off a cliff by the Disney filmmakers. The epic “lemming migration” was staged using careful editing, tight camera angles and a few dozen lemmings running on snow covered lazy-Susan style turntable.”