BALTIMORE — Louie is perched on a hammock at feeding time, his brown eyes peering through the fence. He has a prime view of the back sidewalk at the Maryland Zoo, hidden from the public, where keepers walk between the chimpanzee and leopard habitats. From here, he can see when food is coming.
Louie’s primary trainer, Erin Dombroskie, reaches toward him with a slice of pineapple, and he eagerly grabs it through the fence. Oranges are his favorite — they make him grunt with excitement — but he takes no issue with this snack. The chimpanzee savors every bite, skin and all.
When he’s finished eating, Louie craves more attention. He puckers his lips and makes kissing noises at Dombroskie.
“That is not a chimp behavior,” says a disapproving Pam Carter, the Chimpanzee Forest area manag…
BALTIMORE — Louie is perched on a hammock at feeding time, his brown eyes peering through the fence. He has a prime view of the back sidewalk at the Maryland Zoo, hidden from the public, where keepers walk between the chimpanzee and leopard habitats. From here, he can see when food is coming.
Louie’s primary trainer, Erin Dombroskie, reaches toward him with a slice of pineapple, and he eagerly grabs it through the fence. Oranges are his favorite — they make him grunt with excitement — but he takes no issue with this snack. The chimpanzee savors every bite, skin and all.
When he’s finished eating, Louie craves more attention. He puckers his lips and makes kissing noises at Dombroskie.
“That is not a chimp behavior,” says a disapproving Pam Carter, the Chimpanzee Forest area manager watching a few feet away. “He learned that from being with humans.”
Louie, who turns 30 in December, spent chunks of his first 14 years in the entertainment industry. Raised by a California-based couple who trained him and other chimpanzees to perform, he starred in at least four movies, playing hockey in custom chimp-sized ice skates in two of them: “MVP: Most Valuable Primate” (2000) and its sequel, “MVP 2: Most Vertical Primate” (2001), both part of the Air Bud franchise.
The MVP movies are geared toward children. Neither is critically acclaimed. The Los Angeles Times review of the first film described it as “a pleasant way for 5- to 11-year-olds to pass the time and relatively painless for anyone older to endure.”
Around the time “Most Valuable Primate” debuted in theaters, the chimpanzees provided intermission entertainment at NHL games, skating in gloves, a helmet and yellow “MVP” jerseys, one of which now hangs in Dombroskie and Carter’s office. The film maintains a small pocket in hockey pop culture. Plenty of fans are at least aware of its existence; in a recent episode of Sportsnet’s popular “32 Thoughts” podcast, host Kyle Bukauskas referenced how a goal in the movie was similar to Matthew Schaefer’s first in the NHL.
The chimpanzees who starred in “MVP” wore custom-made CCM skates. (Tom Pidgeon / Getty Images)
Louie’s brother Bernie and another chimp, Mac, shared the lead role of Jack in “Most Valuable Primate.” Twenty-five years after the film’s release, the animals are long removed from wearing hockey gear, but the impacts of their show business days linger.
The lighthearted hockey movies came with a cost.
Glen Winter, cinematographer on both “MVP” movies, remembers his jaw dropping when he arrived on set in 2000 and saw one of the chimpanzees on the ice for the first time. The idea of “Most Valuable Primate” was no longer theoretical: These young apes were actually able to skate by rocking back and forth to propel themselves forward. Through cutting and weaving clips together, the movie’s editor was able to make it look like the chimpanzees, who moved slowly on the ice, were actually playing full-speed hockey.
Chimpanzees’ feet are wide at the top but narrow at the heel, which makes them a poor fit for standard skate sizes. Hockey equipment manufacturer CCM, which provided jerseys for the movie, designed pairs of custom-made Tacks — a top-of-the-line skate model — that combined a Size 3 junior skate with a Size 8 toe cap, according to production designer Brian Davie. The company sent its newest version of the skate to set.
“The chimps were wearing Mario Lemieux’s skates before he was,” Davie says.
The chimpanzee-led films were created by Canadian director Robert Vince, who produced the original “Air Bud” movies and is currently working on a reboot of the series. Filming of “Most Valuable Primate” — which follows chimpanzee Jack’s adventure from California to British Columbia, where he learns hockey — took place in the Vancouver area. Greg and Carol Lille, the chimpanzees’ owners and trainers at the time, accompanied them on the sets of both “MVP” movies.
“In general, there were lots of treats and there was lots of laughter and the chimpanzees were the big celebs of the show,” says actor Cameron Bancroft, who starred in the second film and had previously been in the hit series “Beverly Hills, 90210.”
Occasionally, though, the animals grew tired of filming. One time, Davie says, a chimp darted for the boards at the small rink where they were shooting for the first movie, climbed up and over the glass, and leaped into the low-hanging rafters — all in what felt like less than two seconds.
With a chimpanzee overhead and skate blades dangling from his feet, filming wrapped for the day.
Bernie, the oldest of the three chimpanzees sharing the movie’s lead role, was 6 while acting in the first movie and 7 in the second — ages when adolescent chimpanzees are strong and sometimes aggressive. Winter felt a level of tension whenever Bernie was on set. The threat of something going wrong always loomed.
Jamie Renée Smith, who played one of the young human protagonists in “Most Valuable Primate,” recalls spending time with 4-year-old Louie, the youngest of the chimps. During a montage, she helps one of the apes put on the fancy new CCM skates, holds his hands and teaches him to skate on a frozen pond.
Smith, who was 13 when the movie came out, still remembers the chimpanzees’ long fingers and the texture of their skin. She never felt afraid.
“It was like a friendship,” she says. “They knew who I was and they liked me. We were buddies on set.”
Winter calls “Most Valuable Primate” a “funny, weird little movie” — a great memory early in his career. He can’t help laughing thinking back to the contact the chimpanzees had with young actors.
“There’s just no way that would happen now,” he says.
Judy McAuliffe began working at the Houston Zoo 15 years ago, shortly before Mac moved into its new chimpanzee habitat. She has never seen his acting performances.
“I don’t watch that stuff,” she says. “It breaks my heart.”
All three chimps who starred in the “MVP” movies previously lived in Auburn, Calif., just northeast of Sacramento, in the care of the Lilles. Preparing to retire in 2010, the couple turned to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which helped them relocate their 14 animals. Louie went to Maryland, Bernie to the Oakland Zoo and Mac to Houston, which took 10 of the Lilles’ chimps.
Nowadays, primate use in movies is rare — there are no longer any working chimpanzees in Hollywood — due to the rise of computer-generated imagery, as well as increased awareness of the entertainment industry’s impact on animals. McAuliffe, as well as the keepers working with the other “MVP” chimpanzees in Oakland and Maryland, doesn’t consider the Lilles to have acted maliciously by raising and renting out chimps. The zoo employees say the primates’ owners likely didn’t know the developmental drawbacks that come with private chimpanzee ownership.
“As the years go by, we learn more and more about just how problematic it is that these very smart, very social animals are raised by human beings and not by chimpanzees,” McAuliffe says. “It affects their whole life.”
Mac, who shared the lead role of Jack in the “MVP” movies, retired to the Houston Zoo. (Courtesy of the Houston Zoo)
The Lilles did not respond to interview requests for this story.
Because they didn’t spend their formative years in a troop, all 10 Houston chimpanzees were naive to group life. They lost the chance to consistently learn from and be raised by members of their own species, a development that experts view as vital. None of them knew how to breed, and neither Mac nor Bernie had children.
“(Bernie) was never around adult females that were engaging in this behavior,” says Christian Deane, a zoological manager at the Oakland Zoo. “Now that is not part of his repertoire. That’s a big portion of his life that is lacking.”
Louie, meanwhile, joined a troop with females raised by other chimpanzees, and they showed him the ropes. He has a daughter, Violet, who turns 6 in December.
Mac was nervous when he first arrived in Houston, pacing frequently and sometimes bearing his teeth in a way researchers have come to learn signifies fear. The keepers introduced the chimpanzees to each other one by one. Over the course of several months, they grew comfortable.
Male chimpanzees, who McAuliffe says can live to around 50 in the care of a zoo, regularly have dominance displays: boisterous presentations to show their strength and authority. McAuliffe watched one day as Mac shook the bamboo in his enclosure and ran on his back legs — strange for a chimp and perhaps a behavior learned from humans — while clapping his hands.
The other chimpanzees either got out of his way of the dominance display or grunted and bowed at his feet. From that day forward, he was the troop’s alpha male, responsible for settling spats and keeping the peace.
“Everybody sort of calmed down (after he became alpha),” McAuliffe says.
In May 2014, Mac died at 20 years old after complications coming off of anesthesia used for a routine medical examination. His legacy as a peacemaker in the Houston troop continues. Through watching Mac, Willie, the current alpha, learned how to intervene when fellow chimpanzees fight and help them reconcile.
Says McAuliffe: “I used to say that if Willie had a little superhero cape with an ‘M’ on it, he would wear it.”
In Oakland, Bernie has taken on the role of jokester in his troop of six chimpanzees, his pranks ranging from splashing water on a troopmate to giving them a whack and running away, wildly amused at himself.
“Then they chase him around and give him a few wallops,” Deane, the zoological manager, says.
Despite his antics, Bernie, who turns 32 this month, is a well-liked member of the troop. He’s early-to-bed, early-to-rise, often waking up his fellow chimpanzees by throwing toys or other exhibit items in a morning dominance display.
Deane watched “Most Valuable Primate” when the Oakland Zoo hired him in 2023, hoping to get some insight into Bernie’s past. As he took in the film, he found himself wondering what the chimp’s life would have looked like had he not been in movies.
“There are definitely things about him that lead us all to believe that he missed out on certain things,” he says. “And he’s still dealing with that to this day and will deal with it for his entire life.”
Bernie holds a cantaloupe in his habitat. (Courtesy of the Oakland Zoo)
His inability to breed is most glaring, and other behaviors learned during his entertainment days still surface, too. He seeks reassurance from humans more than his trainers in Oakland would like, for example.
Then there’s the fascination with footwear. Winter, the cinematographer, remembers Bernie running to his camera assistant and licking his boots while they were filming on the ice. Now, the zookeepers tell workers not to wear boots to the chimpanzee exhibit while the trainers are with the animals because Bernie gets too distracted.
At the Maryland Zoo, his brother Louie harbors a similar appreciation for boots, a common trait in human-reared chimps, according to McAuliffe in Houston. Whenever a trainer walks in with a new pair, Louie points and makes the kissy sounds that remind the zookeepers of his time with humans.
All things considered, Louie has adjusted well to zoo life. Bernie has, too, and Mac did before his death. But all of the “MVP” chimps have unusual behaviors stemming from their time in private captivity and on movie sets. Louie — who also starred in the franchise’s snowboarding film, “MXP: Most Xtreme Primate” — likes to suck his thumb and enjoys eating snow, perhaps a result of his exposure to it while filming in Canada.
Wild chimpanzees have been endangered since 1990, and the impact of show business on the species goes beyond what happens to those in movies or advertisements. A survey conducted at the Lincoln Park Zoo in 2005 found that people were less likely to view chimpanzees as endangered than gorillas or orangutans. The respondents’ most common explanation was that chimpanzees were often seen in popular media and therefore did not appear to be endangered. Further research has shown that viewing chimpanzees next to humans influences whether people view the species as endangered, suggesting that media portrayals have a harmful effect on conservation efforts.
With chimpanzee use falling out of favor in Hollywood, activists and politicians have continued their efforts against private primate ownership. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums is advocating for the Captive Primate Safety Act, which would enact a federal ban on trading primates. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources in May.
“It’s evolved so much,” says Carter, who has worked in the zoo industry since the early 1990s. “We all learn and do better. That’s part of the gig.”
It’s what the Maryland zookeepers call a “boy day.” Louie is in the outside exhibit with his half-brother Jack and another chimp named Kasoje.
“They will do this embrace when they get to see each other,” Dombroskie says. “There’s just so much joy and excitement when they’re together.”
Carter, Dombroskie and the other keepers assign different groups to the chimps every day, allowing for varying experiences in the zoo’s indoor and outdoor enclosures. On this warm July afternoon, Louie sits in his hammock, munching on remnants of uneaten chow left on the fence from past meals. Later, he’ll spend time by the display glass; he’s fond of watching guests.
Louie, pictured at his home at the Maryland Zoo, is the only chimpanzee from the “MVP” films who had a child. (Courtesy of the Maryland Zoo)
Louie, whom Dombroskie calls “probably the sweetest chimp I’ve ever encountered,” gives away food when others are begging, and he’s great with the four juvenile chimps in the group. Recently, when something scared 1-year-old Ivy, she ran into Louie’s arms. He patted her on the back until she calmed down.
“Louie is our babysitter,” Carter says. “Louie knows all the right spots to tickle those babies. He’ll get those babies laughing.”
The keepers design enrichment exercises to fill the chimps’ days. As part of one, the keepers use a DVD player to show movies to the animals. Louie usually stops to watch a bit longer than most of his troopmates.
The chimpanzees, popcorn in tow, tend to like animated movies such as “Shrek,” but they’re sometimes gripped by seeing apes or monkeys on screen. With that in mind, the staff mixes in a particular kids’ movie a couple of times a year: one with a star performance from a chimpanzee in their midst, still feeling its impact.