Parents' Guide to

Untamed and Uncut

By Melissa Camacho, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Animal encounter show is violent and exploitative.

TV Animal Planet Reality TV 2008
Untamed and Uncut Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 2+

Based on 1 parent review

Vyzr
Vyzr Adult
January 9, 2011
age 2+

I doubt kids will care about anything in this show.

This show is crappy. The stories in it are so stupid. They call it "untamed and uncut" but it seems like they dont have anything worthy to be on a show titled that. In the end no one ever gets hurt. No blood is shown, And clips are repeated over and over again. Its A terrible show. If it smelled like something it would be a dead animal. It has hunters and animal abusers in there. It tells you nothing about the person attacked or why he was really attack, how much time did he spend with it if it was in a zoo. And some stories are just stupid. There was a bull who jumped into a crowd and no one got hurt or injured, so they decided to kill the bull. This is the most disgusting show i've ever seen. AnimalPlanet is going down the drain. They need to find better stuff or i hope they get shut down.
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What's the Story?

In UNTAMED AND UNCUT, viewers watch as seemingly peaceful contact between people and animals suddenly goes terribly wrong -- from a person being angrily stomped on by a zoo elephant to someone getting violently kicked by a carriage horse. Each real-life encounter is described in great detail via interviews with animal experts, survivors, and the people who unexpectedly found themselves filming these scary events. Computer-animated graphics help recreate the encounters and demonstrate how the victim somehow managed to survive. When possible, explanations are offered about the animals' reactions toward the people they attacked.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (16):

Untamed and Uncut reminds viewers that no matter how tame or domesticated animals seem, they can still instinctively react negatively toward humans. Many of the encounters highlighted here aren't random at all, but are rather the result of people not recognizing or paying attention to the animals' signals. And, of course, there are moments when animals go completely berserk thanks to some really dumb human behavior -- like climbing walls and/or purposely disturbing animals in order to take a great picture.

While the show does offer a few interesting details about animal behavior, overall the series is more exploitative than informative. Scenes of the actual moments in which people are violently attacked are replayed several times and are even shown in slow motion to demonstrate how violent the attack really was. The sounds of screaming victims and frightened bystanders add to the drama. Some viewers may find these scenes exciting to watch, but it's just a little too sensational for younger or more sensitive audiences.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether it's OK for the media to use violent and/or scary events to entertain audiences. Is it appropriate to show people getting attacked or hurt by animals (or humans), even if the victims survived the encounter? What kind of messages about animals do shows like this one send? Families can also discuss animal behavior. Why is it important to understand animals' behavior? How do animals defend themselves and their territories? Why do domesticated animals like dogs and horses sometimes behave violently? Should people have wild animals as pets?

TV Details

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