Copito de Nieve, who passed away in 2003 after 37 years as Barcelona’s de facto mascot and most beloved captive, will soon be immortalized in an animated film and cartoon TV series.  The Catalan producer Filmax has announced plans to bring the story of the world’s only recorded albino gorilla to the silver screen in a mixture of 3D animation and real images.  Production on the movie is set to begin in November.

According to El País, the film’s plot will revolve around a young Copito’s quest to drink a magical potion that will return his skin to the “normal” black color the rest of his species share.  It seems safe to say that the filmmakers are opting to shy away from a biopic in favor of a politically correct morality tale that would make Disney proud.

While not denying themselves the golden opportunity to anthropomorphize the story of this most unique of primates, perhaps if the powers that be at Filmax took a harder look at the life of Nfumu Ngui (don’t get excited, it just means ‘white gorilla’ in his homeland of Equatorial Guinea), they would see that its nearly 40 years of duration provide enough raw material for at least a trilogy of films.

Copito’s infancy could not have been more Bambi-like.  A group of heartless farmers shot his mother in cold blood and then sold him for 20,000 pesetas to Jordi Sababter Pi, the researcher who later brought him to Barcelona.  Once in the Cuidad Condal, the hairy toddler spent his first eleven months living with the Barcelona zoo veterinarian and his wife in their Eixample apartment.  His adoptive parents even took Copito along for vacations to Menorca and Montseny before the zoo deemed him strong enough to be put on display.  Unfortunately, Coptio’s story is not all oohs and ahhs, for darker days were to come.

The later years

Copito was this close to becoming the symbol for arguably the greatest sports event in recent Barcelona history.  He had all the numbers to be named the mascot of the ‘92 Olympics, but rumor is that concerns over his health scared off the authorities in favor of the abstract and 100% immortal Kobi, the cubist dog that could probably be found scribbled in the corner of some canvas stuck in the Picasso Museum if one went looking.  Will the new film deal with that surely disappointing episode from Copito’s life?  Probably not, since it is kind of a bummer.  But it would be fun to imagine what it would be like if they tried.

On the same note, how would the film’s creators handle the romantic element?  Copito reached the copious count of 21 to 22 offspring (the record varies for some reason).  None, however, came out with his elusive white skin, another low point, no doubt.

Furthermore, Copito’s last days were not too pretty.  He was pretty much deaf, half-blind, suffering from chronic dermatitis and losing a long battle against the skin cancer that would eventually convince the zoo to sacrifice him instead of letting him live in constant and increasing pain.  No, death is usually not pretty, even for the most incredible gorilla in history.  One firsthand account tells of how an aging Copito slung his own excrement at the glass walls of his compound to the screams of the children who had come to visit him.  One stunned little boy summed up the situation by asking the question no parent would ever want to have to answer, “Why is Copi doing that?”

For a truly moving piece on the reaction of Copito’s human parents to the news of his death (and once you read it you will understand why quotation marks are not placed around the word parents), check out this last page of a full five that La Vanguardia dedicated to the occasion of his passing away.  Warning: it may induce trembling of lower lip.

Photo: chiarafreckle