Anyone seen Extinct on Netflix? I thought it was a pretty mediocre animated film. Seeing as the premise is about an animal (albeit a fictional one) that became extinct in the 1800s, I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk about how humans have caused the extinction of many species in recent times. But nope… please scroll over the next paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers.
The species in question, the flummels, are not extinct because of overhunting, habitat destruction, invasive species, or anything like that… instead, it’s all because of one time-traveling dog committing genocide on them out of jealously. Apparently flummels in their wild, unaltered state make perfectly good pets, and they become more popular than dogs. I think this definitely sends a problematic message to people who think that a wild animal like a slow loris or a pygmy marmoset would make a good pet just because it’s cute.
The most positive thing I can say about the movie as an animal nerd is that it has a Macrauchenia and a thylacine in it, which obviously don’t appear in a lot of animated films. Bulldog rats, Aztec cats, Garganoris, stag-moose, sloth lemurs, giant beavers, Russian retrievers, and Japanese sea lions are also referenced in a musical number.
