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Emil Pallenberg & Snookums

Emil Pallenberg (1888-1963), is considered to have been the greatest bear trainer of his time. In 1908, he became the first person to teach a bear to ride a bicycle. He also taught his bears to roller skate, dance, walk on stilts, play musical instruments and walk the tight rope. The Pallenberg’s bears appeared in three major motion pictures -- and one was on Broadway for over a year.

Yet when the Pallenbergs and their Wonder Bears weren’t performing, they all lived on North High Street in the little shoreline town of Clinton, Connecticut.

Here now is Emil Pallenberg with his last bear (Snookums) in the early 1950s.

  • Peggy Adler
    Producer
  • Emil Pallenberg
    Key Cast
  • Snookums
    Key Cast
  • Peggy Adler
    Film Editor
    Ballyhoo
  • Peggy Adler
    Music Editor
    Ballyhoo
  • Emil Pallenberg
    Animal Trainer
    Buck Benny Rides Again (1940); Sensations of 1945 (1945); The Eagle (1925); Ringling Brothers Owned Circuses (1915 - 1939)
  • Project Type:
    Music Video, Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 10, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    8 mm
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography

The Audiobook version of my most recent title, "Trilogy: Three True Stories of Scoundrels and Schemers" (Blackstone and BearManor Media, 2024), narrated by Peter Coyote, has won gold medals in two prestigious literary competitions. First in the Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards competition and then in the Electronic Literature (eLit) Awards Competition. Prior to "Trilogy", I authored the historical biography, "Pallenberg Wonder Bears - From the Beginning" (BearManor Media, originally 2022; updated edition released in February 2025), which directly relates to my FilmFest submission; and the award winning pictorial history titled, "Images of America CLINTON" (Arcadia Publishing, 2019). Decades earlier, In the 1960s and 70s, I authored and illustrated five titles for New York City publishers (The John Day Company & Franklin Watts), which went out of print in the mid-1980s -- and were republished in two volumes by BearManor Media in 2023. Furthermore, I've illustrated two dozen other titles and provided art for the Bronx Zoo; the Humane Society of the United States; Little, Brown & Company; the Journal of Theoretical Biology; the Journal of Algebra; the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; and World Scientific Publishing. I also coordinated the 1969 world premiere of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" for 20th Century Fox and worked as a consultant for the U.S. House of Representatives’ "October Surprise Task Force", where according to Michael Zeldin, their Deputy Majority Counsel, my work “met and exceeded every expectation.” Previous to winning the 2024 gold medals for "Trilogy", my book "Images of America Clinton" was named "Best Research Publication" by the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. And in 2017, "Marquis Who’s Who" presented me with their Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Other honors include the Association of Former Intelligence Officer’s General Richard G. Stilwell Award and the Duck Island Yacht Club’s Corinthian Award . An active member of each community in which I've ever lived, I spent eight years as a Clinton, CT Police Commissioner and presently Chair the town’s Historic District Commission.

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