Milottes, Part VIII: Filming their first Academy Award-Winning Film 'Seal Island' for Disney Studios

Part VIII - the Milottes spend time on St Paul Island during 1946 filming their and Disney Studios first Oscar Award winning Wildlife Film. It is a film that will be part of the upcoming Milotte Wildlife Film Festival slated for Saturday, October 20th, between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm. The other two films that will be shown are also Oscar Award winners for both the Milotte’s and the Disney Studios and they are “Bear Country” and “Beaver Valley”.

The following has been provided by GBLHS member and author of “Bonney Lake’s Plateau”, Winona Jacobsen:

Seal Island:

The journey through the wilderness along the proposed route of the International Highway was the subject of the lecture series that Alfred and Elma Milotte embarked upon in 1941. Their first presentations were done in Alaska, but they soon began touring the United States with their film. The venues were as varied as the people who came to watch and listen. They played at schools, business and professional organizations, clubs and societies of all kinds. Their audience would often number in the hundreds.

It was an itinerant life, often spending only a night or two in each town they visited. Their compensation for an evening’s presentation might range from $75 to $150. Not much by today’s standards, but it was during a period when a hotel room might cost them $3 per night, they could eat a meal for under $2, and transportation by bus or train was comparable in price.

Their lives changed again in late 1945. Walt Disney had heard about the Milottes and had viewed their film. He was impressed by the animal sequences that Alfred had captured. Walt contacted Alfred and Elma, asked them to return to Alaska and film some more of the wildlife.

The following is taken from Alfred’s notes on their first film for Disney, Seal Island. It received an Academy Award in 1948 and marked the beginning of the Walt Disney True-Life Adventure series of wildlife documentaries.

Men have searched the islands of the world for buried treasure, but no pirate map could brag of greater wealth than the living bank of fur massed on the summer beaches of the Pribilof Islands, fog enshrouded in the center of the Bering Sea.

We arrived on St. Paul Island the middle of June, 1946, searching for an animal picture. It appeared that here everything would be easy, for the “maps” of science showed that the subject matter was plentiful. After all, three million animals must provide some good subjects.

Our approach to the island gave us the first questioning of the thought that the project would be easy. Under a clear blue sky and warm sunlight we sailed from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for St. Paul Island. The following day, as we came within a few miles of the island, we entered an atmospheric cave of sticky fog. The Captain held his speed and with his “Norwegian Radar” brought the ship safely to anchor in a sheltered cove. The sound of the seals blowing and bellowing was clearly discernible, but our eyes failed to sight the shore, hidden by fog, only a few yards away.

Although we had been ready for hours to film that first view of the great seal rookeries, nothing but the sound of the seals, and the boat whistle, could penetrate the white wall that separated us from our island treasure.

In the five days that followed our arrival, the ever present fog took various forms. There was low hanging wet fog, high dry fog, windswept fog, rainy fog, thick fog, thin fog, and when the warmth of the sun was able to penetrate the mist, the seals gave off their own steaming fog which hovered low over the rookeries.

In spite of the difficulties caused by the damp atmosphere, we were aware of the fact that this fog was the major attraction which yearly draws the vast seal herd from its mysterious winter feeding grounds far at sea, to the shores of the Pribilof Islands.

Photography became a game of anticipation. Each day, regardless of weather, we would hike out across the tundra, with all of our equipment in order to be ready for that moment when light conditions would improve enough to take a few pictures before “closing in” again. We found we could not wait for the weather to clear and then go out, for the moments of sunshine were brief and the time undetermined.

“Seal Island” was photographed on 16mm regular Kodachrome with a Cine special. A one inch f1.9, wide angle f2.5, two and one half inch f2.7, and a six inch f4.5 compliment of lenses were used. We used 100 foot daylight loading spools in order to reduce the weight of the equipment carried in a packsack. A large black cloth hood served a semi-dark room for changing film. Although this method was quite efficient, at times it was hazardous, for the ever present wind would tear at the hood and make four hands more than necessary. When the wind was too bad, we tied the cloth to the tripod before opening the camera.

Exposure was a variable which caused us considerable concern. There was no way to send out a test and get a report, for this remote island has very little physical contact with the outside world. The Weston exposure meter was often of little use, for when the fog was thin the brightness threw the meter needle off the end of the dial. By analyzing every factor we used a system of exposure which gave us a very true result. Perhaps the hardest scenes to record were those in bright sunlight where dark seals, deep shadows, and black rocks predominated, yet water color and sky value had to be kept true.

The one most prominent habit in all other wild creatures was entirely absent from the seal rookeries, we never saw them eat! Of course, the pups nursed one in four or five days, but the adults never ate while on shore. Most of the time, the seals sleep or sit and fan themselves with their huge hind flippers. We found it necessary to patrol the rookeries each day for story and human interest pictures.

The most important unknown fact which had to be answered and photographed was the one in regard to the little seals learning to swim. Many opinions had been expressed, but we had to be sure whether the mother seal teaches the pup to swim, whether it learns by itself, or if it swims instinctively. From our observations and by experiment it was definitely established that the pups swim naturally when very young, but that it is necessary for them to develop lung capacity and strength if they survive far from shore. The small pools in the rocks when the tide was out were the seal’s swimming pools, and no group of human children ever had more fun than those little seals as they explored the pleasures of the water.

Photographing ”Seal Island” was more than a job. It was an adventure. The hardships are almost forgotten, but we shall always remember the wonderful experiences on St Paul, Nature’s Treasure Island.

Next up will be the Milottes journey down the Colorado River.

In closing I’d like to remind everyone that the Greater Bonney Lake Historical Society (GBLHS) is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 and our next meeting is the last Monday of the month and is slated for September 24th at 7:00 PM in the meeting room at the Bonney Lake Library. We are always open to the public and welcome new members.

Don’t forget to check out www.mwlff.org and look for the trivia questions. There are five of them and if you’re the first to answer any of them you can win a 2013 GBLHS – Milotte themed calendar.