Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

When Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn), two pot-smoking underachievers, smuggle a marijuana pipe onto a flight to Amsterdam, passengers mistake the bong for a bomb, and antiterrorism agents send Harold and Kumar to Guantanamo Bay. They escape from prison and embark on a wild adventure.

  • Starring: Kal Penn and John Cho
  • Director(s): John Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
  • Producer(s): Greg Shapiro
  • Screenwriter(s): Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
  • Distributor: Warner Brothers
  • Animal Coordinator: Animal Encounters
  • Release Date: Friday, April 25, 2008

Featured Animal Action

Goat

A goat in a prison cell eats off the floor and then defecates on a pillow. For this shot, a trainer walked the goat to its mark using a rope lead. Food was placed on the ground to keep the animal on its mark. Then the trainer positioned the goat's rear legs on a small, thin pillow on the floor and gently held its front legs to get it to stay. The droppings were created with a combination of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and prop pellets dropped by a crew member from above the goat's hindquarters.

Deer

A deer runs toward Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn), who pet it while it grazes. This scene was filmed in separate shots. Fencing and trainers surrounded the set. One trainer walked the deer to point A and released it while another trainer stood a short distance away, cuing the deer with a can of grain. At point B, where the actors stood, grain had been placed on the ground to entice the deer. The actors, who had been instructed on how to properly handle the deer, calmly petted it while it grazed. The deer was removed from the set immediately after filming this short, mild portion of the scene. When the deer is shot between the eyes, causing blood to squirt all over, a taxidermist's deer head and fake blood were used. When the hunter cuts the deer and puts it in a body bag, a deer carcass prop was used. Production provided documentation that the dead deer and deer head were props.

Dog

A yellow Labrador wearing a KKK robe and hat sits on a table with several men. The dog was cued to sit and stay, and costumed trainers were in the crowd and next to the table. The custom-made costume was lightweight, loose-fitting and fire-resistant. The nearby fires (campfire, burning crosses, torches) were controlled propane fires and were kept a safe distance from the dog. The KKK crowd was only allowed to become rowdy after the dog was removed from the premises.

Unicorn

A unicorn appears outside Neil Patrick Harris' car window. It walks, turns around and rears. Moments later, Harris rides it and it flies off. Two horses were alternated for this scene. A trainer stood just off-camera to lead the horse through the walking and rearing action, using a feed bucket and holding up a stick. After receiving instruction from the trainers, the well-rehearsed actor mounted the horse and the trainers cued it to trot away. The street was blocked off to traffic and the pathway was sectioned off with nylon. The unicorn horn was a nontoxic epoxy attached with a neck strap and the flying was created with green-screen effects.

Due to late notification or limited resources, American Humane did not monitor any of the bird action.