If you disdain anthropomorphizing 鈥� giving human attributes to animals 鈥� then don鈥檛 watch the new documentary Canuck and I.
And if you鈥檝e had a run-in with the sometimes overly 鈥渇riendly鈥� East 麻豆传媒映画crow, you might not feel as indulgent as the video鈥檚 director.
But if you want to be amazed by a deeply rich and mutually rewarding relationship between a crow and the human he adopted, then the video is 19 minutes indulgently spent.
Canuck and I is a tribute to the 鈥渂eautiful thing鈥� that is the friendship between Vancouver鈥檚 Shawn Bergman and Canuck the crow.
Bergman and Canuck are seen walking down the street together, as if it鈥檚 usual to have a crow tagging along on your arm. Bird and man exchange tender moments of affection and just have fun hanging out together like two best buddies do.
Then there all the video clips of Canuck鈥檚 antics 鈥� , landing on the shoulders of unsuspecting cyclists, cavalierly riding the Skytrain, taking tickets from a Hastings racetrack patron and taking a carefree car drive with the wind in his feathers.
鈥淚 right out loud thank him 鈥� 鈥榯hank you for choosing me,鈥欌�� Bergman says in the video. 鈥淣o words are said between us but [the friendship] has been a huge amount of therapy that got me through a hard time鈥�. I really don鈥檛 know where I鈥檇 be if it wasn鈥檛 for Canuck.鈥�
Canuck fell out of his nest when he was a baby. Bergman鈥檚 landlord鈥檚 son nursed him back to health. Everyone expected Canuck to fly away when he was well enough but 鈥渉e just took a look at me and hopped on my arm and that鈥檚 how we met,鈥� Bergman says.
The crow first shot to social media fame when a cyclist videoed Canuck flying at him and landing on his backpack. The online comments that followed included a barrage of threats against the crow.
Bergman started the Canuck and I Facebook page in hopes of letting people know that they didn鈥檛 have anything to fear of the crow with the bright orange tag on its left leg. Today the page has 74,530 likes.
Canuck鈥檚 renown grew large enough to inspire an art exhibit about him and other crows. Organizers were wondering how to publicize the exhibit when Bergman said, 鈥淚鈥檒l talk to Canuck tonight and he鈥檒l do something.鈥� Two days later, Canuck was featured in dozens of news reports, including one in the Courier, when he stole a knife from a crime scene.
Canuck was back in the news this March when a linesman at a children鈥檚 soccer game and gave him a concussion. Canuck spent 10 days at Night Owl Bird Hospital, which took care of him for free. Bergman donated the thousands of dollars that people contributed in crowdfunding campaigns to the hospital.
The documentary was made possible with funding by TELUS Optik TV and produced by The Number, a creative agency based in Victoria BC.聽
