Somebody Figure Out If This Elephant Is Really Painting A Self-Portrait

When someone from YouTube showed me this yesterday, I swore it was a fake, or at least the elephant is just repeating a pattern learned by rote, because no way can that animal represent itself so abstractly. But apparently it was on 60 Minutes? But if it's real, why do they zoom in when it's painting so it looks like they could have used a fake trunk? What are we supposed to do when the elephants throw off the shackles of the humans? Like half the Internet is debating this right now, so I thought you ought to know.

10:15 PM on Mon Mar 31 2008
By Nick Douglas
5,080 views
20 comments

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drugman at 10:22 PM on 03/31/08
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There are more things in heaven and earth, Douglas...
Dickdogfood at 10:28 PM on 03/31/08
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I'm perfectly willing to believe this is "real." I'm also perfectly willing to believe the poor animal was tortured umpteen million times to paint just so.
Dickdogfood at 10:37 PM on 03/31/08
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I'll freak out once I see the elephant paint other things and other kinds of things in other ways. Even the Lascaux cavemen weren't content to paint just one kind of animal.
CaptainFantastic at 10:58 PM on 03/31/08
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Have you seen the one with the waterskiing squirrel?
Double Banger at 10:59 PM on 03/31/08
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"Fake trunk." Why are you so jaded, Nick Douglas? Why can't you just believe?
IndianSlipper at 11:03 PM on 03/31/08
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I wouldn't pay five bucks for that painting. That's a lot of junk coming out of that trunk!
PattyCake at 11:34 PM on 03/31/08
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@IndianSlipper: Five bucks? I know where you can get one for peanuts!
WordSalad at 11:50 PM on 03/31/08
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Jackson Pollock did state that a canvas is an arena in which to act, but somehow methinks he did not have the circus or zoo in mind.
FitnessMadeSimple at 11:50 PM on 03/31/08
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I suspect Ashton Kutcher had a hand in this.
MisterHippity at 12:08 AM on 04/01/08
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@IndianSlipper:
Whatcha gonna do with all that junk,
All that junk painted by that trunk?
slinkimalinki at 12:10 AM on 04/01/08
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if only there were a day dedicated to hoaxes...
In Other News... at 12:30 AM on 04/01/08
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@FitnessMadeSimple: In the trunk? Yeah, an arm too.
djjamestaylor at 12:47 AM on 04/01/08
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I know the elephant, it's totally real. He's a good guy.
PresidentExecutron at 02:24 AM on 04/01/08
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I bet it was using a camera obscura.
donmiguel at 03:00 AM on 04/01/08
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Is there anything involving Dumbo here? No? Damn -- my funny switch is stuck on didactic. It's like I have elephantiasis of the funny bone.
BestInMe at 05:38 AM on 04/01/08
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This is absoluately true! I saw this when I went to an elephant show in Thailand. The elephants are trained to paint different pictures and the degree of skill usually depends on how old the elephant is.
Rumpelstilskin at 09:27 AM on 04/01/08
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Does the elephant wear Magnums? Then my day will be complete.
Shanky at 09:42 AM on 04/01/08
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In Thailand we saw 8 elephants painting landscapes and "self portraits." Of course, the trainers teach them to paint, but each elephant was capable of remembering several different paintings and placing the right colors in the right places. We were floored.
maevemealone at 10:20 AM on 04/01/08
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+ Watch video
ok just because I'm obsessed with elephants lately (I saw this painting video a couple days ago and got lost in all the links). You don't have to watch the full 9 mins of cute, but there is cute to last the whole way through. Bebeh ellies are redonk!
Claystil at 11:43 AM on 04/01/08
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Maybe the creature's an autistic savant?