Background

According to regional folklore, the Ogopogo is a creature that lives in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. It has been compared to the Loch Ness Monster, another supposed water creature in Scotland, or with a plesiosaur.^[2] Aboriginal peoples have claimed that belief in the Ogopogo is a part of their culture, although they called it Niataka or N'ha-aitk, and the name "Ogopogo" was invented by a board of trade in 1926.^[2] The folklore has also been commercialized, inspired merchandise and drew tourism for the Okanagan. With this commercialization, one reporter found it natural that the Ogopogo would also inspire a film, saying that "Eventually movie makers were bound to sit up and take notice, and movie makers did".^[3]

Canadian screenwriter Barry Authors wrote the screenplay for Mee-Shee after reading about the Ogopogo in a magazine.^[1] It was written in 1996, and originally entitled Loch, a Scottish Gaelic word for "lake", but not filmed until six years later. Authors resided in Britain at the time, but eventually opted for a more Canadian feel and renamed his work Ogopogo.^[4] Authors also wanted to portray his film as a "showcase for Canadian talent and storytelling" and "a cross between Free Willy and E.T.".^[5]

Filming

The film version was directed by John Henderson, who had previously directed Loch Ness (1996) about the similar folklore in Scotland.^[1] They first made plans to film the story on Okanagan Lake, the rumoured domain of the Ogopogo, but had troubles with the scenery and relocated to Lake Winnipeg. US actress Whoopi Goldberg was initially going to play a Native Canadian, which would require makeup since Goldberg is a US black woman. However, due to concerns that Lake Manitoba might experience a winter, the project was moved to New Zealand. Goldberg was unwilling to travel there and left the project.^[1] Authors' son Jeff Authors, who had worked on the White Fang TV show, had suggested New Zealand, saying "New Zealand can double for Canada. Not only is it beautiful, but it looks just like Canada in all the remote spots you want, and you'll probably find a more remote lake there".^[4]

The creature itself was created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop using both CGI and puppetry and modelled after the late US actor Walter Matthau.^[1] The film cost $40 million.^[1] The filming in New Zealand took place on Lake Wakatipu at Queenstown in 2002. Authors remarked it was nice to work in New Zealand because "The crews were very, very keen to do anything that was required... New Zealand had just done Lord of the Rings, and they had a taste of major motion pictures". Other filming was done in England with a water tank, and the computer work was carried out in England between 2003 and 2004.^[4]

Naming controversy

According to Barry Authors, most Aboriginal-Canadian leaders were supported while using the name "Ogopogo" in the film. However, one Aboriginal complained that the legend was too holy, so Authors renamed the creature "Mee-Shee".^[1] The Aboriginal who did not want the name "Ogopogo" used was Stewart Phillip, a Penticton chief. Phillip asked that the names "Ogopogo" and "Okanagan" not be used because "It's an international concern among indigenous people about the exploitation of spiritual entities and being and whatnot for commercial purposes. This is not an isolated incident". The Māori people, natives in New Zealand who owned the land on which the filming was taking place, supported Phillip.^[2] Phillip's requests attracted some media attention and generated debate. One newspaper writer accused Phillip of "xenophobia" threatening "free speech". This writer suggested that Aboriginal cultures can be "respected", but others can still appropriate the cultures because "Nobody owns a culture".^[6] The well-known Canadian writer W.P. Kinsella weighed in on the issue, criticizing the name change by saying, "Filmmakers can tell any story they want any time they want, and they don't need permission from these troublemakers... Make the movie. F*** them all".^[7] A Canadian scientist, Ed Bousfield, even objected to Aboriginal claims to the Ogopogo because he felt the Ogopogo was real. (At the same time, Bousfield attacked non-believers, accusing his "ivory tower colleagues" of "the worst kind of scientific elitism".)^[5]

Conversely, The Vancouver Sun suggested that "Obviously, we're best off when native people tell native stories. Witness Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, the debut film of Inuit film". Meanwhile, the Ogopogo "joins Santa Claus and Christ as cultural icons that have been so celebrated and abused it's hard to view them as any particular group's property". Thus, this newspaper suggested that Barry Authors should be pleased that with this incident, he "raised awareness of the Ogopogo's cultural importance to native people" while the film itself would be "a trifling confection of no particular consequence".^[8] Writer Randy Boswell connected this debate with similar controversies over appropriation that had been going on for over a decade, and also noted Aboriginals had been previously upset with a contest to catch or photograph the Ogopogo in 2001.^[5]

Cast

When the film was to be made in Manitoba, a local executive Kim Todd told the press that she expected the project would attract major US celebrities, as well as actors from Canada.^[9] The cast ultimately comprised:

• Bruce Greenwood as Sean Cambell. The Canadian magazine Maclean's reported in 2002 that Greenwood, a Canadian actor, had joined the cast. Maclean's also noted that Greenwood had previously played US President John F. Kennedy in the film Thirteen Days (2000).^[10]
• Daniel Magder as Mac Cambell. Madger is another Canadian actor. His audition was included in the DVD, and it was done when Mee-Shee was still named "Ogopogo".^[11]
• Tom Jackson as Custer
• Joel Tobeck as Snead. Tobeck plays a villain, and one critic remarked that he conveyed "some of the best pure-evil villainy".^[12]
• Rena Owen as Crazy Norma. Owen is a Māori actress who had previously starred in the film Once Were Warriors (1990). She assumed the role that Whoopi Goldberg would have played.^[1]
• Phyllida Law as Mrs. Coogan.
• Luanne Gordon as Laura.
• Joe Pingue as Neilds.
• Jacinta Wawatai-Woodhouse as Pawnee ^[13]