BTL Radio Show – 07/21/2025 with guests STEVE MIMS & BRIAN RODGERS and DAN ALLEN

This is a fun week on BEHIND THE LENS as we’re going back to nature and into the forest.  That’s right!  It’s back to nature this week as we take a look at a fantastically informative and entertaining short documentary that you can watch right now FOR FREE (and you all know how much I love FREE stuff) – CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST.  In my exclusive chat with writer/director/editor STEVE MIMS and producer BRIAN RODGERS, we delve into the making of this doc and Charmin toilet paper specifically.  Then, get ready for director and editor DAN ALLEN, who joins me discussing his latest film from The Twisted Childhood Universe – BAMBI: THE RECKONING.

Kicking things off with CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST, who would have thought someone would make any film about toilet paper, let alone one about Charmin, the biggest-selling brand in the United States, accounting for 25% of the US toilet paper market today.  Most of us remember the early ad campaigns for Charmin with Mr. Whipple and the unforgettable “Please, don’t squeeze the Charmin”.  And for quite a few years now, we’ve been seeing multiple ads with the animated bear family using Charmin.   But now, thanks to STEVE MIMS and BRIAN RODGERS, we find out the truth behind the toilet paper.

CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST is a comic in-depth exposé of the massive deforestation required to deliver the nation’s most popular bath tissue.  Although we are greeted with a comic opening to the doc, Steve and Brian deliver a shocking yet hopeful message to consumers.  This is a big problem that manufacturer Procter & Gamble will never do anything about, but we as consumers can.

Filmed on location in the boreal forest of Canada and featuring an array of scientists, experts, and descendants of the Gamble family who founded P&G,  the film presents a tight, entertaining story designed to reach mainstream consumers with a story that can easily have a happy ending.  Did you know that the boreal forest stores more than 208 billion metric tons of carbon? Did you know that just to make Charmin toilet paper (made of virgin fiber only), more than 14 million trees are destroyed each year?  The boreal forest is essential to our survival, and only 1% of Canada’s “old growth” remains today.  “Old Growth” forests are those with trees that are at a minimum 150-250 years old, with many of the junipers in the forest over 1500 years old and the pinyon trees over 900 years old.  Cutting down and replanting trees in tree farms is not sustainable for the future, as it will take over 100 years for new plantings to become “old growth”.

Highlighting the environmental impact of Procter & Gamble’s toilet paper production, the doc uses humor to engage viewers, something that was inspired by Steve and Brian’s last documentary on Home Depot’s deforestation in Ecuador.  As we discuss the making of CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST, Steve and Brian detail their extensive research on Canadian forestry practices, including clear-cutting and the use of glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup, which is the subject of quite a few class action lawsuits.  They hope to educate consumers about sustainable alternatives and reduce P&G’s market share by encouraging all of us consumers to switch to eco-friendly products.

You can watch CHARMIN WIPES A FOREST right now for free on YouTube, or right here.  As a reminder, the CHARMIN WIPES OUT A FOREST Video Truck is currently on its 23-city cross-country roadshow.  To see when the video truck is coming to your town, and for more information on the film and available resources, go to the film’s website www.charminkillsforests.org.

Next, we go deep into the part of the forest that hasn’t been cut down for toilet paper, with BAMBI: THE RECKONING.  Oh, how I love these twisted childhood universe films.  How many of you have seen “Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey 1 and 2“?  If you haven’t, get on it.  What about “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare” or “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or Simon Phillips’ “Mouse Trap“?  While these latter three films are not part of the TCU, they are all of the same vein.  If you’ve seen any of these, I know you’re going to love BAMBI: THE RECKONING.

The official synopsis for BAMBI: THE RECKONING reads:  “After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated, grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother.

Directed and edited by DAN ALLEN and written by Rhys Warrington based on Felix Salten’s 1923 novel “Bambi Life in the Woods”, the film maintains the original book’s themes of family, love, and hardship, and has some added 21st-century subtext on the horrors of man towards nature.

As Dan and I break down the film, he highlights the casting challenges, particularly with child actor Tom Mulhern (who is revelatory!), and his scenes with Roxanne McKee, who plays the mother of his character Benji, and the need to always be cognizant of time, limited shooting hours, safety, and more.  Dan also speaks to the logistical difficulties of shooting at night in freezing temperatures, as well as the benefits of those conditions in creating this world of the forest.   Dan also elaborates on a key element of the film – its sound design, as not only does it celebrate silence, but also the forest’s ambient sounds, creating a haunting atmosphere which composer Greg Birkumshaw incorporates into his score.   Serving as director and editor, Dan has much to say about the editing process and finding that balance of tension and emotional impact.  And about creating Bambi?  Is it CGI, practically made, a puppet?  You’ll find out all the details in this interview.  We cover it all and more.

BAMBI: THE RECKONING is in theatres on July 25, 2025.

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