The familiar roar of one of cinema's most famous felines, the MGM lion, has a unique link to Ventura County. Known on screen as Leo, the lion was actually named Jackie and became a tourist attraction in Thousand Oaks a century ago.
"The first (MGM) lion that roared and made sound was Jackie the first, and they filmed him at Jungleland," explained Melissa Pankuch-Hernandez, the history curator at the Museum of Ventura County.
Jungleland, a new exhibition at the Museum of Ventura County, includes a striking black-and-white photo of the roar's recording session.
"Jackie is actually standing on two lion boxes to get him up to the right level to be in line with the mic, one of those fantastic old-school old radio mics," explained Pankuch-Hernandez. "These two gentlemen are there, camera in hand, running the sound box right in front of Jackie, which I imagine would be terrifying because he's a full-grown lion."
Jungleland was a 170-acre private zoo, training facility, and theme park in Thousand Oaks, home to animal stars of the silver screen. The park aimed to be the next Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm.
But it began life as Louis Goebel’s Lion Farm, set up a hundred years ago to house and train lions for Universal Studios, as Pankuch-Hernandez recounts.
"Los Angeles County won't let Goebel keep the lions. He ends up having to go out to what will become Thousand Oaks because nothing else is out here except people who are filming films by Lake Sherwood, for example."
The location was just across the line into Ventura County, but nothing like today's Thousand Oaks. It may have had around a hundred residents, and any four-legged animals were more likely to be horses and dogs than big cats.
Jungleland and its famous lions helped to put Thousand Oaks on the map, said Pankuch-Hernandez
"Jungleland is on the road that everyone's taking. A lot of people would see the lions tied up at the oak trees and say, you know, what is this? I need to figure out what the lion farm is and pull over to see them. There was always this hope that it would become something bigger."
Like Leo, or Jackie, the MGM Mascot, over 600 animal actors from the zoo starred in major motion pictures, from Tarzan to Mister Ed and Tamba the Chimp.
"When they filmed the early Tarzan films, he camped out by Lake Sherwood with the animals," shared Pankuch-Hernandez.
The park also featured Mabel Stark, whom the New York Times called “…one of the most celebrated animal trainers in a field dominated by men.”
But Jungleland didn’t end happily. Visitor numbers began to tumble as travelers chose the new, nearby 101 freeway.
Other problems ensued. A panther escaped and had to be euthanized, and actress Jane Mansfield sued the farm when her 6-year-old was attacked by one of the lions.
The attraction closed in the 1960s.
Jungleland, USA opens Friday, October 16 at the Museum of Ventura County.
