Skip to main content Skip to footer site map
S18 Ep12

The Body Changers

Premiere: 5/7/2000

The program explores a broad range of creatures with astonishing abilities, from the redwing blackbird, whose brain dramatically changes shape to accommodate the chants and songs of mating rituals, to a fungus that transforms itself into something resembling a stalk that plays a vital role in the proliferation of roundworms.

About

SHARE

Evolution makes the surreal seem commonplace in NATURE’s The Body Changers.

In The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka wrote about a hapless fellow who awakens one day to find he has changed into a cockroach. In the world of fiction, this is an example of surrealism; in the natural world, it typifies an everyday occurrence.

Many animals have a special ability to transform themselves, for the sake of survival, reproduction, or both. And, as anyone who has watched a caterpillar become a butterfly knows, some animals experience two very different existences, in effect, living for a time as one creature and then changing into another. NATURE probes the intriguing subject of physical transformation in The Body Changers.

The program explores a broad range of creatures with astonishing abilities, from the redwing blackbird, whose brain dramatically changes shape to accommodate the chants and songs of mating rituals, to a fungus that transforms itself into something resembling a stalk that plays a vital role in the proliferation of roundworms.

Production Credits

Web Credits

Producer
RONNIE GODEANU

Art Director
SABINA DALEY

Designers
LENNY DROZNER
KAREN MATTSON
RADIK SHVARTS

Pagebuilding
BRIAN SANTALONE

Writer
DAVID MALAKOFF

Production Artist
RUIYAN XU

Technical Director
BRIAN LEE

Content Consultant
GIANNA SAVOIE

About the Writer
David Malakoff
is a journalist covering research discoveries and the politics of science for SCIENCE MAGAZINE in Washington, D.C. His writing has appeared in a wide range of venues, including THE ECONOMIST, THE WASHINGTON POST, and ABCNews.com.

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Anthony Chapman, Director of Interactive & Broadband. Bob Adleman, Business Manager. Carmen DiRienzo, Vice President and Managing Director, Corporate Affairs.

Television Credits

Produced, Written and Directed by
JOHN RUBIN

Supervising Producer
ANNE TARRANT

Associate Producer
BETHANY ELDRIDGE

Cinematographers
KEITH BRUST
MARK EMERY
MICHAEL MALE
ERICH ROLAND
DAVID SPEARS

Special Wildlife Sequences, Directors of Photography/Cinematographers
GEORGE AND KATHY DODGE

Additional Cinematography
FRANK COLEMAN
HORACE SHANSAB
BRETT WILEY

Edited by
JOHN G. BARNETT
ROBERT MARSHALL

Original Music by
COTTRELL MANGUM MUSIC

Field Producer, Deer Sequence
CHARLES FOLEY

Animation by
RICHARD HIGGS
4:2:2 VIDEOGRAPHICS DESIGN

Edit Box Design by
VICKI BRADEN
PARK GROUP

Director, Production Design
JOHN DEAN

Art & Animation
MICHAEL LENTZ

Sound Recordists
MICHAEL MALE
DAVID MILLARD

Camera Assistants
JIM BALL
WES SULLIVAN

Jib Operator
SCOTT CARRITHERS

Production Assistants
CARA BIEGA
ERICA COLER
KIMBERLY ANNE HALIZAK

Narrated by
RICHARD ROUGHTON

Actors
JOHN BUSSARD
STACI GOLDEN
EMMA RUTTER
JESSE RUTTER
JAKE THE DOG

Special Thanks To:
RANGER CHUCK BOWLER
NATIONAL MARINE AQUARIUM, PLYMOUTH UK
JOYCE BUSSARD
DEBORAH CHARETTE
CUNNINGHAM FALLS STATE PARK/MARYLAND DNR
SORIN DAMIAN
MARY EMERY
SALLY GEWALT
JAKE GIGUERRE
MARTIN GOLDEN
JEFF HEISEY
G. ALLAN JOHNSON
KEYS MARINE LAB
LARGE ANIMAL RESEARCH STATION, INSTITUTE OF ARCTIC BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA, FAIRBANKS
RANGER CAROL MCINTOSH
FREDERIK NIJHOUT
JOAN AND JOHN RUTTER
CITY OF SEATTLE, DEPARTMENT OF PARKS & RECREATION’S SEATTLE AQUARIUM
JACK AND MONA SCHNEIDER
MICHAEL SOROKA — MIKE’S MAGIC MOTHS
SOUTHWEST RESEARCH STATION/AMNH
DAVID TRIUNFOL
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, FRIDAY HARBOR LABORATORIES
JOE WASILEWSKI
MARA ZIMMERMAN

Scientific Consultants:
RICHARD ANDERSON
DAVID W. BEHRENS
HANS BERTSCH
ELIOT BRENOWITZ
DAVID CORY
RUSSELL D. FERNALD
ERICH FOLLMAN
K. MICHAEL FOOS
EVA FUGLEI
W.H. HAUER
HANS A. HOFMANN
DAVID HURLEY
STEPHEN KEMPF
ANDY MCCOLLUM
ROBERT M. OLBERG
DAVID W. PFENNIG
THEODORE W. PIETSCH
J.E. ROWELL
DON RUSSELL
XIAO-WU TANG
JAMES W. TRUMAN
DIANE WAGNER
KEN YASUKAWA

Footage Provided by:
BBC WORLDWIDE AMERICAS INC.
JOHN BONNER
THE DUKE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR IN VIVO MICROSCOPY, AN NIH NATIONAL RESEARCH RESOURCE
HOT SHOTS/COOL CUTS, INC.
DON KANE
ROLF KARLSTROM
OXFORD SCIENTIFIC FILMS LTD.
NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION FILM LIBRARY
ANN A. POZNANSKI
SEA STUDIOS
BRADLEY R. SMITH
UNITED WILDLIFE
WET WADERS, INC.
ZDF

For NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TELEVISION

Stock Footage Research
STELLA CHA
PATTY DANDREA
JEFF MORALES

Research
JESSICA LOUCCHEIM

Production Manager
ANDREA NIX

Executive Producers
KEENAN SMART
CHRISTINE WEBER

For NATURE

Series Editor
JANET HESS

Coordinating Producer
JANICE YOUNG

Producer
JILL CLARKE

Associate Producer
PATTY JACOBSON

Researchers
SUSANE LEE
GIANNA SCARALIA

Production Assistant
ERIKA HAENDEL

Production Secretary
IRENE TEJARATCHI

Manager
EILEEN FRAHER

Production Manager
JULIE SCHAPIRO THORMAN

Editor
PATRICK GAMBUTI, JR.

On-Line Editor
BARRY GLINER

Supervising Producer
BILL MURPHY

Executive In Charge
WILLIAM GRANT

Executive Producer
FRED KAUFMAN

Produced for National Geographic Television and Thirteen/WNET in Association with Trebitsch Produktion International, GMBH by Rubin Tarrant Productions

This program was produced by Thirteen/WNET New York,
which is solely responsible for its content.

SHARE

© 2024 WNET. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.