Written by Jesus Figueroa
The 1st Pet celebrity Marshal Crystal the monkey stole the show at the 64th Annual The Fabulous Holiday Christmas Parade in Huntington Park, California on Nov. 22.
The Grand Marshal of the parade Supervisor elect Hilda Solis rode in her car waving to the people, but Crystal the monkey walked the streets coming up to the spectators for an up close view of the "Night at the Museum" star.
Crystal, and her handler Tom Gunderson, put on a show for the spectators as she walked the street, stood on Gunderson's shoulders to wave and even did some tricks on command in the middle of the street for all to see.
About Crystal the Monkey:
Crystal the monkey is 20 years old and has been with handler Ton Gunderson for 18 years. Crystal has trained for 4 years to be able to perform certain tricks on command and can be seen in the upcoming film "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," in theaters Dec. 19.
Gunderson said that Crystal's word day usually consists of sitting around waiting to be used.
"Even if she's on call for 12 hours, she's probably only working for one hour actual work time. She get's most of her things done in just a couple of takes," Gunderson said. "It can depend on if something is out of focus, or if they have to change the lighting situation, or even because of an actor's line, or hitting a mark or missing a prop. It's not always her (Crystal) fault we have to do another take."
Gunderson said that Crystal is never in any read danger as they train for everything.
"I put her in many situations, like in 'The Hangover 2,' where there is gun fire. I had to get her use to gun fire so that didn't bother her and then they used very low gun powder rounds, quarter loads is what they used," Gunderson said.
The night in photos:
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| (Grand Marshal Hilda Solis) |
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| (La Curacao parade float) |
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| (Huntington Park mayor Rosa E. Perez) |
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| (American, California and Mexican Flag) |
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| (Huntington Park council member Mario Gomez) |
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| (Garfield High School's JROTC) |
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| (Garfield High School's JROTC) |
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| (Huntington Park council member Ofelia Hernandez) |
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| (Co-President of the Greater Huntington Park Area Chamber of Commerce Theresa Bagues) |
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| (Crystal the monkey and handler Tom Gunderson) |
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| (Crystal the monkey and handler Tom Gunderson) |
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| (Bell Senior High School Cheer squad) |
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(All Photos by Jesus Figueroa)
