Born Free: A New Adventure teach the lioness how to survive in the wild. In 1960, Joy Adamson published a book called "Born Free", based on her (and her husband, George Adamson) experience raising the lioness Elsa. The book was followed by two others, "Living Free" (1961) and "Forever Free" (1963). In 1966, the first book was adapted into a movie. The film was a commercial and critical success, leading to a 1969 documentary called "The Lions are Free" and then a sequel, released in 1972 and based on the third book, but using the name of the second book. In 1974, the NBC did
Bill Travers a leg and dislocated a shoulder. He played the title role in a British TV version of "The Admirable Crichton" (1968), alongside his wife, and had a small part in Peter Hall's adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1968). Travers teamed up with James Hill, the director of "Born Free", to make the documentary, "The Lions Are Free" (1969), which both men directed. Travers and McKenna made another "animal movie", "Ring of Bright Water" (1969) for which he also wrote the script. They followed this with "An Elephant Called Slowly" (1970), which Travers helped write and produce with James Hill,