The Carnival of the Animals and xylophone. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. On 9 February 1886 he wrote to his publishers Durand in Paris that he was composing a work for the coming Shrove Tuesday, and confessing that he knew he should be working on his Third Symphony, but that this work was "such fun" (). He had apparently intended to write the work for his students at the École Niedermeyer, but it was first performed at a private concert given by the cellist Charles Lebouc on Shrove Tuesday, 9 March 1886. A second (private) performance was given
Day of the Animals is shocking for a modern audience raised on his work in comedy. Writer William W. Norton was himself disappointed in the film. Modest praise was issued by "The Hollywood Reporter". Some critics nevertheless recommended the film to fans of natural horror and disaster films of the 1970s. AllMovie compared it to "Kingdom of the Spiders" and "Frogs" Those who saw the film at a young age have formed a cult following of sorts. Day of the Animals Day of the Animals is a 1977 American natural horror film directed by William Girdler and based on a story written by Edward