From Toto to Air Bud, our movie and TV screens have been graced by so many memorable animal stars over the years. Animal actors aren’t in the limelight as much as their human co-stars, so fans are often left wondering “where are they now.”
Sadly, if it’s an older movie, the answer isn’t always the happiest. Since cats and dogs have shorter lifespans than people, audiences are left to face the reality that the whole cast of Homeward Bound is long deceased.
But movie fans were shocked to learn recently that two animal actors from a decades-old classic are still alive: Cuff and Link, the turtles owned by the title character in 1976’s Rocky.
Unlike many movie pets, Cuff and Link don’t steal the show or do any tricks, but they still made a memorable impression on the iconic film.
They’re the turtles Rocky has in his apartment, and show up in a memorable scene where Rocky shows them to Adrian (who sold the turtles to him) on their first date.
It’s quite a career achievement: how many turtles can say they were in a Best Picture winner?
But Rocky came out over 40 years ago—while most of its stars are still alive, it’d be natural to assume the pets haven’t made it. Butkus, Sylvester Stallone’s real-life dog who appeared in the first two Rocky films, died in 1981.
However, Cuff and Link are still kicking… and not only that, they’re living with their old co-star. Last May, Stallone shared an Instagram post with the turtles, shocking many longtime Rocky fans.
Not only that, the turtles are still acting… and still part of the Rocky franchise. They turtles reprised their roles as Rocky’s pets in the Creed franchise, including last year’s Creed II.
After all of Rocky’s championship fights, it’s nice to see he was able to get them a bigger tank:
It’s a cool bit of trivia for fans of the classic sports movie, and it’s nice to see that Rocky has been keeping good care of those turtles all these decades, on screen and off.
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