Returning to Los Angeles, a final sweeping dramatic sequence was filmed near Malibu. Twin tunnels on Kanan Dume Road were used as the entrance to the Ark, the sealed habitat in which a chosen, fortunate few Americans hope to survive the devastating impact of the comet. Modeled after the caves carved into the limestone shelves of Kansas City, Missouri, the tunnels were fitted with giant, sealing doors. The scene represents one of several shelters built by the government; each shelter is intended to hold a million people and a menagerie of animals to repopulate the Earth after the cataclysm.
The two-day shoot required a thousand extras and two hundred animals. Animal coordinator Jules Sylvester worked with every animal company in the business in order to get the impressive selection of wildlife that appears in the scene. "We have lions, jaguars, hyenas, alligators, pythons, kangaroos, ostrich, buffalo, camels, elephants, zebras, cattle, chickens, birds. And," he jokes, "we started this morning with two rabbits."
Sylvester recruited the animals with their individual trainers, as some of the larger cats in particular have grown up to relate to only one person. "The only problem we've had," Sylvester reports, "is working the animals closely with the thousand extras. I find myself saying 'excuse me, ma'am, could you please not pet the jaguar since he tends to want to eat you.'"