David J. McMillan

For more than thirty years David J. McMillan has trained and performed with exotic and domestic animals. Born and raised in Ohio, and a graduate of Ohio University, his career began shortly after he left the Army in 1972. While traveling in California, David ran out of money and answered a "help-wanted" advertisement. Marine World/Africa USA, then located in Redwood City, was looking for an elephant walker to help with their elephant rides. Six months later, he was training elephants and performing in shows. He was hooked. David left Marine World/Africa USA after a few years and, subsequently in 1975, David began working at Enchanted Village theme park in Buena Park, California. There, David handled and trained a variety of other animal species, including elephants, chimpanzees, lions, tigers, bears, and camels. David performed with the animals in daily live shows and began doing motion picture work. Many years later, he began working as a freelance trainer. In this capacity he assisted the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois with creating a performance demonstration of how elephants are used in the Asian lumber industry and training elephants and their handlers to perform the demonstration. At this time, David also began working with various animal companies that trained and provided animals in the motion picture and television industries. Through the years, he developed and polished his training skills, broadening his abilities to include the handling of a wide range of animals from snakes, spiders, dogs and cats to kangaroos, emus, alligators and giraffes. In 1989, one of his long time aspirations came true; he created Worldwide Movie Animals, LLC. He takes great pride in his animals and making sure that they are happy, healthy, and well cared for audiences. Worldwide Movie Animals, LLC also works closely with humane organizations, including the American Humane Association, the only national organization with the authority to oversee the welfare of animals used in motion picture and television.