The Eagle Baby Snatching Video Is Fake And Still Awesome

If you’re an animator in a design school and you’re looking for a great way to gain exposure and potentially get a job upon graduation, tricking the world into thinking a Golden Eagle briefly snatched a toddler in a Montreal park is a great way to do it. At least that’s what some students from the National Animation and Design Centre in Canada proved yesterday when their school project went viral and amassed more than seven million hits from people concerned over the well-being of the child.

You can take a look at their creation below…

It’s easy to see how so many people were duped by that clip. By using camera work that was less than stellar, animation students Normand Archambault, Loic Mireault and Felix Marquis-Poulin made it appear as though someone random happened to shoot the footage with his own personal equipment. Once the number of viewers began spiraling out of control, however, the school made the decision to release a statement clarifying exactly what happened.

Apparently, the baby and the eagle were created using 3D animation and inserted into footage previously shot at the park at another time. It’s unclear how long it may have taken the creators to seamlessly mesh it all together, but regardless, they definitely deserve maximum points from their professor.