Jim Carrey was almost ruined by a bird. Well, technically, he was almost ruined by an animal detective who acted like a bird. Before 1994, nobody knew if audiences would actually pay to see a man talk out of his own rear end for ninety minutes.
The studio was terrified.
When people look back at Jim Carrey movies Ace Ventura is usually the first thing they bring up. It’s the "Big Bang" of his career. But the reality of how those movies were made is way messier than the glossy nostalgia suggests. It wasn't just a guy being funny; it was a desperate, high-stakes gamble that involved fired directors, $15 million paydays, and a very angry ostrich.
The Role Everyone Else Turned Down
Honestly, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective shouldn't have happened with Carrey. The script was floating around Hollywood like a bad smell. The producers first went to Rick Moranis. He said no. Then they looked at Judd Nelson. They even considered Alan Rickman—can you imagine Snape looking for a dolphin? They even toyed with the idea of making Ace a woman and casting Whoopi Goldberg.
Eventually, they settled on the guy from In Living Color.
Carrey knew he had a problem. The original script was a straightforward detective story that just happened to involve pets. It wasn't funny. Carrey told the producers that if he was going to do it, he had to go "unstoppably ridiculous." He basically rewrote the character to be a "rock 'n' roll 007."
He didn't just act like a person. He decided Ace should move like a bird. Specifically, a "smart bird at the edge of a pond." If you watch his walk in the first film, you’ll see it. The head bobs, the calculated steps—it’s pure avian mimicry.
Critics absolutely loathed it.
The New York Times said the movie had the attention span of a "peevish 6-year-old." Roger Ebert called it a "long, unfunny slog." But the kids? They went nuts. On a tiny $15 million budget, it raked in over $107 million. Suddenly, the "rubber-faced" guy was the biggest star on the planet.
Why the Sequel was a "Shit Show"
Hollywood does what Hollywood does: it smells money.
By the time Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was in development, Carrey had already finished The Mask and Dumb and Dumber. He was a titan. He didn't actually want to do a sequel. He famously hated the idea of repeating himself. But Morgan Creek Productions offered him $15 million—half the movie's entire budget—and he took the deal.
💡 You might also like: Robert Downey Jr Sherlock Holmes: The Chaotic Brilliance That Changed Everything
It was a disaster behind the scenes.
The original director, Tom Shadyac, refused to come back. They hired Tom DeCerchio, but he and Carrey clashed so hard that DeCerchio was fired almost immediately. Production fell six weeks behind. Carrey was reportedly "at war" with the producers, feeling they were cheaping out on the sets and props while paying him a fortune.
He was also getting sick. A lot.
Some crew members started calling the movie Ace Ventura Forever because the shoot felt like it would never end. Simon Callow, who played Vincent Cadby, later wrote that the atmosphere was "somewhat strained." Carrey was struggling with his new fame and was under massive pressure to finish so he could promote Batman Forever.
Then there was the ostrich.
During the "Thanksgiving turkey" scene where Ace rides an ostrich, the bird actually threw Carrey off. He later described it as one of the most terrifying things he'd ever done. The sequel eventually made $212 million, doubling the first film's take, but Carrey was done. He hasn't touched the character since.
The Problematic Legacy of Lt. Einhorn
We have to talk about the ending of the first movie.
In 1994, the "reveal" of Lt. Lois Einhorn being Ray Finkle was played for laughs. The scene where the entire police force vomits because they realized they had kissed a trans woman is, by 2026 standards, incredibly hard to watch. It’s one of those moments in pop culture that has aged like milk.
Even back then, some people found it mean-spirited, but today it’s the primary reason the first film is often debated.
Carrey himself has expressed regret over some aspects of the sequel, specifically the "offensive" depiction of indigenous tribes in Africa. He also thought the plot point of Ace being afraid of bats was "cheap." It’s rare for an actor to be that honest about their own hits, but Carrey has always been a bit of an outlier.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Butt Talking"
One of the most famous gags in Jim Carrey movies Ace Ventura is the "talking through the cheeks" bit. People think it was a scripted joke. It wasn't.
📖 Related: Harry Potter Theater Chicago: Why People Are Still Obsessing Over The Cursed Child
It actually started as a middle finger to Keenen Ivory Wayans.
Back on In Living Color, Wayans told Carrey that a particular sketch wasn't working. In a fit of frustration, Carrey turned around, grabbed his butt, and started "talking" the lines back at his boss. He brought that same energy to the set of Ace Ventura. It was pure defiance turned into comedy.
How to Watch These Movies Today
If you’re planning a rewatch, you’ve got to keep a few things in mind to actually enjoy the experience:
- Context is King: You’re watching the birth of a specific type of 90s maximalism. It’s loud, it’s bright, and it’s unapologetically low-brow.
- Watch the Face: Ignore the plot. The plot is paper-thin. The "art" is in Carrey’s micro-expressions. He’s doing things with his jaw muscles that seem biologically impossible.
- Check the Cameos: Look for the death metal band Cannibal Corpse in the first movie. Carrey personally requested them because he was a genuine fan.
- Skip the Spinoffs: There was an animated series and a Pet Detective Jr. movie. Honestly? Don't bother. Without Carrey’s specific "bird-like" energy, the character just feels like a loud guy in a Hawaiian shirt.
The reality is that these movies were a lightning-strike moment. You can’t recreate them because they were born out of a specific kind of desperation and a "nothing to lose" attitude from a comedian who thought his career might end on opening night.
To get the most out of your marathon, start with the 1994 original to see the raw invention, then move to the sequel specifically for the "rhino birth" scene—which, regardless of how you feel about the rest of the movie, remains one of the most absurd pieces of physical comedy ever filmed. Just don't expect a third one; Carrey has moved on to higher planes, and frankly, so has the rest of Hollywood.