screenshots / Operation Dumbo Drop / 1995 Walt Disney Pictures

Based on the true story of elephant air-drops to South Vietnamese villagers by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War in the late 1960s.

Starring are actors Danny Glover, Ray Liotta and Denis Leary.

Life-size elephant replicas were used for various scenes including the parachute drop.

Filming locations included Chiang Mai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand.

The film opened in the United States on July 28, 1995 ... the same date that Waterworld was released.

The role of Bo Tat was performed by a female Asian elephant named Tai, who can also be seen in Beastmaster 2: Throught the Portal of Time (1991), The Jungle Book (1994) and George of the Jungle (1997).

Tai passed in 2021 at The Preserve facility in Fredericksburg, Texas. She was 52 years old.