<P> The script required animals, who arrived from all around the world . 14 trainers looked after the animals . Gene Holter was one of the providers of animals from California and his trainers Ray Chandler and Fez Reynolds . The trainers met with the director every day around 4 PM and went over attitudes or gestures that the animals should play the next day . They spent the night learning them . The animals that were brought included eight dogs, two giant tortoises, forty monkeys, two elephants, six ostriches, four zebras, one hundred flamingos, six hyenas, two anacondas, and a tiger . </P> <P> After filming, the local Tobagonians convinced Disney, who had intended to remove all evidence of filmmaking, to let the treehouse remain, sans interior furnishing . In 1960, the treehouse was listed for sale for $9,000, a fraction of its original cost, and later became a popular attraction among locals and tourists, before the structure was finally destroyed by Hurricane Flora in September 1963 . However, the tree still remains, and is located on the property of the Roberts Auto Service and Tyre Shop, located in Goodwood, just off of Windward Road . Tobago resident Lennox Straker says, "The tree has fallen into obscurity; only a few of the older people knew of its significance . As a matter of fact, not many people know of the film Swiss Family Robinson much less that it was filmed here in Tobago ." </P> <P> The film premiered in New York City on December 10, 1960 and was released for the general U.S. audience on December 21, 1960 . It received generally positive reviews by critics and gained large revenue at the box office and is one of the most iconic live - action Disney films . All together, the film grossed roughly $40 million, making it the highest - grossing film of 1960 and beating other hits of that year such as Psycho, Spartacus, and Exodus at the box office . Adjusted for ticket - price inflation, the box office revenue is $324 million, making it one of the biggest hits of all time . </P> <P> The movie was re-released in 1969 and earned $6.4 million in rentals in North America . It was the 15th most popular movie at the U.S. box office that year . </P>

Where was disney's swiss family robinson filmed