Jim Carrey was on fire in 1995. Honestly, that’s an understatement. He’d just come off a three-hit run—Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber—that basically redefined what a movie star looked like in the nineties. So, when Ace Ventura When Nature Calls hit theaters, it wasn't just another sequel. It was a cultural event. But here’s the thing: people still can't agree if it's a comedic masterpiece or a loud, messy step backward from the original.
It’s weird. Most sequels try to play it safe. This one? It went completely off the rails. It swapped the gritty Miami streets for a stylized, almost cartoonish version of Africa. It traded a missing dolphin for a sacred white bat. Most importantly, it turned the dial on Ace's insanity from an eight to a solid fifteen.
The Rhino Scene and Physical Comedy Gold
You know the scene. If you’ve seen the movie once, it’s burned into your brain forever. Ace is stuck inside a mechanical rhinoceros, trying to spy on a group of poachers. The AC breaks. He gets desperate. What follows is probably the most graphic, absurd, and hysterical piece of physical comedy in cinema history.
Steve Oedekerk, who took over directing duties from Tom Shadyac, clearly wanted to lean into the surreal. It worked. Carrey’s commitment to the bit—emerging from the "birth canal" of a fake rhino while a family of tourists watches in horror—is the kind of stuff you just don't see in modern comedies. They’re too scared now. Too polished. This was raw, gross, and perfectly executed.
Critics at the time, like Roger Ebert, weren't exactly thrilled. Ebert famously gave it less than two stars, complaining that the character was "more annoying than funny" this time around. But the box office told a different story. It opened to $37.8 million, which was huge back then. It ended up outperforming the original by a significant margin.
Why the Shift in Tone Matters
The first film was a detective story that happened to be funny. Ace Ventura When Nature Calls is a live-action Looney Tunes short. That distinction is why some fans prefer the sequel. It’s less about the plot—which, let’s be real, is pretty thin—and more about Carrey having a blank check to do whatever he wanted with his face and voice.
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Take the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" singing scene. It’s a total non-sequitur. It does nothing for the story. Yet, it’s one of the most quoted moments in the franchise. That’s the magic of this specific era of Carrey’s career. He wasn't just acting; he was vibrating on a different frequency than everyone else on set.
Navigating the Controversy and Cultural Context
We have to talk about the elephant in the room—or the bat, I guess. Looking back through a 2026 lens, parts of the movie haven't aged gracefully. The depiction of the Wachati and Wachootoo tribes is heavily reliant on tropes that feel pretty dated now. It’s that mid-nineties "tribal" aesthetic that was everywhere in pop culture but lacks any real depth or authenticity.
However, many film historians argue that the movie isn't mocking the tribes so much as it's mocking Ace’s own ignorance. He’s the buffoon. He’s the one who can’t handle the customs. He’s the one getting spit in the face. Whether that distinction saves the movie for you depends on your personal tolerance for slapstick satire, but it’s a conversation that keeps the film relevant in film studies today.
- The movie utilized a massive amount of practical effects.
- Production was notoriously difficult, with Carrey reportedly falling ill during the shoot.
- It remains one of the few sequels Carrey ever agreed to do (until Sonic the Hedgehog 2 much later).
The production moved from South Carolina (standing in for Africa) to various locations, and the budget swelled. You can see the money on screen. The sets are bigger, the animal count is higher, and the stunts are more elaborate. It was a massive undertaking for a comedy.
The Legacy of the Slinky and the Silver Screen
Remember the Slinky? The scene where Ace loses his mind over a spring toy tumbling down a giant staircase at a monastery is a masterclass in comedic timing. It’s a two-word joke: "It’s spectacular!"
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But beneath the screaming and the funny faces, there’s a real craft to what Carrey was doing. He studied silent film stars like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. You see it in the way he moves his body when he’s "meditating" or when he’s trying to navigate the social cues of a high-society gala.
The movie also gave us Ian McNeice as Fulton Greenwall. He’s the perfect straight man. You need someone to look concerned while the lead actor is licking a piece of gum off a table. Without McNeice’s grounded performance, the movie might have floated away into pure nonsense. He gives the audience a "normal" person to identify with, making Ace look even more insane by comparison.
Technical Specs and Visuals
Visually, the film is much brighter than the first one. Donald E. Thorin, the cinematographer, used a vivid palette that made the jungle feel like a theme park. This was intentional. It moved the franchise away from the "noir" feel of the first movie and into the "adventure" genre.
- Director: Steve Oedekerk
- Release Date: November 10, 1995
- Budget: Roughly $30 million
- Domestic Gross: Over $108 million
It’s interesting to note that Tom Shadyac didn't return. He went on to do The Nutty Professor instead. Oedekerk brought a more "writerly" approach to the gags, often improvising with Carrey on the fly. This led to a more episodic feel. Some people hate that. They think it feels like a series of sketches stitched together. Others think it’s the purest form of comedy because it never stops throwing jokes at the wall.
What Most People Get Wrong About Ace Ventura When Nature Calls
A lot of people think this was just a "cash grab." It really wasn't. Carrey was actually very hesitant to do sequels at that point in his career. He famously turned down a sequel to The Mask that would have paid him a fortune. He returned to Ace because he genuinely liked the character’s anarchic spirit.
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There’s a level of subversion in this movie that people miss. It’s a parody of Indiana Jones and other colonial adventure films. When Ace is wearing the "pith helmet," he’s a walking caricature of the "white explorer" trope. He’s constantly failing at it. He hates the heat, he hates the bugs, and he’s terrified of the one animal he’s supposed to find.
If you haven't watched it in a decade, it's worth a re-watch just to see the sheer energy. Comedy today is often very "meta" or self-aware. This is just... loud. It’s confident. It doesn't care if you think it’s stupid. In fact, it wants you to think it’s stupid.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive back into the world of Ace Ventura When Nature Calls, don't just settle for a basic streaming version. The 4K restorations that have hit the market recently actually highlight the incredible detail in the costume design and the practical animatronics used for the animals.
- Look for the "Making Of" Featurettes: The behind-the-scenes footage of Carrey working with the animals is fascinating. It shows just how much of his performance was reacting to unpredictable elements.
- Analyze the Sound Design: The movie won awards for sound editing for a reason. Every "alrighty then" and screeching animal sound was meticulously layered to create that chaotic atmosphere.
- Check Out the Deleted Scenes: There are several extended sequences involving the "Projector" scene and the initial monastery sequence that give more context to Ace's mental state after the "accident" at the start of the film.
The opening of the movie—a parody of Cliffhanger where Ace fails to save a raccoon—sets the tone perfectly. It tells the audience: "The hero you liked in the first movie? He’s a failure now. He’s broken." Watching him claw his way back to "greatness" through a series of absurd trials is a weirdly compelling character arc for a guy who talks with his butt.
Whether you're a die-hard fan or a skeptic, there's no denying the impact this film had. It solidified the "Carrey style" and proved that you could make a massive hit out of something completely bizarre. It’s a relic of a time when studios were willing to let a single comedic genius run wild with a huge budget.
To truly appreciate the film today, focus on the craft of the physical performance. Pay attention to how Carrey uses his entire body to convey a joke, often without saying a single word. Compare this to the more dialogue-heavy comedies of the 2010s and 2020s. You’ll see why this specific brand of high-energy slapstick is so hard to replicate and why, despite its flaws, it remains a staple of nineties cinema.