"Flora & Ulysses" filmmakers initially considered incorporating real squirrels, visiting an animal training facility for an exploratory audition. "They jumped on me, they climbed, they did flips," says Khan. But Ulysses the squirrel has been born anew, with powers of strength, flight, and misspelled poetry. "When you think about what they have evolved to do, they are leaping from tree to tree without touching the ground. Their true superpowers are navigating through trees, along with burying seeds and remembering where they buried them." The squirrel never saw the vacuum cleaner coming, and self-described cynic Flora Belle Buckman, who has read every issue of the comic book Terrible Things Can Happen to You is just the right person to step in and save him. "Squirrels are physically amazing," says Delgado. All four legs are needed for landing from often-impressive jumps and other breathtaking acrobatics.
Squirrels strike the posture when grooming in a still position, not when touching down, says Mikel Delgado, an animal behaviorist at the University of California, Berkeley. The very witty text and droll, comic-bookstyle black-and-white illustrations perfectly relay the all-too-hilarious adventures of Flora, Ulysses and a cast. "So that three-point landing is one of the movie's key positions. "You see Spider-Man and it’s all about how he looks when he’s hanging from a pole," she says. Ulysses assumes the position after his first flight and on the film's poster. That power pose really stuck with Khan during her research for the family comedy. The squirrel family has already received major PR boosts with viral internet moments showing off their remarkable physical powers – such as YouTuber Mark Rober's backyard Ninja Warrior squirrel obstacle course and a Reddit phenom featuring photos of the critters in a three-point squirrel stance, suggesting an awesome Iron Man landing.