Over the weekend,
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended its 146-year run with a final show in New York.
The beginning of the end came a year ago,
when the company finally stopped using elephants in its shows.
Animal activists celebrated,
but attendance plummeted and America’s most famous big top folded.
But the demise of Ringling Brothers isn’t the end of the road for the circus,
or the elephants.
Small traveling circuses still criss-cross the country
with their biggest performers in tow.
— People like tradition.
Even if they’ve never been to see Ringling Brothers,
they know the name.
And now, it’s going to be gone forever.
But circus isn’t dead, we’re coming.
My name is John Ringling North II.
I was born into the Ringling Brothers Circus,
and now I’m lucky enough to be the owner of Kelly Miller Circus.
Being around this circus
takes me back to when I was a kid.
I first appeared in the circus, I was eight, as a clown.
— His family sold the circus that bears his name in 1967.
John Ringling North is now the only member of the Ringling clan that’s still in the business—
but he runs the Kelly Miller Circus, which he bought in 2006.
— I was 66.
I said, I probably won’t get another shot at this.
So, I found out how much it cost and I bought it,
and I don’t regret it.
— One adult, one child, please.
— We open first week in March,
and we generally close the last week in October.
In between, we travel through 18 states and 10,000 miles.
— You know, when you’re in Hollywood,
they do your make-up for you.
But we’re not in Hollywood—we’re in Ohio.
We’re a smaller operation, our demographic is different.
We go to small town America,
we bring the circus to people’s doors—
we’re easier to go to.
We do good with small towns that don’t have Wal-Marts.
— That’s it!
— Children of all ages!
John Ringling North II welcomes you
to an ageless delight!
America’s one-ring wonder, the Kelly Miller Circus!
— It takes 18 performers and a crew of 33 to produce each show.
Tickets are $8 for kids and $16 for adults.
The tent holds just 1,200 people—
that’s a long way from the crowds of 10,000
that the Ringling Brothers regularly drew.
— Hold onto your horses!
Here come the elephants!
— I don’t think it’s a circus without the elephants.
— The elephants bring both business...
— She’s always wanted to ride an elephant.
So, we’ll see how that goes.
— ...and protesters.
— They generally help business.
They get press coverage and people know we’re here.
I often go out and thank them, which they hate.
— Animal rights activists may have forced Ringling to drop its main attractions,
but the Kelly Miller Circus says its elephants aren’t going anywhere.
— Elephant handler, trainer, or caretaker, it’s all the same.
We’re just here to take care of the elephants.
This is open to the public— we’re not hiding anything.
We’re still going strong,
and we wanna keep it going as long as we can.
— Ringling North says his circus isn’t always welcome:
— We had a Bridgeton, New Jersey canceled three weeks ago.
They passed a law.
You can’t bring circus animals.
We found another town.
— Last chance, last call for photographs!
— You wanna get your picture taken with a Mongolian?
I think circuses like this will keep going.
There’ll never be another giant three-ring circus.
But, this size, you have a much better chance.
— Thank you, New Richmond, Ohio!
Have a great night!