Ledger's Modest Mouse Video To Premiere On Tuesday
3 August 2009 6:36 PM, PDT

A Modest Mouse video directed by late movie star Heath Ledger is to premiere online on Tuesday.

The animated promo for King Rat will debut on MySpace.com.

Oscar winner Ledger conceived the video's theme in order to raise awareness of the plight of whales hunted down illegally off the coast of his native Australia, according to NME.com.

Ledger failed to complete the video before he passed away in January 2008; the project was finished by the actor's partners at film company The Masses.

Hey Phyllis....surprise, guess who!

It so happens that you can watch the video now on The Masses website, so I thought I would pass it onto you and your members. Hope that it's OK to include the link, please use your own judgement....ENJOY!

Modest Mouse King Rat Video Directed by Heath Ledger

(Gosh Phyllis, thanks, I get my very own Canadian maple leaf! LOL)

Thank-you for posting this and the link! I enjoyed it very much. I work with an animal rescue and rehome group,so this subject is always close to my heart. I think it was wonderful that people took the time to finish what Heath started. Yaaay for them! I believe its an absolute privilage to be able to see anything that Heath Ledger was a part of.

Thanks Jan, it never occurred to me to look on the Masses website. I found it on another site. Thank you

and thanks to Heath wherever you are. I hope this video really brings it home as to what the Japanese and their whaling is doing.

and that it should stop right now! (I watch Whale Wars and it's heartbreaking)

This was just so wonderful, I'd love to thank the Masses for completing this.

(and I got pretty emotional watching this...but not about Heath...this time it was about the whales)

Hey thanks for the link,i watched it tuesday night,and i think it was superb,Heath had a lot of talent,and i agree whit you Patton,i thank the Masses for completing this project,that meant a lot to heath..and did get emotional,both for the whales and him

Aww me too! Here in Canada they still do that horrible Seal clubbing. It just makes me cry to see animals abused in any way. Those poor whales. Heath got his point across, thats for sure.

Thank you all so much for posting this with the link. I had no idea that the video was going to be finished, let alone released now. I am so proud of the work that was put into that project. It is a meaningful artistic creation. The message is so powerful and its contribution to raising awareness of this cause is undeniable. I am so thrilled with The Masses that they invested their time, energy and finances in getting this video out there. Parnassus will be Heath's last acting endeavor, but IoDP is Terry's vision-this video is Heath's last known creative endeavor. This is his vision, his passion and it has his fingerprints all over it. Despite the horrific subject matter, I am so thrilled to see a project that was Heath's vision.

holy doodle, it's Jan! Hey girl.
Yes, when I have time, I'm putting the masses description on the portal page.

The video isn't for the faint of heart, is it? LOL
I already went into it timidly, having an idea what to expect, but I'll admit my jaw dropped. Yet I'm not surprised at all at how passionately and how in your face Heath was about his message. Or with Heath's ability to know what would really grab the audience's attention and hit it home.

I would have been more surprised if he had held back or soft-footed around the statement. He wasn't one to mince words when he was passionate about something, was he? LOL

DAYAM, boy!

That man did nothing half-ass. If he was involved with something he gave it his all. And did whatever he needed to do to do the best he could. If he wanted to show how ugly whaling is he wasn't going to sugarcoat it. I had a feeling he might do a turnabout angle. And it certainly hit home. I wish the whalers could take a look at it. They are destroying intelligent creatures and for what? (they also round up dolphins too!)

It's time to stop whaling NOW! I hope Heath's message will help to make the change.

I am very proud of him!

and I miss him so much! There is so much work he could have continued to do

Well, I don't know if Heath was against all whaling. Or if it was just the commercial over-whaling.

It's been a huge contention in Australia, because the Japanese come into Australian waters illegally and are whaling the waters empty. No amount of diplomacy has worked and there is a huge issue between the two countries over it.

So to Heath, it was probably not only about ecology and the mistreatment of the animals, but also about his homeland.

Gosh, I never thought I would say this but that video was horrible, I really hated it At the same time it was pure genious. Heath clearly knew what he was doing and the message could'nt be any clearer!

The hole subject of whaling is a bit "touchy" for me as a norwegian though. As you probably know, Norway is a whaling nation too. Having said that, I don't think we do over- whaling the way Japan, and I've been told also Iceland do. Anyway, I don't have enough knowledge about the subject to go deeper into any discussion about it.

Right now I'm just really happy that The Masses completed the project for us to see.

Heath truly was brilliant in everything he put's his hands on.