Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937)

From Harrison Forman’s photographs it was simple to design Tibetan costumes. But where would we find the people to wear them? Tibetans are Orientals, but taller, rangier than Chinese or Japanese. Again we had recourse to our non-Chinese but Oriental stand-bys – Pala Indians from the San Diego mountains.

Then, too, we would have to show some yaks. What the burro was to American sourdoughs of the West, the yak is to Tibetans. To badly simulate yaks, we covered yearling steers with long-haired, hoof-length blankets. To better simulate small Tibetan horses, we “haired up” the legs and chests of Shetland ponies.

- Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography (1971)