A Visit to the Set of 'Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day'

After capturing massive box office dollars this summer with super-sized crowd pleasers like Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Maleficent,

Disney hopes to maintain its momentum into the fall season with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. The family film is based on

Judith Viorst’s beloved 1972 book of the same name and revolves around a series of unlucky, no good, very bad events that befall 11-year-old Alexander and his family, Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner taking on the roles of his parents.

Yahoo Movies visited the set in Newhall, Calif. last September. After observing director Miguel Arteta (“Cedar Rapids”) and his actors filming a complex scene alongside a troop of wild animals, it was clear that Alexander was a charmer in the making.

Here were a few of the highlights from the visit:

A bigger day for the big screen

In order to adapt Viorst’s 32-page children’s book, the story has been expanded to include not just Alexander’s bad day, but one in which everything goes terribly for his family as well. And in this case, the “day” lasts roughly 36 hours.

How Jennifer Garner ‘tormented’ co-star Steve Carell

Both of the stars playing Alexander’s parents happened to have graduated from Denison University, a small, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio; and Garner decided to have some fun with that fact.

"She has been tormenting me," Carell joked. "She must have bought a truck load of Denison University memorabilia." Garner quietly distributed shirts, hats, and other items bearing the school’s red-and-white colors to crew. "So I go a whole day and then realize the entire camera crew has Denison University gear on," Carell said. "I’m so unobservant."

Alligators and Australian animals look great on camera; are not great actors

One of the film’s most complicated scenes involves Alexander’s Australian-themed birthday for which his parents hire live animals: an emu, a wallaby, a kangaroo and an alligator. Our takeaway from watching the animal wrangling in the scene is that you should not expect Australian animals to do anything on cue.

“Australian animals aren’t necessarily the smartest animals in the world, to say it nicely” said the film’s head animal wrangler Mark Forbes. “Reptiles are pretty much untrainable. You can get a nice alligator. You can get a mean alligator. You can control their body temperature, if you want them really active – you warm up their body temperature. If you want them passive, you cool down the body temperature. But, I’m never going to get an alligator to get on his mark and turn around look at the camera.”

Everyone loves Alexander, aka newcomer Aussie actor Ed Oxenbould

The film’s star is 13-year-old newcomer Ed Oxenbould, an Australian-born actor making his feature film and U.S. acting debut, which you’d never know given the youngster’s professionalism and playful personality.

"We laugh a lot with those kids all day long," said Garner. "I think Ed really is the heart of our little family unit. He loves to play. He’s the star of this movie, he’s going to do all these yo-yo tricks, he’s going to do all these card tricks, he just never stops. I don’t know what they do with him when he’s not on set, he has so much play energy. He plays with the babies, he plays with the older kids, he’s just fun in that way, he includes everyone in his joy."

Steve Carell battles kangaroos, babies and fires

On top of enduring Garner’s pranks, Carell’s screen time has a fair amount of action involving kids, kangaroos and open flames.

"There is fire involved," Carell teased when asked about the charred state of the puffy white pirate shirt he wears during the birthday scene. "In this movie I deal with babies and animals and fire. Without giving too much away, I catch on fire."

Animal wrangler Forbes said that his biggest challenge involved Carell and a particularly feisty kangaroo.

"Our biggest sequence is the kangaroo gets away and goes running through a neighborhood," said Forbes. "Steve Carell corners it in a yard and the kangaroo knocks him down.”

Be on the lookout for a Disney-fied ‘Magic Mike’-esque surprise

Toward the end of our visit we spotted a group of handsome, chiseled, scantily-clad gentleman walking toward set. The gentleman in question, whose specific roles in the film were not disclosed, are members of the famed Aussie male revue troop Thunder From Down Under. The friendly performers left a lasting impression upon the film’s young star.

”I like the birthday party scene and the guys from Thunder From Down Under,” Oxenbould said. “They’re like these Aussie cowboys. And then [the producers] go, ‘Whoa, keep it PG,’” he added with a chuckle.

”Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" opens nationwide on Oct. 10.

Check out a trailer for “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” below.