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I’ll start off by saying that this was one amazingly beautiful film. In fact, the “beautiness” was what I was most looking forward to since I am a fan of the Planet Earth series that aired on Discovery Channel and BBC. Earth is actually produced and directed by the same people that brought us Planet Earth. A part from great cinematography and rare animals I have never seen before, I figured I would not get too much out of this film. I was right, but it’s still interesting!
Disneynature is Walt Disney Company’s newest production label. This new label was launched April 2008 with the announcement of the first film entitled “earth“. The film, narrated by the one and only James Earl Jones, follows the journey of three families of different animals on their yearly migrations and treks to different parts of the world throughout the seasons. Earth begins with a family of polar bears appearing from hibernation. We follow them from the arctic as the story leads into other animals and their natural long journeys they must make for survival. This was a clever way to be able to showcase all aspects of Earth while keeping a storyline.
As the film displays these rare and wild creatures, the audience may notice several scenes they have seen before. That’s right! Since this is produced by BBC Worldwide, the same people that made Planet Earth two years ago, many shots are the same that aired on the TV series. I was watching an episode of Planet Earth the day before I watched this new Disneynature film and noticed the same scenes. I understand there may be no need to re-shoot a scene if they want to use the same shots, but I was a little irritated by the fact our host, Mr. Jones, ends up reciting the same script Sigourney Weaver did on Planet Earth.
Therefore, if you’re a fan of Planet Earth, you may become bored during some scenes, but you may also enjoy watching these great moments displayed on the big screen. Nonetheless, if you have never seen the show then, this will be all new to you. I am really pleased that Disney has decided to make another series of nature films as they did back in 1946 with Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures. This is staying true to the company’s pact to educate people about nature and its importance. Preservation is the key they want the audience to take home.
No doubt this is a step in the right direction and I look forward to the numerous other nature films they plan to release. These new films will document flamingos, oceans, flowers and their pollinators, big cats of the wild, and chimpanzees. Each film has their own directors and production crew, but for now I say that “earth” is worth a gander. It is beautiful and interesting as it helps us remember how small we humans are in the big world that we call home. The script has some humorous parts along with some music that adds some funny underlining to mating rituals and other rather fascinating things animals do in their environment.
Earth is a “Disneyfied” nature film with no real graphic killings as the film tends to cut away right when the prey has been caught. The audience should still be able to get the idea of the dog eat dog world that you see in the animal kingdom. There are still the climaxes, tear jerkers, and the “aww how cute” moments that we all come to expect. Luckily with a running time of 89 minutes, you shouldn’t get bored. Yet even with the short running time, the directors were still able to fit all major areas of our planet into the film. I was quite surprised.
Earth opens cleverly on Earth Day, April 22nd, with a tree being planted in your honor for every ticket sold within the first week. A good reason to see the movie. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend seeing it on the big screen rather then waiting for it on DVD.
For more information on the film, log onto: http://www.Disney.com/Earth
