Disney Nature’s Earth
I have always been a fan of the Disney nature films. When I was a kid, I loved watching the Wonderful World of Disney when they had their nature specials on TV. I was hoping the new nature movie Earth, from Disney Nature would bring back those fond memories. It didn’t really happen.
I had a hard time deciding whether I liked this documentary or not. My first impression was that it was not anything special. After all, we see these types of documentaries every day now on The Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Not that the big screen didn’t enhance the more spectacular shots, especially some of the photography of enormous flocks of birds, but it just wasn’t that much better than TV.
The American version of this movie is narrated by James Earl Jones, who of course does a wonderful job. If he just had some actual informative things to say, I think it would have made the film much better. Maybe the film is aimed at young children, and the writers thought they had to dumb down the narration, I don’t know. I just didn’t need to hear James Earl Jones say “get down!” while a bird was doing its mating dance. Maybe that is just me.
I also did not expect to have déjà vu when watching the polar bear sequences. I was hoping that the movie would use completely original photography, but it did not. I had seen it before.
So much for what I didn’t like . . .Â
On the bright side, there were some truly spectacular scenes. The super slow motion shots were especially fantastic. One scene where a great white shark is hunting a seal was particularly memorable. But most of the kill shots were removed from the movie making it much more kid friendly.
So if you are really interested in viewing wildlife in their native habitat, go rent Planet Earth (the series that the movie was based on). But if you want a night out with the kids who love animals, Earth should not disappoint them.
