Earth

A new division of Disney, Disneynature, releases an environmentally-conscious film concerning the plight of the animal kingdom in our current global climate situation. Earth Day was the release date, but that did not jive with the schedules of some of us at work who wanted to see it. So after a Walgreens dinner date the evening after Earth Day on Thursday, a gaggle of us took it in. For me, the first Rated G film I have seen in I can't tell you how long. Rated G or not, as always on here, first it's the trailer:



Visually stunning. Startlingly majestic on the big screen. It wasn't in iMax, but I did find myself on more than one occasion tilting forward in dizzying awe. As a G rating may suggest, the tribulations of real life animals are glossed over in some detail. A leopard catching its prey is shot in slow motion with mournful music filling the air. Then once the jaws grip around the neck,...fade scene.

Animal offspring are termed "families", with "dad polar bear" out to find food for the clan. Metaphors to allow young children to understand the social and/or familial structure of wild animals; it works. Sometimes it's corny, but I felt it works.

James Earl Jones narrates and inserts subtle pleas for global warming solutions. Polar bears need a solid ice shelf to hunt for seal; the ice doesn't last long into the season now, so their food gathering period is shortened and their existence threatened, etc. down the line. Disneynature is touching young minds to try to enlighten them as to the world's plight. Open their eyes to the worldview and not a narrow-minded myopic vision of "us first and screw our descendants and the world". So the ice shelf doesn't last so long, big deal. Wrong, my friend.

A film based on the extensive BBC series Planet Earth. Captures shots from the small screen and absolutely explodes them onto the silver screen. A visual gem.

A Full Price. For a G movie? You don't say.