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It used to be
fair to say that nobody did nature like
Disney. In the years before the Discovery
Channel and Animal Planet many of us ‘older
folk’ (oh Geez, I’m an ‘older
folk?”) grew up watching nature shows,
most of which were created by Disney. When
we weren’t watching those, we more
than likely turned to “Mutual of Omaha’s
Wild Kingdom” where we would inevitably
see host Marlin Perkins standing way back
while he sent his assistant Jim to wrestle
a 40 foot anaconda.
It was rather disheartening when, years
later, a lot of us found out that the early
days of Disney nature films were filled
with staged animal antics (such as the famous
suicidal Lemmings which were actually forced
to plummet off the cliff…). Today
however, I’d like to believe that
the newer nature shows aren’t into
staging what we see (except for maybe “Pet
Star”). Films like “March of
the Penguins”, I feel have set the
stage for better documentarians.
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Such was the case for the BBC’s “Planet
Earth”, a seven-part 550-minute masterpiece
directed by Alastair Fothergill & Mark Linfield.
Those who have the wherewithal to sit through
this amazing piece of work are transported around
the globe to see five years worth of work in capturing
some of the planet’s most amazing sights.
Of course, there are those amongst us who have
a slightly shorter attention span and for them
Disney worked with Fothergill to create a 90-minute
‘Readers Digest’ version of this magnificent
documentary.
“DisneyNature: Earth” is far more
than a highlights version of “Planet Earth.”
Truth be told, if you had not watched the original
documentary you wouldn’t be able to tell
this was a shorter version of anything. It stands
on its own as a masterfully crafted film. The
cinematography is still breathtakingly beautiful,
especially as it is presented on Blu-ray, during
the film’s starkest moments. The original
narrative by Richard Attenborough and Sigourney
Weaver (in the US version) is replaced by a re-written
narration delivered by James Earl Jones. I don’t
think there is any more to say about that. I mean…
James Earl Jones… enough said.
But for all of its beauty, “DisneyNature:
Earth” is not for the faint of heart. And
perhaps not for younger children. The original
documentary did not waver from scenes involving
the hunt. Lionesses taking down a small elephant
is shown to its conclusion, as are a Great White
hunting seals or a cheetah capturing a gazelle.
In this version the camera expertly cuts away
so we never really see the end results, but being
the animal lover that I am I still felt the tragedy
that is nature. I could not imagine my six-year
old watching it. There will be a time that she
will be exposed to it, after all it is real life…
but not until she is at an age where she can process
it better.
That said, the Blu-ray edition offers up little
pop-up filmmaker’s notes (if you turn the
feature on) and a lengthy documentary on the process
that delivered such a skillfully edited version
of the BBC original. There is also a DVD version
packaged with the Blu-ray (a practice that I still
applaud Disney for doing).
Admittedly I have to recommend the aforementioned
original BBC feature if you can get your hands
on it, but “DisneyNature: Earth” is
perfectly suited for those who would rather not
sit through the much longer version.
Directed by: Alastair Fothergill & Mark Linfield
Narrated by: James Earl Jones
Extras: Filmmaker Annotations; Earth Diaries;
DVD of the Film
Specifications: 1080P High Definition (1.78:1);
5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-bit)
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 9/1/2009
MPAA Rating: G
http://www.DisneyBluray.com
We'll give DisneyNature Earth (Blu-ray) an A.
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