Disneynature has brought us some great documentaries over the last several years, building on the company’s commitment to conservation on many different levels. Their tenth film is now upon us, focusing on a year in the life of four different animals that were all, “Born in China”.
Narrated by “The Office” star John Krasinski, each individual story is told over four seasons: a mother panda and her cub, a mother snow leopard and her two babies, a clan of monkeys, and a herd of migrating gnus. Using the individual seasons as a guide, the story unfolds for each one of the groups in different regions of the county showing both the similarities and differences of their life journeys.
I am a huge fan of the Disneynature series, and this one falls right in line with the others before it by not disappointing me. With a great blend of humor, drama, and adventure set against beautiful landscapes from the covered jungles to the highest of mountain terrain, this film is absolutely wonderful for people of all ages. There are a few adult-ish situations, but nothing that a parent would need to cover their children’s eyes against. There are some sections that can spark some great conversations with families, but not to the point where you will have to block out some time that you are not looking forward to. Krasinski is also a great choice to narrate the stories, which at first seemed to be an odd choice for me. Then again, this is Disney, and they do tend to do the research with a pretty good rate of consistency.
As always, Disneynature pledges to take a portion of the proceeds from the opening weekend of their films and donate them to wildlife preservation organizations, so if you get the chance on the weekend of Earth Day, please do so in order to see a wonderful film and do your part to help keep our wildlife protected at the same time. So, as the summer movie season looms upon us with its bazillions of dollars in both production and promotion in order to make even more bazillions of dollars from a movie going public, “Born in China” is a great alternative that will be more than worth those dollars you have in your pocket.