I love DisneyNature films. Not only do the films capture the most breathtaking images of places around the world that most people will never get to see, they also tell a story. DisneyNature films are films that can be enjoyed by anyone, from the very young to the very old. Young children will enjoy the magnificent creatures the film is about and older people will appreciate the story within the film, as well as learning more about the animals and their environment.
DisneyNature has been involved with several films and charities over the past few years including;
Earth
Oceans
African Cats
Crimson Wings: Mystery of Flamingos
The most recent DisneyNature film, Chimpanzee, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
What I really love about these beautiful films is that DisneyNature donates a portion of the sales during the opening week to charities that help the creatures in the films. For example, for African Cats DisneyNature was able to protect 65,000 acres of savanna in Kenya. For DisneyNature Oceans 40,000 acres of ocean in the Bahamas is now protected and for Earth DisneyNature planted 3 million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. For Chimpanzee the donations benefited the Jane Goodall Institute.
When you take your family to see DisneyNature films during the opening week you are not only educating and entertaining your family you are also helping out our environment and the living creatures that share our planet with us, both on land and in the sea.
I didn’t get a chance to see Chimpanzee in theaters, but I did watch it on Blu-ray. I have to admit I bawled my eyes out frequently during the film. I’m just a big old softy.
Chimpanzee offers viewers a chance to witness things that no one else has ever seen and has never been captured on film.
The film stars Oscar, an adorable baby chimpanzee who lives with him mother and a group of chimps led by an elderly chimp named Freddy.
It was amazing to see how human-like the Chimpanzees really are. Mothers care for their young tenderly and with much love and devotion, similar to a human mother. I was in awe of how much these creatures are similar to us (humans).
As far as the “cute factor” goes Chimpanzee is through the roof. Oscar is super adorable. I could sit and watch his antics all day. He is just so precious.
Oscar is well loved and cared for by his mother Isha and he has plenty of other young chimps to play with and help take care of him.
One day rival chimps attack the group. Oscar and his mom get separated. Oscar desperately tries to find her but is unaware that she was injured during the attack and eventually dies. Now Oscar all alone to fend for himself. He is just an infant and without someone to care for him and teach him how to do things like find food, the young chimp will certainly perish.
Oscar tries to get one of the other mother chimps to take care of him but they all reject him. They have their own young to care for and cannot make room for Oscar.
Hungry, scared and alone, Oscar tries to get the eldest chimp in the group, Freddy, to care for him. It takes time and persistence on Oscar’s part to get Freddy to warm up to the young chimp. Soon the two chimps become inseparable and Freddy adopts Oscar as his own. This is something that has never been witnessed in nature.
I don’t want to give away too much of the story. You will just have to pick up a copy of Chimpanzee to find out what happens to little Oscar and can he learn enough from Freddy to survive on his own?
This film is a fascinating look inside the world of Chimpanzees. I always thought they were herbivores. I never knew that Chimps would attack other monkeys and eat them. I was rather shocked by that.
I found myself teary eyed and bawling my eyes out when Oscar lost his mom (waaaa!!!), when he was all alone and scared and when Freddy showed Oscar the same tenderness that Oscar’s mom Isha did. Its was a truly beautiful and touching story that really tugged at your heartstrings.
I cannot get over how beautiful and visually stunning this movie is. The filmmakers did an AMAZING job with this film, especially capturing things that no one else has seen before.
This film is PACKED with bonus features. To be honest with you some of the bonus features are equally as exciting and interesting as the film was. I know that most people don’t pay much attention to the bonus features, however I strongly recommend you check out the bonus features on Chimpanzee.
DVD:
- “See ‘Chimpanzee,’ Save Chimpanzees”—This feature details the “See ‘Chimpanzee,’ Save Chimpanzees” conservation program and how for every copy of the film purchased until August 27, 2012, Disneynature will make a donation to JGI to protect chimpanzees today and tomorrow. The feature also includes an interview with Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace.
- Disney’s Friends for Change. This feature teaches you about Disney’s Friends for Change program and shows viewers how families can have a positivie impact on our environment and the creatures that share our planet with us.
- Disney’s Conservation Legacy. This bonus feature shows viewers the wonderful conservation efforts that DisneyNature does around the world.
BLU-RAY:
You get the features found on the DVD plus these extra bonus features.
- On Location: The Making of Chimpanzee. This is a MUST see feature! Even if you don’t watch any of the bonus features this is the one you MUST see for yourself. It is amazing to see how filmmakers captured this story on film and what incredible lengths they went through to get these shots.
- 30 Years in the Making. This is an interesting look inside a team of scientists and researchers who have been carefully observing the Chimpanzees that reside in the Ivory Coast.
- The Heart of the Chimpanzee. Another great behind-the-scenes look how this film was made and why it was made too.
- Piece of the Puzzle. This is a fascinating look at a cameraman’s long, TWO HOUR daily journey through the forest to get to the chimpanzees. Now that is what I call dedication!
- Don’t Blame the Tool. This is an interesting feature on how Chimps use items they find in the forest, such as rocks and sticks, as tools to help them find and prepare their food.
- Scar’s Army. This is an interesting look and how the two rival chimp groups struggle to share the same jungle home.
- Camp Invaders. This one is NOT for people who hate bugs and other creepy crawlies. This shows you what the filmmakers found while filming in the jungle.
- Forest of Bees. This is another great feature that shows just how dedicated the film crew was to this film, including having to deal with thousands of bees just to capture a few seconds of film footage.
- “Rise” Music Video. A music video featuring the McClain Sisters who wrote and performed the song that appears in the film’s end credits.
- Behind the Scenes of “Rise”. A behind the scenes look at the video shoot for the above mentioned music video.
The movie runs for around an hour and twenty minutes, which is short enough to keep even the youngest movie viewer entertained. It is also narrated by Tim Allen.
This is a wonderful family movie that would make a perfect addition to your at home movie library. It will make you smile, laugh, cry and jump for joy. 
Look for Chimpanzee where ever movies are sold.
Fore more information about this film visit Disney.Go.com/DisneyNature/Chimpanzee. Be sure to follow DisneyNature on Twitter (@DisneyNature) and Facebook (www.Facebook.com/DisneyNature) to keep up to date on their upcoming projects.
Here is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment. If you are reading this via e-mail you can find the trailer here, http://bit.ly/IsTLhh.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way.
About Kimberly
