Tuesday, April 22, 2014

DisneyNature's Bears Is A Welcome Earth Day Treat

Almost every Earth Day, DisneyNature puts out a little family friendly documentary in hopes that we may better understand and care for our planet. This year's latest installment was Bears, as narrated by John C. Reilly.
While at times the film does manage to feel a little TOO kid friendly, it eventually manages to break free of its constraints with some rather epic bear fights... of course nothing too brutal. When African Cats came out several years ago, the biggest note I heard from parents was their kids were scared because (quite honestly) the violence was rather intense. And while I, being an adult without the constraints of children, enjoyed that aspect of the film, I do recognize that it's intended viewers are families. So it would seem with this most recent installment, DisneyNature has learned its lesson, bringing the intensity of violent behavior down to a minimum. Any parents who find themselves wary of bringing their kids should rest assured, this one is truly made for all ages.
That is not to say it is without drama. Some of the events this bear family has to deal with are quite harrowing. And at times I honestly thought things would take a turn for the worse. But at the end of the day, it is a family movie. I cannot emphasize that enough.
The choice to bring Mr. Reilly on board was, in my mind, a stroke of genius. After all, he's just another lovable bear in his right. And man was it fun to hear him joke around on screen. You could tell he was just having a blast.
Bears is a welcome big screen documentary for the whole family. Now I just can't wait for next year's Monkey Kingdom!

No comments:

Post a Comment