Earth
The first offering from Walt Disney's off-shoot, DisneyNature, Earth is a globe-sweeping documentary which highlights the struggles of polar bears, African elephants, and humpback whales to nurture their offspring to adulthood in the face of environmental challenges such as harsh climates and ravenous predators.
As the film opens with a montage of dazzling skyscapes bedecked with flocks on the wing, the booming, distinguished voice of James Earl Jones briefly expounds upon the importance of our planet's perfect angle and tilt, stating that without this exquisite design, the rhythm of our seasons would not be possible. The stunning opening sequence is merely a foretaste of this overall amazing production which showcases the majesty of God's creation.
While the "stars" of this show are the ensemble cast of the three featured mothers and their offspring, their stories are interwoven with a plethora of brief, fascinating vignettes on several different species including the endearing and hilarious baby ducks' first attempt at flight, a six-plumed bird of paradise meticulously cleaning his house in preparation for a "big date," and a family of baboons wading through a flooded area with comic primness as they attempt to keep their hands and arms dry.
The aerial photography in this documentary is unparalleled and many shots sweep seamlessly from burgeoning forests to rainbows arcing beneath massive waterfalls, panning over jagged cliffs and then back toward the mountain range; leaving the viewer in mouth-gaping awe. Equally impressive are the slow-motion scenes, such as a great white shark leaping from the water with such force that its entire body is air-borne, a sea lion disappearing behind its jaws before crashing back into the ocean's depths; and the time-lapsed beauty of simple blades of grass springing from the ground or elaborate fungi coming to life across the floor of a lush New Guinean rain forest.
While much of this film is light-hearted and at times even comical, there are also some intense sequences involving predator and prey. Although these scenes are set to ominous scores and dramatically narrated, they always end just as the prey is captured. There is never any blood shown, nor is the fate of the prey ever explicitly portrayed; only implied. Nevertheless, these scenes would disturb sensitive children.
As expected, there was a thread of "climate change" woven into the production. This was not the overwhelming thrust of the narration, but was most strongly stated during the scenes pertaining to the polar bear "family." The bear cubs' "father" is said to have left them "in search of food," and we follow an adult male polar bear's arduous journey across the arctic throughout the film, referenced only as "the cubs' father," or "the cubs' dad." Near the end of the story, he dies of starvation after having to work too long and hard against the breaking and melted ice caps with no food. We then see "his" cubs, grown and leaving their mother, as the narrator states, "Their father's brave spirit will always live on in their hearts." The strong implication is that the "daddy" has gone off to find food for his family, but due to man-made global warming, he never makes it home. This entire storyline is a huge deception, as female polar bears always raise their cubs alone, and male polar bears live in seclusion except for playful fights with other males or serious fights during mating season. Polar bears do not have family units such as humans do, and indeed if their "brave father" had returned, he most likely would have eaten his cubs! (source: A Day in the Life of a Polar Bear Family)
Exposure to deceptions such as this can serve as a springboard to family discussions about a Biblical worldview of these topics, and how to share that worldview with others.
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind."
Job 12:7-10