Earth

Earth (2007)
Disneynature
Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Narrated by James Earl Jones

Earth is the first documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures under the Disneynature label. Originally released in 2007 in various countries throughout Europe, it opened in the United States in 2009 to celebrate Earth Day. Earth is directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, who also produced and directed BBC’s Planet Earth documentary from 2006. This film features various shots from that popular series, and some new unaired footage.

The film is much shorter than its television counterpart, forcing the directors to edit out a tremendous amount of wonderful footage. However, just like Planet Earth, Earth sets out to show audiences the beauty of the world. The film follows various animals throughout their lives including a polar bear den, an African bush elephant herd, and a family of humpback whales, while showing other footage of other animals and habitats from across the planet. If you have already seen Planet Earth, this documentary will seem familiar in style and content. The only difference is the narration of James Earl Jones, as opposed to Richard Attenborough for Planet Earth. With that being the only major difference, Earth is still a wonderful documentary that shows us the power of Mother Nature.

Planet Earth is far more superior to Earth, but it also has a much longer run time. Earth is the same content as the documentary, just shrunk onto the silver screen to introduce audiences to the phenomenon of nature. Besides a few new shots, Earth is just a rehash that is not worth watching if you have already seen Planet Earth.

Rating: B


June 18, 2010