We all have our favorite children’s and family movies that Walt Disney Studios has created over the years. Now Disney is pointing in a new direction with a focus they call “Disneynature.” The purpose of the new production unit is to produce films that spotlight the realities of nature. The first of the films in this direction is the incredibly moving documentary called “Earth.” Originally released internationally in 2007, the American version of “Earth” premiered on April 22, a day also known in the U.S. as Earth Day.
“Earth,” narrated by James Earl Jones, follows the lives of three non-human families, polar bears, elephants, and humpback whales, for a one-year cycle in their very precarious and difficult lives.
In addition to distributing this film that documents the fragility of all life, Disney has pledged to plant one tree in the endangered Brazilian rainforest for every person who saw the movie during its first week. The trees are being planted by the Nature Conservancy, whose slogan is “Protecting Nature. Preserving Life.”
Disney has announced that the box-office receipts for the first week totaled $16.1 million, which translates to their funding 2.7 million trees for the Conservancy to plant.
So the challenge here is to respond to the meaning of this new direction by Disney:
Did you see the film? If yes, what did you think?
If you haven’t seen it, are you interested in doing so?
Do you have any thoughts to share on the issue of the fragility of all life on Earth?
Or on the issue of planting trees in the Brazilian rainforest as opposed to here in the U.S.?
We look forward to hearing what you think!
