Nature docos a battle royal
Review
Dolphin Reef/Elephant
(G, 77mins/89 mins) Directed by Keith Scholey/Michael Linfield and Vanessa Berlowitz Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★/★★1⁄2
While the Mouse House’s animation reputation is renowned, its legacy of nature documentaries is less celebrated.
But for more than a generation of cinema-going kids, Disney had a tendency to dominate the first-half of the programme. Between the cartoon and the feature (after the slides for local businesses like Lu’s Toilet Rentals, and usually during the Jaffa-rolling competitions), Kiwi movie theatres often unspooled the company’s one-reel
True-Life Adventures.
Mostly created between 1948 and 1960, the shorts won several Oscars and came with self-explanatory titles like Seal Island, In Beaver
Valley and Bear Country. It was only later on that we discovered not only how cloying the anthropomorphism of ‘‘Mister Bear’’ and company really was, but also just how much footage was staged and fabricated (and how many lemmings were sacrificed in the name of entertainment).
Recently, thanks largely to the world’s Imax theatres and the success of March of the Penguins and anything voiced by David Attenborough, Disney has revived their Nature strand, drafting in celebrity voices to add glamour and gravitas to stunningly captured footage of the world’s creatures going about their annual routines.
With Earth Day on the horizon (April 22, and not the 21st, despite
Dramarama telling us so in song), Disney+ has released a new batch that includes two voiced by a pair of princesses.
In the aquatic corner, there’s
Star Wars’ Padme Amadala, Natalie Portman, while in the desert section we have the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
Both Dolphin Reef and Elephant follow a similar, familiar format. A year in the life of a family and ecosystem, filled with moments of high drama, cutesy antics and breathtaking imagery. It’s true, both docos looks amazing, making use of drones, underwater cameras and long lenses, while those expecting authoritative Attenborough should be aware instead it’s anthropomorphism a go-go.
In Dolphin Reef, our ‘‘hero’’ is three-year-old bottle-nosed dolphin Echo, in Elephant, it’s one-year-old pachyderm Jomo. The pair have a lot to learn about life in their respective environments and both will be taught a hard lesson or two by the time the credits roll. The audience will also get an education. You’ll discover that dolphins sleep with one eye and half-a-brain open and that elephants go through six sets of teeth during their life.
However, it also becomes quickly clear that one of these tales is far superior to the other.
Despite a troubled history (after a successful French release, featuring Belgian actress Cecile de France on vocal duties, an Owen Wilson-narrated version was scuppered last minute), Dolphin
Reef is an absorbing adventure. It’s main appeal is its cast of weird and wonderful characters. Sure, Echo and his pod are the main focus, but the tiny Polynesian reef has more eclectic inhabitants than a Coen Brothers or Tim Burton movie. There’s the frightening broadclub cuttlefish, the sand-pooping humphead parrotfish and Dolphin Reef’s true scene-stealer – the OCDsymptomatic mantis shrimp. All of them are brought to life via Black
Swan and Leon star Portman’s lively commentary, which adds much to the enjoyment.
Contrast this to Elephant, where Markle’s overly-syrupy voice-over lacks the same variety and nuance (although she does get to make a fart joke). It’s easy to see what appealed to the former Suits actor about the project – ostensibly it’s about a mother trying to protect her young son from an endless stream of perils but, listening to her discuss family matriarchs and responsibilities, one can’t help be reminded of the recent baggage.
And while the dust and danger of this ‘‘incredible road trip’’ occasionally compels, it feels like a well worn path – river crossings, lion encounters, mud baths et al.