Big on girl power but not quite Attenborough

Review Elephant ★★★☆☆

Those of us reared on a high-fibre diet of David Attenborough documentaries might find Elephant a little sweet in the tusk. This Disneynature production can trace its origins to the BBC Natural History Unit: its director, Mark Linfield, worked on the groundbreaking Planet Earth and Frozen Planet series, and its epic and intimate wildlife photography is of a comparably jaw-dropping standard.

But in place of the huskily reassuring Attenborough baritone is the honeyed alto of one Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex as she is credited here, in her first screen role, sort of, since she and Prince Harry announced they were stepping down from royal duties. (Her part was recorded in London at the end of last year, and Disney+ has made a donation to the Elephants Without Borders charity.)

She turns out to be a fine match for the tone of the piece, which vacillates between regal and cutesy-poo with occasional gusts of girl-power uplift.

“This matriarch is a force to be reckoned with and a role model for the entire herd,” she approvingly notes of the leader of the herd, a 40-year-old colossus called Gaia, who is preparing to lead her clan on their annual thousand-mile migration from Botswana’s Okavango Delta to and from the Zambezi River on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other herds are referred to as “families from the neighbourhood”, while their final wallow before departure is introduced with a chirpy Californian cry of, “Time for a pool party!” On the Origin of Species it isn’t, but for younger viewers it’s instantly and lastingly engaging: if you’re home schooling at present, consider Friday morning’s activities taken care of.

Streaming on Disney+ from Friday April 3.