Monkey see, monkey enjoyable
Anthropologist Jane Goodall praises Disneynature for its mix of documentary, fun
Disneynature’s delicate balance of offering family entertainment while providing accurate information continues with the documentary Monkey Kingdom, the sixth in the series.
Previously, the nature theme and a narrative style were presented in Disneynature films Earth, Oceans, African Cats, Bears and Chimpanzee.
“I think it’s good because you have to provide a certain kind of entertainment if you want people to see the movies,” says Jane Goodall, renowned anthropologist and Disneynature ambassador.
“The films are expensive to make when you send a team out for three years so they can get to know the individual personalities and what to film.”
In Monkey Kingdom, narrated by Tina Fey, co-directors Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill follow the exploits of a toque macaque monkey called Maya, who is attempting to survive in a Sri Lankan jungle.
It’s not easy for Maya. She ranks near the lowest class of the troop, which means she feeds last, if it all, and must take what is left over on the jungle floor when she does. Maya’s also relegated to the poorest sleeping area at the headquarters of her troop on Castle Rock, the remains of a thousand-year-old Buddhist temple.
Things change rapidly within the rigid system when Castle Rock is invaded by a rival gang that expels them, forcing a trek to a nearby village to scavenge for food.
As Maya shows with her son Kip clinging to her, only ingenuity and resilience allow them to survive in a harsh, unforgiving environment.
“Maya is very distinctive, with dark patches on her nose and the hair, and that’s why she was chosen in the first place,” says Goodall, who visited the shoot in Sri Lanka “because I can’t be a good ambassador if I don’t get the feeling of what filming was like.”
In other words, directors Linfield and Fothergill lucked out when they chose Maya to follow. “Lo and behold they selected her as the star and it turned out she was,” the anthropologist says. “Although they couldn’t have predicted what would unfold.”
Along the way, Monkey Kingdom also exploits the monkeys’ playful nature, acrobatic tendencies and curious habits.
There’s even some rare footage of starving lower-class monkeys desperately searching out a unique source of food.
“The monkeys swimming under water for water lily bulbs was amazing because they looked like otters,” Goodall says. “I’ve heard of this but nobody’s ever filmed it before.”
Predators show up as well. One is successful but the scene is hardly graphic and mostly a quick edit — yet a notable PG reminder that it is a jungle out there.
In fact, Goodall says the Disneynature movies are generally accurate in representing animal life in the wild.
For instance, she confirms those Monkey Kingdom monkeys do, indeed, have a strict caste system “and it’s normally impossible to move up the ranks.”
Appropriately enough, Monkey Kingdom is being released in proximity of Earth Day on April 22.
“I think these films, including Monkey Kingdom, have been valuable in raising awareness,” says Goodall, who champions global conservation and animal rights.
For every Monkey Kingdom theatre ticket sold in Canada and the U. S. the first week of release, Disneynature will make a donation to help protect monkeys and other endangered species living in their natural habitats.