Support the Free Press | Facts matter. Truth matters. Journalism matters
Salt Lake City Weekly has been Utah's source of independent news and in-depth journalism since 1984. Donate today to ensure the legacy continues.
Film Search
click to enlarge
Penguins
Documentary
DisneyNature features have figured out a formula—and the variations on their effectiveness is all about the execution of that formula. This one follows Adélie penguins of Antarctica—specifically, a protagonist called Steve—through one year of their life cycle of migration to their coastal mating grounds, raising chicks, and heading back out to sea for the winter. Ed Helms offers a combination of descriptive narration and Steve’s internal monologue, and manages to strike a nice balance of warmth and low-key humor to carry through the typically impressive up-close footage (as always, stick around during the credits to see how directors Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson get those shots). And while some of the humor is as broad and clunky as the choice of music cues—e.g. REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” for breeding season—the storytelling is effectively simplified in a way that gets young viewers invested. It’s cute, it’s educational and it only occasionally makes you wish it would talk to you like a grown-up.
Official Site: nature.disney.com/penguins
Director: Jeff Wilson and Alastair Fothergill
Producer: Alastair Fothergill, Jeff Wilson, Keith Scholey and Roy Conli
Director: Jeff Wilson and Alastair Fothergill
Producer: Alastair Fothergill, Jeff Wilson, Keith Scholey and Roy Conli
