Three animal families and their life on the planet called Earth **** 4 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Disneynature Earth stunning on Blu-ray

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/8/2009 – “The polar bear has become an emblem for all the animals that are struggling on planet Earth because its plight is so visual,” says Disneynature Earth director Mark Linfield. “When the polar bear falls through the ice, you almost need no commentary. The images just tell the story, and it’s heart-rending.”

In Earth, eight polar bears struggle to survive catastrophic climate change. “The polar bear in a very real sense is a barometer for what’s happening and a warning for what’s ahead,” says Linfield. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the creative team behind the Emmy-winning Planet Earth, bring this epic adventure to the big screen.

“Nature invents the most beautiful stories,” says Disney EVP and general manager Jean-François Camilleri. “If you’re looking for the best scripts, they’re actually in nature. At Disney Studios, where storytelling is key, we’re going to go and look for the stories in nature and bring them to the big screen. This was a vision of Walt Disney back in 1948, and this is the vision of Disneynature today.” Earth is the first film to release in Disneynature series.

“We literally filmed from pole to pole,” says director Alastair Fothergill. “It’s a celebration of the beauty of the entire planet. In a sense, Earth is like the overture in an opera. It’s the very, very best together in a wonderful epic celebration, so it’s a wonderful opener for the whole of the Disneynature series of movies.”

“I think the public worldwide is really looking for films which are entertaining, educational, which show beautiful things about nature and are environmentally conscious,” says Camilleri. “I think that Disney is the best studio to do this because that’s what Walt Disney created 60 years ago.” Camilleri plans to release one feature-length nature film a year.

Narrated by James Earl Jones, Earth tells the story of three animal families and their journeys across The film has gorgeous footage of the vastness and beauty of earth. The three families the film follows are families of polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.

In the Arctic, a mother polar bear trailed by her two cubs searches for food as their icy hunting grounds melt away. A herd of African elephants slowly traverses the arid Kalahari Desert toward the water-rich Okavango delta. A humpback whale and her calf make a 4,000-mile journey in an epic migration that takes them from tropical waters to Antarctica. Remarkable high-definition footage follows these creatures and more to places human beings rarely see, capturing unique worlds populated by Mandarin ducks and birds of paradise, a pride of lions and a vast caribou herd. Filled with surprising facts and extraordinary images, Earth is a dazzling portrait of life on our planet.

Earth is a gorgeous reminder of how great our planet is. See the vastness of the ocean and desert and the disappearing ice.

Earth is available as a single-disc DVD or two-disc Blu-ray Hi-Def/DVD Combo Pack. Bonus Features for Earth Both Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD include Earth Diaries, The making of Disneynature’s first feature film, Filmmaker’s Annotations, and an in-movie experience with pop up facts. See dizzying aerial photography, epic backdrops and rare footage of land, sea and air in stunning high definition Blu-ray.

Disneynature Earth
Release date: September 1, 2009, DVD and Blu-ray
Feature run time: 96 minutes
Rated: G, US and Canada
Aspect ratio: Widescreen 1.78:1
Sound: DVD: English, French and Spanish, BD: English 5.1 DTS, French and Spanish