Project-Blu Disneynature's earth, by M. Enois Duarte

Disneynature's earth

By: M. Enois Duarte, 9.10.2009

The Movie Itself:
Dating as far back the production of Bambi and their True-Life Adventure series of short subjects, the Walt Disney Company is no stranger to nature documentaries. In fact, the motion pictures group has won several Academy Awards for their work. In April of 2008, the company founded a new label, dubbed Disneynature, dedicated strictly for the development of high-quality features about our natural world. The first film released with the subsidiary brand was the American version of earth, a British-German-American collaboration which hit theaters earlier this year on Earth Day. And it makes for an excellent debut as a stunning and awe-inspiring global tour of our planet.

From the award-winning team who also produced Deep Blue, The Blue Planet and the landmark television series on The Discovery Channel Planet Earth, the nature documentary chronicles how the diverse animal and plant life from around the world survive over the course of a calendar year. The film focuses primarily on the migratory journey of three different species: polar bears, African elephants, and humpback whales. Along the way, the stories of other animals in various parts of the world are included, while additional scenes which depict seasonal changes are woven into the narrative. Thanks to the use of aerial cameras and time-lapse photography, the 90-minute feature is a splendid spectacle of natural beauty.

In actuality, the film is a condensed version of Planet Earth, splicing together many of the same footage found in the episode "From Pole to Pole", as well as a few key scenes from other episodes. On the surface, this sounds like a cheat, but really it's a smart move for a newly-formed company. First, and with the help of the same creators of the amazing program, they devised a simple and universal narrative surrounding the three species as families living in their natural habitat. Then, the film chronicles the one year span by starting in the high Arctic with a polar bear mother and her cubs and concludes in the south with a humpback whale guiding her calf to their feeding grounds near Antarctica. Somewhere along the way, we visit a pack of African elephants navigating through a dust storm, indicating the middle of the year.

The end result is a surprisingly enjoyable documentary which offers a quick overview of our planet's natural state. For children too young to appreciate the scope and depth of the original BBC series, this shortens the length to an quicker sit-down and with an easily accessible storyline any child can understand, which is what the filmmakers intended. This feature is clearly for the children and generates interest within them about natural history. Heavily edited for the Disney favored G-rating, depictions of cuddly baby animals like mandarin ducklings jumping from their tree-hole nest will have the kiddies staring in awe, while the birds of paradise in the New Guinea rainforest will have them roaring with pointing fingers of laughter.

Only sights which might have the tykes cowering with hands over their eyes are mildly brutal but also add a certain reality of the wild kingdom, like Arctic wolves chasing young caribou or lions bringing down an adolescent elephant or papa polar bear defeated by hunger. Nonetheless, the film is a nice addition to an award-winning collection of the same production team. With the now-standard but not overtly heavy-handed environmental cautions which threaten our planet, Disneynature's earth makes for a great entry from the new label, and I expect to see a great many more things in the near future.
Rating: 8/10

The Presentation:
Coming from the studio which constantly satisfies in terms of hi-def picture quality, Disney Studios Home Entertainment debuts earth with a lovely, sometimes breathtaking AVC MPEG-4 encode in a 1.78:1 window. The highly-detailed photography boasts resolute contours of various things, clear perceptibility of the outlines in a variety of foliage, and observable definition in the individual hairs of numerous animals. Richly saturated colors fill the screen, especially some very bold and dramatic greens and blues, and provide the picture with energetic life. Contrast and brightness levels are pitch-perfect, offering amazing visibility of far-distant objects, cleanly sharp whites, deep blacks, and appreciable dimension.

Unfortunately, not all is perfect in the wonderful world of Disney, as there are some noticeable scenes which fall short of reference and spoil the consistency. While banding, noise and other video artifacts are not glaringly obvious, several instances of ringing are a bit more problematic. A few other scenes lose their luster and sharpness, and the grain can at times exhibit a heavier structure than normal. All things considered, the issues are light and negligible, likely attributed to the photography rather than the transfer process. Those aside, this Blu-ray edition of earth is gorgeous and a perfect addition to any nature buff's hi-def collection.
Rating: 9.0/10

Along for the ride is a very entertaining and highly enjoyable DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, as it fills the room with the random sounds of nature. Being the only voice in the entire doc (other than the animals, of course), James Earl Jones's narration is clear and intelligible, even amidst the film's wildest and loudest scenes. The mix is evenly distributed amongst the three front channels, creating a wonderful wall of sound and great room penetration. Dynamics are full and robust with heavy, palpable low-frequency effects. Directional cues enhance the soundfield and envelop the listening area, as exotic birds call out into the wilds of the Amazon, lions growl at elephants at your side, and arctic winds blow across the living room. The original score by George Fenton is a terrific highlight, warmly absorbing the viewer and brimming with emotion and excitement. This lossless track is a very nice addition to the picture.
Rating: 8.4/10

Overall Presentation: 9/10

** 9 - 10 = Reference / 8 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **

The Extras:
It may not look like much, but the supplemental package of this Blu-ray edition of Disneynature's earth is a surefire deal breaker for anyone trying to decide between the formats. It comes with an exclusive feature made possible only through Blu-ray and is absolutely astounding and groundbreaking. Here's hoping that other studios take note and follow suit. The package also houses a standard definition DVD copy of the film.

Living Menu
This extraordinary aspect of the disc turns the main menu into its own special feature, where off to the bottom-right, viewers can see their local time and weather accurately displayed. In the center of the screen, planet earth can be made to rotate and click on different highlighted areas of each continent, which then reveal a short video or a factual text about that particular area. They're not very extensive, but this is an enjoyable feature I hope to see implemented in the future.
Filmmaker Annotations
A Picture-in-Picture track from the filmmakers, accompanied by a fact track and video clips.
Earth Diaries (HD, 43 min)
The only real featurette in the entire package is this making-of doc, where the creators discuss challenges and the amount of work they put into making this film.

Rating: 7/10

Final Thoughts:
The Walt Disney Company's new subsidiary debut is a surprisingly entertaining spectacle of our planet's natural beauty. Disneynature's earth is a nature documentary aimed for younger audiences with heavy edits and an easily accessible storyline that can be enjoyed by parents as well. This Blu-ray edition of the film arrives with an excellent picture quality, very good audio, and a nice supplemental package, with one feature I hope to see implemented in future releases. Fans will be happy with the purchase and everyone else should give it a rent.
Rating: 8/10