Disney has come out with a new movie called “Earth” to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2009. This movie is a great way to demonstrate the magnitude and fragility of our planet to the younger members of your family. It also opens up an opportunity for you to talk to them about the importance of taking care of our planet and ways they can help. At www.disney.go.com/disneynature/earth/ they have downloadable educational materials meant for educators, but I think they could be very useful for parents as well.
About The Movie
This is the first film in the Disneynature series, earth, narrated by James Earl Jones. It tells the remarkable story of three animal families and their amazing journey across this planet we all call home. Earth combines rare action, unimaginable scale and impossible locations by capturing the most intimate moments of our planet’s wildest and most elusive creatures. It is directed by Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, the same team that brought us the Emmy Award-winning Planet Earth series.
About The Animals
- Polar Bears Each spring polar bear mothers and their young cubs emerge from their dens in search of food. The bears know that they must reach the ice before it begins to melt or it will break up too much and make catching seal impossible.
- African Elephants During the dry season in the Kalahari Desert thousands of elephants must travel long distances to find food and water. They instinctively head for the Okavango, an inland delta that serves as a gathering place where life-giving waters will soon flow.
- Humpback Whales Humpback Whale calves are born in warm tropic waters and depend on their mother’s milk to survive. But there is no food for the mothers to eat in these waters. They must journey thousands of mile to the feeding grounds of the Antarctic before summer ends and their food source is gone.
Watching “Earth” next week will not only be an incredibly educational and inspirational experience that will benefit your mind, it will also benefit the planet. For every ticket purchased during opening weekend Disney will plant a tree in the purchaser’s honor.
(Photos By: Andrew, Mara1, Doctor Warner, and Rob)
