The Movie Nut

Directed by: Alistair Fothergill, Mark Linfield

Starring: Mother Earth (narrated by James Earl Jones)

MPAA rating: G Running time: 91 minutes Best suited for: humanity

Least suited for: exceptions to the above

"Earth" is Disneynature's feature-length film version of the BBC's remarkable 2006 "Planet Earth" series that spawned a stellar 11-disc DVD set.

I can't imagine the set not being a part of every home film library in the country, in every secondary and high school's library and, frankly, every place one finds an available DVD player. We live here, after all. We should know what we've got. What we can't afford to lose. If that's the bleedingheart, greenspangled, ecocentric liberal tree hugger in me, so be it.

"Earth" was developed concurrently with the BBC series, and the film is, by nature, a stripped-down, abbreviated and far less commanding version of the magnificent "Planet Earth."

I believe I can sum up the opinions of most viewers of "Earth" fairly easily: If you've seen the BBC series or own "Planet Earth," you may be disappointed with this truncated 90-minute edition. If you're unaware of "Planet Earth," I suspect you'll be fascinated and awed by this preview and may indeed rush out to purchase the far more comprehensive BBC series. Good for you.

Don't get me wrong. "Earth" is a visually impressive treat. However, for those of us who've feasted on the series, it seems woefully superficial. Where once elephants roamed (within our TV sets) for 20-minute sequences, we're lucky to get two or three minutes on the screen. Penguins and panthers pass far too swiftly. "Earth" is less a knowledge-fest than a visual stimulation—the whetting of an appetite for those of us enamored with our third rock from the sun.

The photography, of course, is no less astounding here. You'll discover a host of animals (the real stars here) as you've never seen them before. You'll also discover why "Planet Earth" is the top-selling documentary of all time.

Through a combination of digital photography, rabid determination and sometimes blind luck, directors Alistair Fothergill and Mark Linfield have captured a host of onceinalifetime sequences, of creatures in their natural habitats, of living landscapes that seem to blossom and then wilt in seasons that change in the blink of an eye. Truly extraordinary stuff.

For parents of toddlers and small children, a small quandary. You may have heard that "Earth" is occasionally violent, as it traces the survival instincts of both predators and prey. Although such footage does exist in "Earth," I'm reluctant to say the film is unsuitable for any age. There's no bloodletting in the film; the camera cuts away from depicting actual carnage—yet even for young children, there's no misinterpreting the cycle of life and death in the wild.

I suppose if I have a complaint with the film, it's that such footage is flaunted at all (accompanied by a soundtrack perhaps a little too persistent in ratcheting up the tension). I mean this one's "G" (okay, barely "G") rated, although James Earl Jones' narration is utterly kid-friendly. Still, I imagine there's sufficient footage, enough cycles of "nature" to educate and fascinate without the persistent knowledge that, sooner or later, we're all exiting this place.

But Disney seems to have a perennial fascination with putting either youngsters or their parents in danger. Remember "Bambi"? Remember "Finding Nemo"? Remember just about every Disney flick in between?

So be advised that "Earth" does depict finality as an integral part of nature (and one might assume the film could act as an intro to those often sticky "we all have to go sometime" conversations that sooner or later most of us endure). For younger children, easily saddened or frightened, "Earth" may indeed be too ferocious.

But if the film causes even one person to stop, ponder, then purchase "Planet Earth" as (what I consider) the single most rewarding feature in any family's personal film library, then it's well worth seeing. Because this is an elegant, fascinating and exciting place we sit atop. These additional 90 minutes only help to underscore that reality.

Now go hug a tree.