Disneynature

Two polar bears in a scene from "Earth."

In the 1950s, the Disney studio set the standard for nature documentaries with its "True Life Adventure" series. Such movies as "The Living Desert" earned critical acclaim as well as bucks at the box office.

Disney is now back in the business with its Disneynature division, which premiered "Earth" on Earth Day. It's a magnificently photographed, kid-friendly production that should play well to all audiences.

It's actually a collaboration with the Discovery Channel and the BBC and it owes its pedigree to cable's "Planet Earth" series.

James Earl Jones narrates the production with the tone of a kindly uncle telling bedtime stories. Directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield frame the movie with the story of three animal families and their struggle for survival.

A mother polar bear and her two cubs emerge from their den into arctic daylight in order to travel to the coast for a meal of seals. Meanwhile, the so-called father is hunting on his own. There are few things cuter than polar bear cubs and the directors are savvy enough to exploit their antics.

In Africa, a mother elephant and her calf make a grueling trek across Africa's parched Kalahari Desert in search of food and water. The other animal family consists of a mother whale and her calf who migrate 4,000 miles from the tropics to the Antarctic Ocean's food-rich waters. In between these narratives are entertaining side trips that span the globe.

"Earth" doesn't break the mold on nature documentaries. It creates a mixture of humor and drama with its animal stars in a familiar and expected format. Woodland ducklings plummet from their nest in a funny freefall while learning to fly. A surrealistic New Guinea bird of paradise does a mating dance for his disinterested love object. Penguins slide on their bellies.

The drama deals mostly with the hunter and the hunted. Tennyson's observation "nature, red in tooth and claw," isn't exactly ignored. But the camera turns away from the red part after following the chase between predators and prey. This is an apparent strategy to maintain its G rating. The filmmakers articulate the idea of nature's life-and-death struggles without graphic depictions of the inevitable conclusions, which might disturb children.

The most dramatic segment deals with the papa polar bear as his ice hunting grounds shrink and he faces starvation. "Earth" is by no means preachy but it acknowledges the threat of global warming to polar bears and the rest of life on the planet.

An appreciation of nature's spectacular beauty and diversity is not the only thing this compelling documentary inspires. It also inspires an appreciation of the logistics, planning and vision of the filmmakers who made it possible.