By Francine Brokaw, guest post
“Born in China” is the ninth film from DisneyNature, which, through the Conservation Fund, has made a contribution to World Wildlife Fund to focus efforts that benefit wild pandas and snow leopards. “Born in China” joins “Earth,” “Crimson Wing,” “Oceans,” “Wings of Life,” “African Cats,” “Chimpanzee,” “Bears,” and “Monkey Kingdom” in bringing the Circle of Life to viewers in a beautiful and artful way.
The movie is narrated by John Krasinski, who not only educates viewers about the animals featured in the film, but also adds a bit of whimsy as well. Along with a wonderful soundtrack, the film is an entertaining look into the wilds of China.
Featured in the film are several families that call China their home. They are golden snub-nosed monkeys, snow leopards, antelopes, and, of course, pandas.
The two-year-old monkey is a bit daunted by the attention his new baby sister is receiving from his parents. His rebellious behavior is sure to steal your heart, especially when he discovers family is the most important thing. And a panda mom definitely demonstrates maternal feelings for her young daughter, keeping her close until the cub demonstrates she is getting old enough to be out on her own. The snow leopard mother and her two cubs have a heart-wrenching story. We all know not everything is rosy in the wild, and in this case it is definitely a sad story when the family is basically overrun by more brutal leopards who move in and take their land. And, spoiler alert, the mother snow leopard does die. That’s part of the circle of life.
The Chiru, or antelopes, are an interesting herd. The females leave the males and travel far to give birth and give their babies a good start in life before they all travel back to the males. This takes place over and over again. It’s an interesting activity to watch.
Bonus features on the combo pack add to the amazement of this beautifully filmed movie. They focus on the various teams of filmmakers that are tasked with filming the different animals. Sometimes it takes months of being in the wild before actually finding the animals. No snow leopard cubs have ever been filmed in the wild before this and searching out a family was a difficult task, as was looking for the pandas and the specific monkey behavior they wanted to capture for the film.
