Monkey Kingdom

Hi Owl,

Now that we've started taking weekends off, I get forgetful. It's hard to get back into the swing of posting on Mondays! So, since we've fallen a bit behind, we're both posting tonight.

Owl and I have a tradition of going to the movies on Tuesdays when we both have time. Some of the local theaters have $5 movies every Tuesday, and we can generally find something interesting. This week we talked about seeing The Woman in Gold, but changed our plans at the last minute.

Instead, we went to see Monkey Kingdom. While this is a far cry from The Woman in Gold, it had its advantages as a favorite front-runner for tonight's viewing: it's short (82 minutes) and we were both exhausted, it's educational, though albeit targeted to a younger audience, and most importantly, proceeds from ticket sales this week were donated to Conservation International, to help protect forests in India, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.

In 2008, Walt Disney Studios founded an independent film label, Disneynature. Specializing in nature documentaries, Disneynature has, as of this week, released eight feature films, with another one in the works for 2016. Generally released to coincide with Earth Day, these films are released not only to show off masterful cinematography and cute animal stories, but also to raise awareness for conservation efforts world-wide. Proceeds from tickets sold in the first week of each of the eight film releases have gone to support various conservation efforts. For instance, last year's release, Bears, followed a family of grizzly bears in Alaska, and proceeds went to support the National Park Foundation.  Bears was our first introduction to Disneynature, and part of what made us so eager to see Monkey Kingdom. The 2010 movie Oceans donated first-week ticket sale proceeds to The Nature Conservancy, in an effort to save coral reefs and establish new protected marine areas in the Bahamas. And anybody who goes to see Monkey Kingdom this week will help to support Conservation International. Tina Fey, the narrator of Monkey Kingdom, is just the latest in a line of big-ticket actors that have lent their talent to Disneynature, including James Earl Jones, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson.

These documentaries are clearly aimed at younger children. They are tied together with strong, if exaggerated, narratives, and the anthropomorphic characterizations of the animals does call to mind the typical Disney "cutification" of often grim subjects. After all, if Disney can turn Grimm's fairy tales into whimsical romps through wonderland, turning the harsh realities of life in the (non-human) animal kingdom should be a natural step for them. From a scientific standpoint I object on principle to personifying bears and sharks and even our relatively close monkey cousins in overly-anthropomorphic ways, but from a story-telling standpoint, I applaud Disneynature on their ability to spin a concrete, compelling story out of the vast tangle of footage.

And speaking of footage, the real highlight of these documentaries, for me, is the cinematography. The intense dedication and inspired eye these cinematographers have shows clearly in the breathtaking array of visually scintillating compositions. My mom and I have long shared grand daydreams of photographic nature and wildlife for National Geographic, and seeing the incredible opportunities these photographers and cinematographers have as they film makes me want to pack my bags right now and join them. From close-up shots of intimate moments in the complex hierarchy of the macaque monkeys to aerial shots of sprawling forests and towering ruins, to action shots of the urban jungles of Polonnaruwa, the cinematography is astonishingly varied and consistently delightful.

Monkey Kingdom isn't going to win any awards for best script. But it was beautiful, fun, educational, and it made me think. About the earth, about humanity's place in a vast and ineffable world, about the secrets of this world we have yet to uncover. And best of all, Disneynature did something that I strongly believe more film studios should do: put its money where its mouth is. For as huge as studio as Disney is, the contributions this movie raised were just a drop in the bucket, but it made a difference for the conservationists who work tirelessly to preserve some portion of the earth that we are, undeniably, altering.

Also, this movie featured a monkey riding a dog, so I don't really know what else you could ask for.

Happy Earth Day. Go hug a tree, and turn off the lights when you leave the room tonight. The monkeys thank you.