'Earth' has been compared by many to the documentary milestone 'Planet Earth' with David Attenborough, incomporable in my eyes in the documentary genre. That is an absolutely amazing series, one of the best of its kind, and while comparisons are inevitable 'Earth' does deserve to stand on its own without constant comparison. Loving Disney and documentaries were selling points, but so was James Earl Jones (somebody who makes anything he's in better) as narrator.
Had no doubt that 'Earth' would be at least good. And it was. No more than that, it was amazing and something of an achievement. Of the DisneyNature documentaries, 'Earth' is my personal favourite, the one that gripped, informed, entertained and moved me the most. It is the second highest grossing DisneyNature film after 'Monkey Kingdom', except to me 'Earth' is actually much better (liked that on the whole despite issues with the narration and music, but loved this).
Visually, 'Earth' looks absolutely spectacular. That is the one consistent aspect of the DisneyNature documentaries, that they are exceptionally well made on a visual level, but this is one of the best-looking and the closest the DisneyNature documentaries came to masterpiece level. The photography especially is a joy to behold and enhances the scenery, that leaves one in awe constantly, brilliantly. So many standout scenes, but the polar bears, the Adelie penguins on the icy terrain and the soaring cranes do stand out, while the darker scenes are tremendously vivid.
The music fits very well stylistically and had no problem with any of its placement or tone, it is one of not enough DisneyNature documentaries to actually seem to remember what genre it's scoring for, no out of place pop or over-grandiose scoring that seemed to try too hard to be cinematic present in some of the other ones. There are a lot of unforgettable moments in 'Earth', the polar bears story is incredibly moving but other standouts were the truly shocking and heart-breaking caribou calf and wolf sequence and the beautifully triumphant scene with the elephant herd reaching their goal.
After having problems with the narration writing and delivery of some of the other DisneyNature documentaries, it was a relief to have one that nailed both. The information provided is very informative and entertains and moves without contrived jokiness or over-sentimental schmaltz, while the more environmental material makes its point with force it didn't feel too preachy to me like it could easily have done. Jones' voice booms and soothes in the delivery of this information, his voice is immediately recognisable and have always loved it and it was great to have a narrator chosen for his talent rather than star power or box office draw. The animals are a mix of adorable and unsettling.
Overall, just wonderful and my personal favourite of the DisneyNature documentaries. 10/10
Had no doubt that 'Earth' would be at least good. And it was. No more than that, it was amazing and something of an achievement. Of the DisneyNature documentaries, 'Earth' is my personal favourite, the one that gripped, informed, entertained and moved me the most. It is the second highest grossing DisneyNature film after 'Monkey Kingdom', except to me 'Earth' is actually much better (liked that on the whole despite issues with the narration and music, but loved this).
Visually, 'Earth' looks absolutely spectacular. That is the one consistent aspect of the DisneyNature documentaries, that they are exceptionally well made on a visual level, but this is one of the best-looking and the closest the DisneyNature documentaries came to masterpiece level. The photography especially is a joy to behold and enhances the scenery, that leaves one in awe constantly, brilliantly. So many standout scenes, but the polar bears, the Adelie penguins on the icy terrain and the soaring cranes do stand out, while the darker scenes are tremendously vivid.
The music fits very well stylistically and had no problem with any of its placement or tone, it is one of not enough DisneyNature documentaries to actually seem to remember what genre it's scoring for, no out of place pop or over-grandiose scoring that seemed to try too hard to be cinematic present in some of the other ones. There are a lot of unforgettable moments in 'Earth', the polar bears story is incredibly moving but other standouts were the truly shocking and heart-breaking caribou calf and wolf sequence and the beautifully triumphant scene with the elephant herd reaching their goal.
After having problems with the narration writing and delivery of some of the other DisneyNature documentaries, it was a relief to have one that nailed both. The information provided is very informative and entertains and moves without contrived jokiness or over-sentimental schmaltz, while the more environmental material makes its point with force it didn't feel too preachy to me like it could easily have done. Jones' voice booms and soothes in the delivery of this information, his voice is immediately recognisable and have always loved it and it was great to have a narrator chosen for his talent rather than star power or box office draw. The animals are a mix of adorable and unsettling.
Overall, just wonderful and my personal favourite of the DisneyNature documentaries. 10/10