REVIEWING: CHIMPANZEE

CHIMPANZEE by Disney

Independent and impressively talented and dedicated film-makers provided the footage of the wild chimpanzees.  Disney organized it and added a lot of anthropomorphic music and narration, but stopped short of a laugh-track.  (Does anyone besides me ever wonder why there are not cry-tracks for sentimental moments? Just to make sure we get the emoting right... )

Disney has long been renowned for it's nature films' photography: in the 50s, one of my most-loved litte folks was Perry the Squirrel.  I was 4 or 5, when that came out.  I had the Golden Book novelization, too.  At that age, the narration and thinking this cute little guy was like me, was just fine.

This time, I'd much prefer that Disney forego the narration and the inapt music track, let it all speak for itself, let the editing of the material tell the story.  Okay, a modicum of hushed, informative verbal input... or a few words  on the screen as preface, or maybe a few lines of subtitling.  But not Tim Allen putting out lame humorous remarks that detract from who and what chimps are, and what their world is like, really.  Maybe if they could have gotten the dryly amused voice-over guy who did THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY...  but they didn't. (That was Paddy O'Byrne, by the way.)

Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield are the photographers credited for what is some astonishing footage: The end-credits go into some proper documentarian detail of the adventure of getting this footage, and I can't help but wonder what ended on Disney's cutting-room floor.  I would eagerly watch a proper documentary, which, if it is ever made, will be truly fascinating, and a far greater contribution to the world of popular knowledge and the hope of understanding. It will have what Disney so deftly removes from most of its product: depth.

Do I recommend CHIMPANZEES?  If you can somehow block the music and narration tracks, absolutely.  If Disney--now they own the rights to the photographer's work-- ever gets its act together to make a real documentary of this astounding footage and the real true story, I will be there to see it. 

This, however, is just sad.

The following link will take you to the New York Times review.  I note the reactions to the film of that reviewer run pretty much on the same lines as mine.
http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/movies/chimpanzee-a-disney-film-narrated-by-tim-allen.html