African Cats
2011 Directed by Keith Scholey, Alastair Fothergill
Synopsis
African Cats captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.
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I always find beauty in nature, and this documentary proved just how amazing it is. Narrated by none other than Samuel Jackson, this story follows two lion prides, and a mother Cheetah and her cubs. The trials and survival skills that these animals go through to stay alive and protect their family is heartwarming and fascinating. It even got me all teary eyed seeing the bond that these mothers have with their cubs. Beautifully shot as often Disney does with these types of films. A most for any animal and nature lover.
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One of the few benefits of being British is that we have been blessed with great wildlife documentaries for several decades now (most from the BBC and fronted by the great David Attenborough). These series’ always strike the perfect balance between being educational, entertaining and inspiring and based on the evidence of Disney’s African Cats it is obviously not a balance that is easily achieved.
Disappointingly, educational content makes way for developing a narrative that anthropomorphizes the cats to make them more relatable to the audience. However, it is a cheap and pointless trick that drastically limits the film’s impact. In the UK the documentary is narrated by Patrick Stewart (unlike the original US version with Samuel L Jackson) and…
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I want a baby cheetah!
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Beautifully shot and well narrated.
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This documentary follows two mother cats, a lion and a cheetah, as they try to protect their cubs on the African savanna.
Adults who have even a minimal layman's knowledge of these magnificent animals will probably not get much new information, but they will be treated to incredible visuals that will unfortunately lose much of their power on most home screens. Filmmakers Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey have really captured some extraordinary images. Children are likely to be captivated. My own four-year-old son was challenged a bit by the 90 minute running time, but was frequently drawn in by what was on the screen and finally declared it to be "so much fun." The narration features the anthropomorphism and sentimentality that plague so many Disney nature films (i.e., "To Mara, Fang is the best daddy ever"), but the essential quality of the filmmakers' work shines through.
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Als Tierfilm betrachtet ist “Im Reich der Raubkatzen” ein schöner Film. In tollen Bildern werden einem die Natur und der Lebensraum der Wildkatzen näher gebracht und gerade den Tierbabys kann man einen gewissen Niedlichkeitsfaktor nicht absprechen.
Aber: Warum wird verzweifelt versucht dem Leben in der Natur eine menschliche Seele aufzudrücken? Warum vermittelt man so ausgetretene Bilder von guten und bösen Tieren? Und warum wiederholt man in der Erzählung immer und immer wieder dieselben Aussagen? Gerade der letze Aspekt stört den Filmgenuss doch ungemein, fühlt man sich doch dadurch stellenweise wie einer der vielen schlechten Scripted Reality Shows. Klar, dem jüngeren Publikum wird es so leichter fallen bestimmte Handlungsmuster zu verstehen, aber ganz ehrlich ein “jetzt ist Mara allein” weniger hätte…
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I am so happy a docu-film like this exists. I fell in love with the narrative. It as great to see these cats grow in the wild, adapt, hunt, everything!
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A wonderful and beautiful shot documentary with great narration of Samuel L. Jackson. It gives a great insight into two lion prides life and fight for survival as well as a look into how a single Cheetah-mother raises her cubs.
The narration by SLJ is fantastic. Him describing a majestic big cat on the hunt for food and then whispering "Success" after a wild chase is pretty badass.
The soundtrack is great and definitely worth mentioning.
Be sure to stay for the humorous credits. -
Beautifully shot and well narrated.
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I always find beauty in nature, and this documentary proved just how amazing it is. Narrated by none other than Samuel Jackson, this story follows two lion prides, and a mother Cheetah and her cubs. The trials and survival skills that these animals go through to stay alive and protect their family is heartwarming and fascinating. It even got me all teary eyed seeing the bond that these mothers have with their cubs. Beautifully shot as often Disney does with these types of films. A most for any animal and nature lover.
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Kinda boring Disney doc that paints these big monsters as brave and noble beasts instead of the cold blooded killers that they are. Highlight is a lion vs a crocodile.
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One of the few benefits of being British is that we have been blessed with great wildlife documentaries for several decades now (most from the BBC and fronted by the great David Attenborough). These series’ always strike the perfect balance between being educational, entertaining and inspiring and based on the evidence of Disney’s African Cats it is obviously not a balance that is easily achieved.
Disappointingly, educational content makes way for developing a narrative that anthropomorphizes the cats to make them more relatable to the audience. However, it is a cheap and pointless trick that drastically limits the film’s impact. In the UK the documentary is narrated by Patrick Stewart (unlike the original US version with Samuel L Jackson) and…
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I want a baby cheetah!