Chimpanzee
2012 Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Synopsis
A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests.
Popular reviews
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Disney nature doc that follows baby chimp Oscar and his trial and tragedies.
They kinda make it into a storyline where the "evil" Scar and his bunch of "thugs" try and take over Oscar's groups part of the jungle.
I actually think Scar is misunderstood and Disney have persecuted him in this.
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As far as Disney nature docs go this one is frustratingly typical from a narrative and editing perspective but it is absolutely gorgeously filmed. Children will love it and there are enough interesting chimp scenes to forgive the obvious dense story spine the filmmakers are going for. The Making Of Docs are actually better than the film but this is still better than say Oceans and is a decent enough family movie night although in terms of learning about chimpanzees you will get nothing that approaches even the most surface Nat Geo TV Doc or Jane Goodall video.
I wonder if this would play good on a triple bill with Project Nim and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
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Chimps rock! Chimps rule! And Oscar the chimp is cooler than cool. See his amazing jungle adventures in glorious DisneyVision, narrated by Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor (who provides some apropos sound FX... watch for it). I laughed, I cried, I threw my poop at the TV.
But seriously, folks, even if the tame, kids-only story isn't quite your bag, the stunning cinematography, capturing the chimps cavorting in the African forests, should still your heart.
This is monkey business the way it 'ought to be. Oo oo.
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This is a masterpiece. I'm glad Disney is bringing back the Nature Film genre, it reminds me of watching Wide World of Disney with my parents on Sunday nights when I was a kid. The quality of footage that was obtained for this movie is amazing. I shaved off half a star because my kids were bored and there were a lot of shots (overhead shots, SO many overhead shots) that were obvious fillers to make it feature length.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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I give this film props for its editing chops and technical prowess in documenting what turns out to be an interesting story about a young chimpanzee named "Oscar". The Tim Allen narration though grates at its attempts at light humor and antropomophization. All in all though, a solid doc- some of the hi-res imagery blew me away.
Recent reviews
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Disney nature doc that follows baby chimp Oscar and his trial and tragedies.
They kinda make it into a storyline where the "evil" Scar and his bunch of "thugs" try and take over Oscar's groups part of the jungle.
I actually think Scar is misunderstood and Disney have persecuted him in this.
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If this is an example of Disney's push into nature documentaries then I would say that the future is pretty bright for them.
This is a decent documentary looking at one young chimp and examining how his life will change. While the film focuses mainly on this one young chimp it looks also at his tribe and how the survive day to day eating, hunting and surviving threats against them. The fact that Disney don't shy away from the simple things like the fact Chimpanzee's hunt and eat other monkeys I thought was very brave considering this is essentially a family film.
While I found it enjoyable I also found it very funny, this is in no small part down…
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Aimed largely at younger audiences, Chimpanzee is more light-hearted and playful than educational or scientific.
But while it’s more aww-inducing than awe-inducing, there’s plenty of chimp-powered charm to go around.
Full review at: www.flixcapacitor.co.uk/film-review/chimpanzee-2013
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Chimpanzee delivers a familiar Disney story of love, loss and overcoming the odds while, at the same time, capturing some truly stunning wild life footage. I could have done without the often corny and dumbed down narration by Tim Allen.
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Cuteness proximity alert! Cuteness proximity alert!
More at FlickFilosopher.com.
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I was lucky enough to see this with a Q&A featuring the directors (and David Attenborough no less!), without the extra detail from the interviews I'd give this a lower score.
Firstly, this film is gorgeous - the HD footage is incredible and hearing the trials and tribulations that they went through in the filming is very impressive. However, the requirements of making a film (a Disney one aimed at children) makes you feel almost short changed by what you're shown - at every turn you want more information or a deeper analysis of what you're shown, but instead get Tim Allen making light hearted remarks.
I'm clearly not the target audience for this, and anything that gets young people…
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Reviewed for Sight & Sound, print only. Dire.
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Chimps rock! Chimps rule! And Oscar the chimp is cooler than cool. See his amazing jungle adventures in glorious DisneyVision, narrated by Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor (who provides some apropos sound FX... watch for it). I laughed, I cried, I threw my poop at the TV.
But seriously, folks, even if the tame, kids-only story isn't quite your bag, the stunning cinematography, capturing the chimps cavorting in the African forests, should still your heart.
This is monkey business the way it 'ought to be. Oo oo.
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A Disneyfied documentary about a baby chimp named Oscar. Schmaltzy and silly but the footage of the chimps is amazing and incredibly cute!!