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What is Disneynature?

Disneynature is the first new motion picture label to carry the Disney name in 60 years. Dedicated to working with leading filmmakers to produce cutting-edge wildlife films, Disneynature celebrates the wonders of the world in which we live.

STORIES TOLD BY NATURE
Audiences of every age and every culture attend the movies primarily for one reason: to experience great storytelling. And there are no stories told with more drama, excitement, humour or inspiration than the stories nature tells. Disneynature will travel to the farthest reaches of the planet to capture these stories so they can captivate audiences around the world.

STORIES THAT ARE MORE THAN STORIES
There was a time when most people viewed nature as something apart from themselves. In the 21st century, there is an increasing awareness that we are all a part of nature … a fact we ignore at our peril. Disneynature will reinforce an understanding of the interrelatedness of all life on earth. Working closely with conservation organisations on each film, Disneynature will not only tell the stories of nature but will let people know how, through their actions, they can affect the story's ending.

STORIES THAT ARE PURE DISNEY
In 1948, Walt Disney created the Oscar-winning True-Life Adventure series, which produced landmark wildlife documentaries that taught an entire generation about the beauty and fragility of the world. As Walt Disney said of the series, “Nature writes the screenplays.” The resulting classic films, such as The Vanishing Prairie, The Living Desert and The African Lion, set the template for all nature films to come. In 2004, Disney re-connected with this tradition by co-producing The March of the Penguins, which became a worldwide theatrical phenomenon.

Now, Disney is building on its 60-year documentary heritage with Disneynature.

THE LIVING DESERT
This film stands as a landmark of factual filmmaking. Walt Disney had had a difficult time convincing his distributor, RKO, of the value of the True-Life Adventure featurettes, and had renewed problems when he produced his first feature-length True-Life Adventure. RKO argued that audiences would not pay money to see a one-hour plus film about desert creatures. But again, Disney knew they were wrong. This time he went to Roy Disney and together they decided it was time to part company with RKO and handle the releases of the Disney movies themselves. With some trepidation they made the break and set up the Buena Vista Distribution Company, with its first release The Living desert. This film, made for only $500,000, made $5 million during its original release, and Walt and Roy knew they had made the right decision.

Though the desert to most people represents an area of arid desolation, it really teems with life, including extraordinary plants, desert tortoises, rattlesnakes, scorpions, kangaroo rats, and roadrunners. A flash food hits the desert, causing much of the plant life to blossom a new.

WHITE WILDERNESS
A dozen photographers, including Hugh A. Wilmar, Herb and Lois Crisler, and James R. Simon, created this film after spending nearly three years in the Arctic, diligently filming animals in their natural habitat.

The narrator’s foreword describes the nature and origin of some of the largest and most savage beasts on the North American continent. The dramatic setting for the wildlife spectacle is Canada’s subarctic and Alaska’s arctic wilds. Successive scenes depict the various animals and birds in battle, play, and migration. Included among the larger of the predatory beasts are polar bears, grey wolves, and wolverines; among the migratory animals are the musk ox, caribou, and reindeer; and in the icy seas are the walrus, ring seal, and white Beluga whales.

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