“Chimpanzee” Comes to Theater This Earth Day Weekend #DisneyPixarEvent

A few weeks ago, I had the fun opportunity to join an awesome group of bloggers in previewing the upcoming animated movie from Disney – Brave.  During our trip in San Francisco, we also had the opportunity to screen the newly released film from DisneyNature – Chimpanzee.  Chimpanzee was just released in theaters this weekend in celebration of Earth Day!  Donations will be given to the Jane Goodall Institute during the first week of the movie’s release, so check it out today!

MY THOUGHTS (contains some spoilers)

I really enjoyed Chimpanzee and found myself teary-eyed a few times during the movie.  It starts with baby chimpanzee, Oscar.  There are heartfelt moments between mother and son and you can see that he would really struggle to live without her love and help.  Unfortunately, a turn for the worst happens and a group of rival chimps attacks Oscar’s group.  His mother disappears and he is left with the group as an orphan.  Going from adult to adult, nobody is willing to take on this little chimp and teach him the necessary skills of survival (finding food, shelter, and warmth).  When all looks bleak, he finds friendship and nurturing from a full-grown male who takes him in as his own.  It’s awesome to see the bond that develops between the two.  I really enjoyed the footage the team captured and the clip at the end of the movie that gave a little bit of insight as to how difficult and taxing it was on the crew.  It really helped me appreciate the amount of dedication and time it took to make this film.  Tim Allen did an awesome job narrating it and I look forward to hearing him narrate more titles in the future.

Chimpanzee is rated G, but there are a few parts that had me concerned for parents taking their young children to see the movie.  There was a scene where the group of chimpanzees actually hunted a monkey (that was somewhat surprising).  There were also two scenes where the group of rival chimps attack Oscar’s group (one in the night and one during a rainstorm).  It was pretty intense and I think small children may be somewhat disturbed by the scenes.  I would recommend parents checking out the movie before bringing small children to view at.  Every child is different and what may bother one child may not have the slightest impact on another child.

Be sure to follow DisneyNature on Facebook.

 Disney/Pixar provided me with an all-expenses paid trip to screen “Brave,” “Chimpanzee,” and “La Luna,” as well as visit the Walt Disney Family Museum.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.