A young chimp tries to survive the African forest minus his mother in the annual Disney Nature documentary, CHIMPANZEE.
Oscar, a three-year old chimpanzee loses his mother in the midst of a fierce rainstorm, leaving the youngster marooned with other primates in his troop. The challenge for the chimp is to find another mother willing to nurture and care for him, while showing him the ways of the wild.
Much like the last Disney Nature release, AFRICAN CATS, CHIMPANZEE focuses on a group of animals pitted against another group of animals within their own species, outlying the territorial divide and the quest for that space and its natural resources.
Unlike AFRICAN CATS, where the landscape felt rich and spacious, the forest in CHIMPANZEE feels confined and rather dull. The same can be said of the storyline and its lack of dramatic effect. Unlike AFRICAN CATS where the danger felt real and imminent, whether it was the battling dens of lions, or the threat of crocodiles around their only water source, CHIMPANZEE only visually provides one enemy, other chimpanzees.
The danger presented in CHIMPANZEE feels fabricated, so much so, that the next example of dramatic turmoil for our troubled primates is cracking open pesky nuts. Sensing a lack of substance, directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, try to muster some laughs with this filler fodder, but instead the mere 80 minute run time feels forced for a full-length feature effect.
Tim Allen provides the voice work for CHIMPANZEE, and is the right choice for the light-hearted narration, but the material he’s presented with is less than stellar. CHIMPANZEE is a film with little to reveal or say. I suggest you leave this Disney doc stranded in the woods.
Grade: C-
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