classicsoncall Exceptional cinematography of chimpanzees in their natural element is the principal draw for this documentary styled film. All throughout however I felt the story line was manufactured and didn't find it all that credible. I didn't realize it was Tim Allen narrating until I read about it here; his low key manner didn't quite click with this viewer, and in hindsight, the scenes of chimps using 'tools' to crack nut shells might have been better handled by his 'Home Improvement' partner Richard Karn. There were a couple instances that I thought might not be appropriate for young kids, the death of Oscar's mother was handled well enough but some youngsters might not take the news too favorably. The chimps hunting monkeys for food was another, that was a new one on me. I never would have guessed chimpanzees could be meat eaters so you learn something new everyday, though I can't say I'm the better for it now that I know. I haven't seen that many wildlife documentaries to make a comparison, this one was okay as far as it goes, but it didn't have me going 'Wow'.

Wizard-8 This is the second nature documentary from Disney that I've seen, and like the other one I saw, it's a mixed bag. On the positive side, it is very well photographed, with some spectacular shots (especially on Blu- ray). It's also not boring, and there are some interesting revelations on the lives of chimpanzees and what they have to go through.Unfortunately, at the same time this documentary has some serious flaws. Most obvious is the narration by Tim Allen, which is often very annoying and jokey. I realize that they were trying to attract kids, but I think Disney could have found a narrator that would appeal to both kids and their parents (and written better things to say.) Also, the events that we get to see sometimes come across like they were concocted in the editing room. It was not a surprise when I read other user comments here after watching the movie that gave evidence that this documentary wasn't always telling the truth as to what actually happened.There is some good stuff here, but adults will probably have some issues with "Chimpanzee" all the same. So it's best to show it to your kids while you are out of the room doing something else.

Jacob Max Or how to cash by getting people all emotional with a story that never happened...Nothing new you say? True, but whats intriguing is the director's emphasizing of this movie being a documentary. While it is not.Christophe Boesch, director of the Department of Primatology of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and also the founder and president of the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, worked for the film crew as an expert consultant during the filming.What he now revealed in an interview with the SPIEGEL may cause a severe degree of disillusion. WARNING: If you plan on a cinema-adventure of watery eyes and emotional sympathy you may want to turn a blind eye on what is about to follow.To put it short: basically the whole story is made up.Starting of with the star of "Chimpanzee", Oscar. Oh, he is so cuddly! And all of his 4 brothers too! Yep, it is not even the same little fella you see romping about, but 5 different animals that were used for his part. One of the reasons might be, that Oscar died after 7 months of the adoption, as most adopted chimpanzees do.His "mother" did not die in a fight with another monkey tribe. And there is a pretty good reason for that. This fight never happened in the first place, the two groups never even met. The animals "fighting" belong actually to two different species that do not even live in the same natural habitat. They live in different parts of the planet, which is why the scenes are - for the aware eye noticeably - cut together from pictures that were taken over the years, all over the world. So what did Oscar's "mother" die of? Pretty undramatically of a splenic fever.And which part of the whole story is actually true you ask? The adoption. This however is fairly common between chimpanzees, and in a time where most of the web community has seen videos of dogs adapting pretty much anything from tigers to hamsters not really worth an evening to the cinemas.

jdesando Calling Chimpanzee a documentary is only half right, for this sometimes contrived narrative seems so fabricated as almost to call into question the authenticity of the whole production. Three-year old chimp Oscar loses mom; alpha male Freddy adopts him. That seems fine until the battles between rival groups for the nut field guarded by his mom's tribe appear narratively convenient and cunningly edited.But I must remember this production is sanctioned by Chimp champion Jane Goodall, so anything contrived is probably minimal. Yet that photography and chimp-intimate moments make it a delight.Chimpanzee is the only G rated film I have seen recently, and deservedly so. Although the fights and the deaths are undoubtedly accurate in the Tai Forest of the Ivory Coast, the cutaway shots that brook no blood give the film a surreal cast, as if the story were fashioned by a child who could not fathom violence. Moreover, it is known that females will eat untethered little-uns; such observations do not pass the relaxed lips of Tool Time's narrator, Tim Allen. Really, Jungle book is more terrifying.But I digress. The photography of the primates in their natural habitat is downright gorgeous, and the use of slow motion is more appropriate and restrained than any I have seen in years. One time-lapsed shot of rain drops falling on puffballs is not only exquisite but also so artful as to seem gratuitous, inserted for beauty's sake, not the story (although a figurative interpretation could be devised, but, hey, this is a documentary, not an art film).The scenes running with the credits show some of the apparatus, including high-strung cable with remote camera, and time is spent to verify the plot line of the bonding alpha and Oscar.So I'm back again to admiring the photography and grousing about the fabricated-seeming story. The narration is sometimes goofy and the music manipulative.Just take the kids and enjoy; they will not be as whiny as I.