Perri

Perri is a beautiful movie. It features wonderfully developed characters and some excellent cinematography. What makes Perris stand out above the newer Disney movies is that all of the animals are real. No animation here! Instead we get an intimate look into the life of a cute little squirrel. Who knew squirrels got into so much trouble?!?

I honestly was about to turn this one off when I looked over and my cat was SUPER into it. And who am I to argue with his expertise?

There are a lot of very interesting nature shots in this movie, some quite beautiful. It is not an animated movie, like Bambi, and does not approach the truly remarkable beauty of that movie. But there's a lot to enjoy here, if you ignore the one musical number about couples, which is not at the level of the rest of the movie.

I would say that this might not be appropriate for small children, but then, as I still remember almost 60 years later, seeing Bambi was very frightening for little children as well. There are a LOT of scenes of animals hunting other animals, and sometimes they catch them. There is no focus on limbs being ripped off corpses or anything gruesome like that, of course, but you do see wildcats carrying off rabbits, etc. If you feel this would unduly upset your child, you might want to have a talk about nature's ways before letting your child see it.

This was gripping. Always wanted to watch a film about a squirrel. Can finally tick that one off! Disney's "true life fantasy" was quite effective in its portrayal of the life of Perri and her lover, Porro. After all, who doesn't create their own stories and narratives when watching wildlife documentaries?

It has a bit of everything:

• Squirrel romance and dodgy 'home' renos
• Beaver chewing down a tree with a squirrel in it
• Raccoons and skunks brawling
• A skunk joining a raccoon family by mistake
• The cosiest squirrel den ever
• A psychedelic dream sequence
• A magpie poking a squirrel on the ass
• Raccoons fishing
• "The face of death"

It definitely showcases the cycle of life and was a bit sad in parts. There's certainly a lot of bad things out to get you in life and Perri doesn't shy away from it. It also features a wildfire sequence sure to trigger fellow Australians after we lost 1 billion animals to our bushfire crisis earlier in 2020.

Ultimately, I really liked this and found myself smiling and laughing throughout. Go Perri!

Squirrels are lovely looking and cute animals, if also pests at times (like scurrying loudly across a not so sound proof house roof at night for instance). They are not focused upon enough in documentaries and there are not an awful lot of documentaries centered solely around squirrels around. Granted, in terms of factual information and detailing strengths and challenges there are more interesting animals, but the True Life Adventures series did manage to make insects interesting in 'Secrets of Life'.

Part of me as a result thought that there was a very strong chance of 'Perri' doing for squirrels, in terms of making animals/species that aren't focused upon a lot compelling, what 'Secrets of Life' did for insects. 'Perri' did just that, it did make squirrels interesting and relatable with one of the True Life Adventures series' most easily investable lead characters. And it did make me feel that it is a shame that they are under-estimated and that documentaries don't focus on them enough. For the most comprehensive and most accessible documentary on squirrels, it doesn't get a lot better than this.

Is 'Perri' perfect? No. Like with the other True Life Adentures feature films (actually didn't feel the same way oddly enough with the short subjects in the series), there is some occasional awkward over-jokiness though it was done worse in some of the other feature films in the series, including the best known ones.

Would have liked for it to have been longer too perhaps.

However, so much is good about 'Perri'. It looks absolutely beautiful, with very vivid photography capturing the majestic beauty yet at times uncompromising cruelty of the scenery. Especially the unforgettable hibernation dream sequence, which is a visual and emotional masterpiece and one of my favourite scenes of the series. The music has energy and atmosphere, not spilling out the emotions too much.

Much is informative here, 'Perri' is one of the ones where a lot of information was pretty new to me and any familiar material felt fresh. Most of it unfamiliar, meaning that as far as the True Life Adventures series and its feature films go 'Perri' for me was one of the more educational ones. It was interesting having a subject very different to what is usually seen in nature documentaries, to focus on a type of animal that is not covered a lot was refreshing. And in a way that made me sad why squirrels aren't discussed enough in documentaries and they are much more interesting than they seem.

Did find it very cute, without it being overly so, and charming and the titular character is loveable and easy to engage with. Winston Hibler is a good natured narrator and have never felt him dull sounding. The narration entertains and teaches, as well as easy to invest in emotionally.

Concluding, very good and well worth watching. Especially if you want to learn more about a very under-explored animal. 8/10.