Why Dogs Smile & Chimpanzees Cry

I've seen many docs and this one is truly the best. I feel it's the first movie to really show how similar all species calling this place home really are. From the elephants turning instantly into a well organized army to attend to a baby stuck in the mud to the family dog that throws herself under a car to save a fallen human child, this film will evoke emotions from you that may surprise you. I can't imagine this movie not being put into schools to show our kids that we're not actually alone on this planet. Reasoning, wonder, and even logic are not our exclusive domain. When you see the wolves mourning the lowest member of the pack weeks and even months after her passing, you may just feel a little closer to all members of the "food chain". Seriously, I didn't want it to end.

This is an impressive documentary. It's scientific without being dry, and it's tender and engaging without the stereotypical tricks to pull on your emotions. As a vegetarian and animal rights activist, I care about how animals are treated and what they feel--but this movie surprised me by showing me how much I don't know about the complexity of these emotions. I wish that humans were all so excited about welcoming a new baby to the community and as loyal and empathetic in times of distress as some of the animals in the movie demonstrated. It's amazing to see these "inside stories" of their lives unfold, almost like looking through a window into another world. I can't wait to watch it again and share it with my friends.

First of all, yes, animals have emotions. If you didn't know that already, then I believe you are a moron. But let's assume that none of us are morons. We all know that animals have emotions, and we now want to see how these emotions are manifest in nature, correct?

What we get instead is a tedious and ridiculously simplistic documentary that attempts to show how animals are "human". The filmmakers search high & low for footage of animals engaged in human-like behaviour, and when it happens they say, "That monkey is almost human!" (that's actually a direct quote).

Everything is in human terms. They waste time theorizing about what makes dogs "smile", but not once do they mention what a wagging tail means. The arrogance of these researchers is disgusting. They even go so far as to show chimpanzees dressed in human clothing and wearing a cowboy hat.

I had been expecting an insightful documentary of animals on their own terms. I wanted to learn how animals emote in their OWN languages. But instead, researchers keep falling back on pedantic, anthropomorphic observations and assumptions. Add a cheezy soundtrack and images of chimps "celebrating Christmas", and this was enough to turn my stomach.

But it doesn't end there. Half of this documentary is filmed not in the wild but in laboratories and experimental facilities. All the camera shots of chimps are through steel bars, and we see how these monkeys are crowded together in their sterile concrete cages. One particularly sobering moment happens near the beginning (though you have to be quick to notice it) where a captive monkey says in sign language, "Want out. Hurry go."

Obscure references are made to "stress tests" and psychological experiments which I shudder to imagine. Baby monkeys are separated from their mothers at birth and are given wireframe dolls in order to prove that baby monkeys crave a "mother figure". And after 40 years of experiments, the smug researchers pat themselves on the back for reaching their brilliant conclusion: monkeys have emotions.

One chimp named "Washoe" has been in a concrete cage since 1966 for that purpose, and to this day she remains thus. We get a brief glimpse (again through bars) of her leaning against a concrete wall with a rather lackluster expression. Personally, I don't need to see any further experimental data. Washoe, I apologize for our entire species.

About the review: "Discovery Channel has hit a new low" Sorry I did not get the point of this reviewer. He wants to see the "non-human" side of animals? Its always funny how much some human-monkeys want to distance them self from other monkeys :) To me it is not surprising at all that we all feel emotions, pain, fear. After all we are made of the same stuff and bound to the same natural laws (eat-poop-sleep-bleed-die) while we share the same living space. What makes us human-monkeys so special? Just because we think we "know better"? Well know where that got us...in deep sh.. if you look at the world. That is the direct result of disrespect of other beings (animals/plants) and the arrogant view we hold to be superior. I feel the film did bring home what is needed : we remember to share what we have,respect all other beings and grand them to have the same right to a painless, peacefully and happy existence as we human monkeys demand. Peace!

Although I am coming late to the party, I would like to add another reply to the first posting.

It's true that ordinary people, most of us, do know without a doubt that animals have emotions. But surely you know that science was long hampered, and still is in many quarters, by the denial of emotions (and of any mental life at all, in fact) to nonhuman animals--and by the refusal to discuss or publicly acknowledge this fact. Hence the video is still plenty useful. Its measured tone, exceptional footage of compassionate and other behavior by a myriad of species, and revelations of a variety of emotions (and their evolutionary basis) is, in fact, priceless to those of us who would like to counter that trend. At least I've found it so for college students who find themselves unsure and confused about what's going on with animals other than the ones they're most familiar with.

That said, I do appreciate your objection to referring to emotions shared by many species as "human." Someday I hope that many will see the arrogance and inaccuracy of that usage. But one must consider one's audience--and that usage often gets a point across to a popular audience.