Au royaume des singes

It's almost required to see a Disneynature film with a friend or somebody you know will be an active partner during the film rather than a passive observer. Part of the fun of these films is what you bring to them in addition to what they bring to you. This is why, despite someone who prefers attending films alone, I have made it an annual tradition to go with a close friend of mine, as it turns into a quirky trip of her and I quietly voicing our own commentary during these films. They are almost throwbacks to what cinema originated as, a very involved, interactive medium that allowed for human curiosity (logic being defied, illusionist principles being explored, etc) to run wild. The Disneynature line of films are some of the last remaining films that cater to our fascination with the world around us.

"Monkey Kingdom" is the studio's offering for Earth Day 2015, and it comes stamped with a brief introduction that discusses how Disneynature is more than a film company, but an impacting organization that functions on a global scale. Frequent theatergoers hear how Disneynature donates all or most of their films' opening weekend revenue to getting global projects off the ground, and we go through one-by-one how the six previous films impacted something around the world.

Shortly thereafter, we settle into our environment for "Monkey Kingdom:" the jungles of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka, where we are greeted with Maya, a macaque monkey who resides in the tumultuous community of monkeys. We instantly see that the monkeys have created a class system amongst themselves, with one monkey named Raja assuming the alpha male role and many others having to work their way up the system, or humbly reside at the bottom, in order to enjoy special privileges. Maya is lower on the totem pole, usually the last to garner a meal and the literal doormat for many monkeys around her. Her life becomes more both more rewarding and stressful when she welcomes Kip into her family, her newborn son.

Maya's home is soon overrun by a new tribe of monkeys, who are abusive and determined to command the land, leading her, Kip, and countless other primates to seek shelter somewhere else. This leads to a trip through deep jungles and neighboring villages to try and find a new place to call home.

Unsurprisingly, "Monkey Kingdom" is absolutely evocative in its photography. Directors Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill (who worked on last year's "Bears," the only other Disneynature film I've seen) beautifully capture the land of Sri Lanka, never minimizing its natural beauty. The closeup shots of the monkeys, in addition, are especially lovely, as we see the true features that make up the macaque species and the playfulness that inevitably ensues.

But the real treat here is seeing how the life and system of monkeys isn't so different from the way that human beings are governed - by a strict ruling class that leads on fear and the enforcement of conformity costs. This is the part of the monkey environment that may destroy the fantasies of children who think being a monkey is "all fun and games," as Tina Fey, our narrator, puts it.

One must remember that when they see a Disneynature film, they are seeing a piece of entertainment and not a formal nature documentary; one can see plenty of those on Television for free. "Monkey Kingdom" shows us a surprisingly different life to a species of animals many of us probably think we know pretty well, and in that sense, Disneynature has, yet again, done its job.

Summary: A nature documentary that follows a newborn monkey and its mother as they struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the monkey kingdom, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found deep in the storied jungles of South Asia.

This is a great nature documentary to buy for your kids.They show you the playful and human side of this group of monkeys and it's all narrated by a female voice actor who has a warm and gentle voice. The documentary has a very story-telling feel to it that I'm sure your kids will love. Do be careful though, there are deaths in this documentary. It kind of surprised me at first that they would put that scene in this movie, but in the end it kind of made sense. It was done in a respectful way to show the viewers what it was like in the monkey kingdom. They cover all the basis and provided some great shots of the environment around them. Overall, very informative and children friendly documentary.

Primates are very familiar in nature documentaries. Not that that matters, as there is often a chance to see rarely seen species mixed in with those that most people know and see them doing skills one would never think they'd be capable of. Personally like primates and many types of monkeys a good deal, and have learnt something different about them every time going to my local zoo. It seemed a perfect group for DisneyNature to cover, having seen how children react whenever they see a monkey (captivated).

2015's 'Monkey Kingdom' is another solid DisneyNature documentary, but it is a long way from being one of the best ones. It's better than 'Elephant', with some of the worst narration for any DisneyNature documentary, and 'Born in China', that looked amazing but had really bad narration and a confused target audience. At the same time, 'African Cats' and from memory 'The Crimson Wing' for example were better. 'Monkey Kingdom' is definitely worth seeing for anybody that loves monkeys.

'Monkey Kingdom', like with all the DisneyNature documentaries, looks absolutely wonderful. Especially the photography, which in a very cinematic-like way stunningly captures the vibrant wonder of the scenery. The photography is also clearly in love with the animals without being self-indulgent, managing to capture vividly behaviours and skills one doesn't always see. The editing doesn't come over as too gimmicky or too chaotic.

The monkeys themselves are an absolute joy, so compellingly real in personality and both full of life and easy to root for. Enough of 'Monkey Kingdom' entertains, more the behaviour of the monkeys rather than the narration, and while there is not an awful lot that illuminates or is innovative it is educational. Much of it is incredibly charming and warms the heart, as well as moves. It is not as much of a tonal muddle as 'Born in China', there aren't scenes that are too disturbing and there is nowhere near as much that insults the intelligence. Tina Fey left me a bit mixed, she has the right kind of voice for the narrator role and has some sincerity.

Her "jokey" attempts at humour are less successful, personally like others here found it very corny, quite contrived and at times misplaced. The writing for the narration generally could have been a lot better and more focused, with more facts and less of a "trying too hard to appeal to younger viewers" vibe. Some of the pacing could have been tighter, some dull stretches here and there.

Another aspect that doesn't come over well is the music, which is far too loud and in terms of musical styles it really does not fit at all the tone or the imagery. Either being too chirpy or too playful and the pop songs really takes out of the setting.

Concluding, a good documentary but not a great one. 7/10

Monkey Kingdom

The best thing about being a part of an ape empire is that you can rest assure that your children will never have lice for long.

In fact, grooming one another is only one of the odd practices featured in this simian documentary.

When female toque macaque Maya migrates to the remains of an antediluvian jungle temple in Sri Lanka called Castle Rock, she learns quickly that the roost is ruled over by alpha macaque Raja and three sister monkeys.

Banished to the bottom of the food chain, Maya must now struggle to feed her newborn Kip, whose father Kumar has since flown the coop.

Painstakingly captured on-camera by Disneynature's intrepid film crew and wittily narrated by Tina Fey, Monkey Kingdom is a comical and captivating look at the social disorder of our distant cousins.

In fact, any more poop flinging and this could pass as a reality TV show.

Green Light

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I'm not really into Disney nature documentaries. I've seen a few they did in the 1960s on The Wonderful World of Disney, but the new ones they put out don't last in the theaters long enough for me to catch (Although I think I saw the one about the chimpanzees, and the one about elephants)

This one is a lot different from the old docs 50 years ago. It's very playful with the narrative and tells a more linear story voiced by Tiny Fey. What's most interesting about this is how the plot follows the Disney formula of a true underdog coming up. They must have had to do a lot of research and follow these monkeys for a long period of time to pull that off.

The story is about a single mother named Mya who's on the very bottom of the social status and must beat the odds in order to provide a better life for her son, kip.

It was so fascinating to see how the Monkey kingdom mimics the kingdom of man. Whenever someone tries to convince me that we are better than other animals (cause sometimes man forgets that's what we are). I'll have this movie to use as an example of how that's not accurate.

I went into this film not thinking much of anything but killing time, but it was not a waste of time. It was great!