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| Who doesn't love pandas? |
A Review of Born in China by Nick Olszyk
MPAA Rating, G
USCCB Rating, A-I
Reel Rating, Three Reels
In 1947, an employee of Walt Disney took some
stock footage of seals in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska that so impressed his
boss that it was turned into a half hour documentary. Seal Island was a surprise commercial success and won an Oscar
later next year. This began an impressive series of nature documentaries called
Disney’s True Life Adventures that continued in the 1960s and was even used in
used in public school classrooms across the country. On the heels of the wildly
successful BBC series Planet Earth,
Disney rebooted the franchise in 2008 as Disneynature and have since made at
least one feature-length documentary every year. Each of these films highlights
a different subject such as lions, dolphins, or – my personal favorite –
flamingos, is narrated by a famous actor, and donates a percent of the profits to
a charity that helps the animals in question.
The
latest installment is Born in China which
prominently features not one but three species. Dawa is a female snow leopard
raising two young cubs. At first, her life seems ideal but soon another female
challenges her territory. For the safety of her cubs, she moves to a new area but
has troubling navigating the terrain and catching game for her hungry children.
Tao Tao is a male golden snubbed-nosed monkey with angsty teenage issues.
Despite still being relatively young, he is pushed out of his family when his
mother gives birth to his new baby sister. Out on his own, he join the “lost
boys,” a gang of other unwanted males, who cause mischief and live outside
normal family units. Last and most important is Mei Mei, a new giant panda cub
who lives a solidarity life with her mother. Like Tao Tao, she begins to test
her limits as she grows, but her mother seems intent on keeping her grounded
both metaphorically and physically.
During
the days of True Life Adventures, Walt Disney was infamous for manipulating
sequences or even deliberating interfering with the animals to make the images
stick to his story. Although documentary filmmakers would never do this today,
the personalities and stories in Disneynature movies are largely scripted.
Cameramen will spend spend months or even years following their subjects and
only create a narrative in post-production. This does not, however, remove
truth from the tale. Far from it, the fact that humans sees their own stories
in these animals recognizes a pattern of eternal archetypes written into nature.
Jesus often used natural imagery to help his audience understand these truths:
“Look at the
birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Thus, it is right to laugh when
Tao Tao accidently loses his footing and falls to the ground or to cry when
Dawa gets injured and can’t hunt effectively. The created world is not the
Kingdom of Heaven, but it can point to it.
It
is this aspect of “looking” and “pointing” that makes Disneynature films so
effective in their ability to a cultivate a genuine appreciation of God’s
created world. Since the rise of organizations like PETA and Greenpeace that occasionally
put the needs of animals over humans, the conservation movement has been
stigmatized in some Christian circles. Born
in China is not a documentary that overloads its audience with statistics
or even commands any kind of specific action. Instead, it allows the animals to
tell their own story simply through observation. “Look at these creatures,” it
suggests. “Aren’t they beautiful? Aren’t their lives compelling? Wouldn’t it be
a shame if they were not there?” This is a proper understanding of ecology
where God, creation, and humans are seen as being in relationship with one
another, best described in Laudato Si:
“Each year sees
the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never
know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever.
The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity.
Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their
very existence, nor convey their message to us.”
Creation is an evangelical tool
by which God demonstrates his love for humanity, by giving us resources that fill
our bodies and beauty that fills our souls. Thus, reckless or wasteful
treatment of creation demonstrates a disrespect for the One who gave us the
gift.
At
barely 80 minutes with a largely uncomplicated story, Born in China is not an epic masterpiece. Yet its short length and
gentle tone is the perfect way to introduce children to the wonders of the
natural world, and even adults will appreciate its gorgeous cinematography.
Pretty much anyone, regardless of their opinions on climate change or
commercial logging, should enjoy this movie, and that is more than enough.
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