March of the Penguins Movie Review 2005

Oscar winner for Best Documentary proves that animals can be movie stars even if they aren't animated by Pixar or Dreamworks. Director Jacquet traveled to Antarctica to film the mating rituals of the Emperor penguin and walked away with pure Animal Planet gold. You'll marvel at how ridiculously far the penguins will go to propagate their species--endless marching over frozen wastelands, working daily to escape predators, cutely ignoring the French camera crew. It's "Booty Call" meets National Geographic, all brought together by the smooth vocal stylings of narrator Morgan Freeman. Tries a bit too hard to imbue the birds with human personalities, but the astounding footage wins in the end.

Distribution

Not Yet Released

Available on DVD
Running time 80 minutes.
Originally from United States.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Documentary, Wild Kingdom, Wilderness, Penguins

Screenplay

Jordan Roberts

Cinematography

Laurent Chalet, Jerome Maison

Director

Luc Jacquet

Other

Morgan Freeman, Gerard Lamps, Laurent Quaglio, Sabine Emiliani

Producer

Yves Darondeau, Christophe Lioud, Emmanuel Priou, Bonne Bloche, National Geographic Feature Film

Awards

Oscars 2005: Feature Doc.; Natl. Bd. of Review 2005: Feature Doc.; Broadcast Film Critics 2005: Feature Doc.