Between 1948 and 1960, Disney made fourteen nature documentary films, seven of them short subjects and seven of them full length and all narrated by Winston Hibler. Starting with 'Seal Island' and ending with 'Jungle Cat'. This series was called True Life Adventures, seen as a big fan of Disney and nature documentaries and after wanting to see some older nature documentaries. The True Life Adventures series is a more than worthwhile one and of consistently high quality (especially the short subjects) and do prefer all of them over most of the recent years DisneyNature films.
All the previous True Life Adventures short films are brilliant and among the best and most comprehensive documentaries one can find on their respective subjects. While not quite as good as them and perhaps an ever so slight letdown in comparison, 'The Olympic Elk' is still great with many things absolutely outstanding. Actually don't know very much about elk or their life cycles, despite being a fan of nature documentaries, and found myself truly illuminated and riveted (a lot more so than expected which is not always the case with unfamiliar subjects.
My only real issue is some of the terminology used, some of it being to me out of place and outdated.
'The Olympic Elk' is fantastic everywhere else though. It's beautifully shot in vivid colour and the scenery is completely natural and is gorgeous and unyielding in equal measure. The music is not used too much, fits well tonally and doesn't over-bear in terms of sound. Personally didn't detect any awkwardness.
It is highly informative and did find myself learning a huge amount, actually it is one of the more illuminating True Life Adventures documentaries). It is also very engaging and investable, not so familiar territory in film, television in general has been alienating at times but most times that is what makes them interesting and gives them freshness. The latter is the case with 'The Olympic Elk'. The elk and the other animals that pop up from time to time are amazing, beautiful to watch and their personalities shine. The life cycles, their strengths and their adversities were fascinating to learn about, was handled seriously but not too much so (the target audience is clear here) and also emotionally investable.
Narration writing is thoughtful and good natured, never sounding juvenile or over complicated. Winston Hibler's narration delivery has always divided those that have watched the True Life Adventures films, personally had no problem with it in all but one. Here it is good natured and even the more deadpan delivery doesn't come over as that monotone.
Great overall. 9/10.
All the previous True Life Adventures short films are brilliant and among the best and most comprehensive documentaries one can find on their respective subjects. While not quite as good as them and perhaps an ever so slight letdown in comparison, 'The Olympic Elk' is still great with many things absolutely outstanding. Actually don't know very much about elk or their life cycles, despite being a fan of nature documentaries, and found myself truly illuminated and riveted (a lot more so than expected which is not always the case with unfamiliar subjects.
My only real issue is some of the terminology used, some of it being to me out of place and outdated.
'The Olympic Elk' is fantastic everywhere else though. It's beautifully shot in vivid colour and the scenery is completely natural and is gorgeous and unyielding in equal measure. The music is not used too much, fits well tonally and doesn't over-bear in terms of sound. Personally didn't detect any awkwardness.
It is highly informative and did find myself learning a huge amount, actually it is one of the more illuminating True Life Adventures documentaries). It is also very engaging and investable, not so familiar territory in film, television in general has been alienating at times but most times that is what makes them interesting and gives them freshness. The latter is the case with 'The Olympic Elk'. The elk and the other animals that pop up from time to time are amazing, beautiful to watch and their personalities shine. The life cycles, their strengths and their adversities were fascinating to learn about, was handled seriously but not too much so (the target audience is clear here) and also emotionally investable.
Narration writing is thoughtful and good natured, never sounding juvenile or over complicated. Winston Hibler's narration delivery has always divided those that have watched the True Life Adventures films, personally had no problem with it in all but one. Here it is good natured and even the more deadpan delivery doesn't come over as that monotone.
Great overall. 9/10.