Film
Chimpanzee
Disneynature's intimate portrait of a young chimp named Oscar learning to survive in the Ugandan rainforest. Shot with stunning clarity and built around a heartfelt coming-of-age narrative, it balances wonder at the natural world with genuine stakes and loss. Accessible to families but never patronising—a film that respects both its subject and its audience.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like nature footage that treats animals as characters with moods and grudges, and you don't mind a narrator filling in the gaps with gentle jokes.
Skip it if you want facts and field science, since this is a warm storytelling film with a narrator who steers your feelings more than he explains how the forest works.
What it asks of you: Seventy-eight minutes, unhurried in the way wildlife films are, with long stretches of watching and waiting, and a tone that swings between playful and sombre.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Planet Earth2006
The definitive nature series. Sweeping cinematography of every ecosystem on Earth, scored to perfection. If you loved seeing the African forest come alive, this expands that vision across the entire planet.
But Six episodes is a commitment. The scope sometimes overwhelms intimate character moments, and narration can feel omniscient rather than personal.
My Octopus Teacher2020
A marine biologist forms a year-long relationship with a wild octopus in South African kelp forests. Like Chimpanzee, it's genuinely moving—about connection, vulnerability, and learning from another mind entirely.
But Some find the human story intrusive on the animal narrative. The pacing is slow and meditative, not for anyone wanting action or drama.
African Cats2011
Another Disneynature film following lion and leopard families across the Serengeti. Same visual polish and emotional storytelling as Chimpanzee, but with more conflict and predation on screen.
But Disneynature's formula becomes apparent if you watch back-to-back. The anthropomorphism occasionally oversimplifies complex animal behaviour.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Chimpanzee
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Watership Down1978
Both centre a vulnerable young animal's journey through danger and loss, framed as coming-of-age rather than mere survival footage. Both respect the audience enough to show real consequences.
An animated film about rabbits fleeing their warren, built on observation of actual animal behaviour. It has Chimpanzee's sense of a young creature learning harsh truths about survival, but through a radical shift in form and era—the animation makes the stakes feel mythic.
But Genuinely disturbing for some viewers. The violence is graphic and the film doesn't soften its premise. The animation style is dated and occasionally stiff.
More like this (7)
Life2007
A BBC series exploring survival strategies across the animal kingdom with jaw-dropping cinematography. Balances wonder with the genuine difficulty of existence in ways that feel earned rather than sentimental.
But Some sequences involving predation and starvation are genuinely hard to watch. The episodes are dense and can feel overwhelming.
The Meerkats2008
Disneynature's charming chronicle of a meerkat family in the Kalahari. Lighter in tone than Chimpanzee but with the same warmth and careful observation of social bonds.
But The stakes feel lower. Admittedly cute in a way that overshadows the actual challenges meerkats face. Shorter and less narratively complex.
Bears2014
Follows a bear family across an Alaskan year, building to their salmon run. Another Disneynature entry that layers individual personality onto natural cycles with real beauty.
But By the third Disneynature film the template shows its seams. Parental sacrifice narratives can feel repetitive if you've seen their other work.
Life After People2009
A speculative documentary imagining how Earth's ecosystems would recover if humans vanished. Offers profound perspective on wilderness and adaptation for anyone fascinated by how animals truly live.
But Not a traditional nature doc. The speculative CGI reconstruction is sometimes clunky. Heavy on extinction anxiety if you're sensitive to that.
The Elephant Man1980
Disneynature's chronicle of an elephant herd's migration across the Kalahari during drought. Shot with immense technical ambition and real emotional weight regarding survival and belonging.
But The crisis narrative—survival in the face of climate stress—may feel heavy rather than uplifting. Some find the Disneynature style too glossy for documentary.
The Ivory Game2016
Both are about the African rainforest and its inhabitants, but this one shows the external threats to that world rather than life within it. A natural next question after Oscar's story.
A documentary about anti-poaching efforts in Africa, following the humans fighting to save elephants from ivory trafficking. It's set in the same forests as Chimpanzee, but from the perspective of protection and conflict rather than pure observation.
But Heavier and angrier than Chimpanzee. The human dimension sometimes overshadows the animals. The poaching footage and aftermath are genuinely disturbing.
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya2013
Thematically identical: both centre a young, vulnerable protagonist learning that protection and freedom are sometimes in tension, that belonging requires loss, and that growth is bittersweet. Both are animated/stylised portraits of learning to become.
A Studio Ghibli film about a girl raised by foster parents in rural Japan, learning her place in the world. Animated, gorgeously drawn, and structured around exactly Chimpanzee's emotional core: a young creature discovering agency, loss, and belonging in a world not built for them.
But It's anime, not nature doc—a radical tonal shift. The pacing is contemplative and slow. Very abstract compared to Chimpanzee's concrete imagery. Some find it too sad.
People
Cast
Tim AllenSelf - Narrator (voice)
Directing
- Alastair FothergillDirector
- Mark LinfieldDirector
Production
- Don HahnExecutive Producer
- Alastair FothergillProducer
- Alix TidmarshProducer
- Mark LinfieldProducer
Recommended by
March of the Penguins, Earth, Dolphin Tale, My Life as a Turkey, African Cats, Superpower Dogs, Penguins, Serengeti Shall Not Die, Gorillas in the Mist, The Meerkats, Penguin Town, Bears, Koko: A Talking Gorilla, Koko: The Gorilla Who Talks to People, The Zoo