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Released on Earth Day 2012, Disneynature’s Chimpanzee tells the story of a young chimp named Oscar and how he survives the loss of his mother, Isha. Orphaned chimps are sometimes adopted by another female in the group, but Oscar is adopted by Freddy, the group’s alpha male. This is the first documented case of a male taking over care of an orphaned chimp. The film took over four years to make, in part because it was filmed in very challenging conditions in Tai National Park in Cote d’Ivoire. Though I did not get to the theater in time to take advantage of the program, Disney donated proceeds from the opening week box office to the Jane Goodall Institute.
Chimpanzees are the nearest living relatives to humans; we share more than 90% of our DNA, and a number of behaviors not widely seen in animals have been documented in chimpanzee communities. We see most of these behaviors in the film including tool use, cooperation, and theft. Oscar’s mother, Isha, teaches him to use a heavy tree branch or large rock to crack open nuts, and a thin stick to "fish" for insects. Isha also teaches Oscar to build a nest in a tree by weaving branches together and covering them with leaves. Not all chimp behaviors that mirror human actions are nice ones, though: when Oscar leaves his good nut-crushing rock behind to look for more nuts, another young chimp is quick to swipe it. Though the majority of the chimpanzee diet we see in the film is fruits, nuts, and insects, they are omnivores like humans, so meat is on the menu. A hunting party from Oscar’s community works as a team to drive a group of colobus monkeys toward Freddy, who grabs and kills one for the group to eat.
Oscar the chimp uses a rock to smash a nut.
The central conflict of the film is between Freddy’s group and a neighboring community of chimpanzees led by Scar. Even in a lush rainforest, resources are limited, and Freddy’s group has control of a prized nut-tree grove. Scar and the males in his troop make raids into Freddy’s territory and during one of these raids Oscar is separated from his mother. We never see Isha again, and the film-makers surmise that she was taken by a leopard during the night. Though Oscar approaches all the remaining females in the community, none will care for the youngster. Oscar then begins to follow Freddy and imitate all his actions. In time, Freddy allows Oscar to ride on his back, and the adoption is complete.
In addition to telling a compelling story about Oscar, this film has some amazing cinematography: beautiful views of rushing waterfalls, mist rising over the forest in the morning, and stunning aerial shots of the forest canopy. The film-makers also took the time to set up high-speed cameras to catch rain hitting leaves and puffballs. (When a raindrop lands on a puffball, the sac of the puffball collapses, and the air rushing out of the top shoots spores up and out to spread the puffballs to new territory.) Time-lapse sequences of bioluminescent fungus glowing through the night, and glowing, growing slime molds are also spectacular.
There is a great deal of good science in this film, but there are a few issues that I think should be considered by teachers working with upper elementary and/or middle school students. First, the film reinforces two common misconceptions, one about rainforests and the second about thunder and lightning. Tropical rainforests have lush vegetation, which seems to indicate that the underlying soil is very nutrient rich. This is usually not the case. Only the very top layer of the soil, where the deal leaves, animal waste, and other litter accumulates contains many nutrients. The minerals and other raw materials plants need are rapidly cycled back into living material, and the soil beneath is not capable of supporting much life. This is why clear-cutting jungle for agriculture is unsuccessful: as soon as the nutrients in the leaf litter are gone, the soil is virtually dead, and that usually only takes a few years.
The film includes some beautiful shots of lightning in slow motion, but unfortunately, the sound effect editors have timed the thunder exactly with the lightning. Since light travels much faster than sound, the flash gets "ahead" of the boom by about three seconds for every kilometer of distance traveled.
The other issue that I think should be discussed with older kids is the portrayal of the "enemy" chimps, led by Scar. I understand that a narrative needs conflict, so the film-makers decided to emphasize the competition between two chimpanzee communities over food resources. I am sure the conflict is real. All the same, naming the other leader "Scar" and depicting his group as uglier and more menacing than Freddy and Oscar’s group is rather manipulative. Animals compete for resources. Even Freddy’s group killed a monkey for food. If we take sides and think of some chimps as good and others as bad, that is something we are doing as humans to create a compelling story, not something that is part of nature or science.
For teachers considering using the film in the classroom, Disney has produced lesson plans for grades 2–6 and aligned with the National Science Education Standards The Jane Goodall Institute is another excellent resource for information on chimpanzees and conservation.
Jacob Clark Blickenstaff is teacher education programs manager for the American Physical Society. He can be reached at blickenstaff@aps.org.
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