BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

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May 2020 BBC Wildlife 91

TV
choice

Following theherd

Join a group of elephants astheyembarkonamammothjourney.

Partofthenewandexclusivecontenton

Disney+,Elephanttellsthestoryofone

ofAfrica’sgreatmigrations– fromthe

OkavangoDeltato VictoriaFalls– through

theeyesofthreeindividuals:Gaia,the

matriarch,hersisterShani,andShani’s

calf,Jomo.

Asyou’dexpect,thecinematographyis

bafflinglygood,thefilm’sfeaturelength

allowingusto bothluxuriateinclose-ups

ofelephanteyelashesandto loseourselves

ingloriousscenicsaswewalkwiththe

herdthroughthedryingKalahari.

Whatyoucan’tdois enjoyDavid

Attenboroughat thehelm– it’snot,it’s

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Because, of

course,thisis a familymovie,aimednot

at cynicalBBCTwoviewersbuta young,

globalaudience.Meghan’sover-

expressive,playfulvoiceoveris rather

irritatinginplaces,deliveringa script

loadedwithanthropomorphismand

assumptionthatwilllikelyseta

biologist’steethonedge.

Butthisis a story,remember,nota

scientificdocumentary.Foreveryirksome

one-liner,thereis somethingspectacular

• theaerialshotsofwaterholesthat
  pockmarkthedesert,linkedbyelephant
  trails,thatpointto theenormityofthe
  taskinhand,orthesequencewhereGaia
  dextrouslyuseshertrunkto freea calf
  trappedinstickymud.
  Whiletheelephants’fightforsurvivalis
  by no means portrayed as easy – there are

lionsandcrocodilesto confront,the

swirlingZambezito cross,andthe

unimaginablethirstthatcomeswith

twomonthswithoutwater– thereis no

mentionofpoaching,norhabitatloss,

norclimatechange.A disservice,perhaps,

to a Greta-generationthatmayhave

appreciatedsomeperspective.

Thatsaid,asaninsightintoelephant

intelligence,sentience,andthe

extraordinarydepthsofthespecies’family

andsocialbonds,thefilmdelivers,albeit

mingledwithfartjokes.I’malmost

ashamedto admitthat,at onepoint,the

combinationofstirringAfricanvocalsand

Meghansoftlyurginganexhaustedlittle

Jomoto survive– “Comeonlittleone,

takeallthetimeyouneed”– broughta

Disney+ lump to the throat.Sarah McPherson

ELEPHANT

DISNEY+, STREAMING NOW

OURWILDWORLD

Thefamily,ledby

matriarchGaia,

makesthemost

oftheOkavango’s

receding floodwaters.