Disney Welcomes a New Film Label to the Family
(News | Source: Press Release)
Walt Disney Studios will be launching Disneynature. It is a film label with the hope that it will produce outstanding nature documentaries with the world’s top documentary filmmakers. Disneynature will be “a prestigious new production banner that will
literally go to the ends of the earth to produce major big screen nature
documentaries,” said Studios Chairman Dick Cook.
With the new film label, Walt Disney Studios will continue giving the public unique views of nature, much like the company’s namesake did while alive. “We love balancing heritage and innovation and Disneynature is a perfect example of this. We are placing the legacy of [Walt] Disney’s ‘True-Life Adventures’ in the hands of great modern filmmakers using dazzling technology,” said Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company. Jean-Francois Camilleri, general manager for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
France, will head the new label. Disneynature will be based in France, so that Camilleri and his team will oversee the all of its projects.
Some of the first films to be released by Camilleri and his team include:
“The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos”, from Matthew Aeberhard and Leander Ward, will take viewers to the isolated shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania for a birds-eye view of the mysterious lives of flamingos. This film is set to debut in December 2008
“Earth”, from Alastair Fothergill, will be a tour of our home planet as we’ve never seen it before. Narrated by James Earl Jones, the film is set to debut on Earth Day (April 22) 2009.
“Oceans”, from Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, will set out to capture the full expanse of these waters that have played such a crucial and constant role in the history and sustenance of man. This film will be released in 2010.
“Orangutans: One Minute to Midnight”, from Charlie Hamilton James, tells the real-life story of a six-year-old male orangutan and his little sister, who must take an incredible journey to find a home and a family. This film also releases in 2010.
“Big Cats”, from Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill, audiences will get to meet three mothers (a lioness, a leopard and a cheetah) as they explore their world on the great plains of Africa. This film will be released in 2011
“Naked Beauty: A Love Story that Feeds the Earth”, from Louie Schwartzberg, will delve into the realm of flowers and the animals that pollinate those flowers. This will also release in 2011.
“Chimpanzee”, from Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, will be shot over three years in the tropical jungles of the Ivory Coast and Uganda and will hopefully help mankind better understand the species. Worldwide release in 2012
Why don’t they do one on the Mara River Wetlands of Tanzania. It is totally unexplored and may become a Ramsar site with some research.