Serengeti product reviews

If you watched this series expecting just another animal documentary, you would have been disappointed. This is no real-life exploration of the animal kingdom as you would expect from presenters like David Attenborough; it has more a docudrama as it highlights and compresses the events of a year in the life of a selected group of animals. Although the animals themselves are real, their stories are depicted in a way that emphasizes how much they really have in common with humans. Or maybe that should be the other way round: how much do humans have in common with animals?

The concept of using a proper storyline and making the animals fit the events has meant that some specific techniques were used in the filming. Because they do not always perform as the film maker expects, there are frequently different animals used in certain scenes to portray the same character. Although this is not especially obvious since members of a species often look very similar to a member of another species, the audience is assured of continuity through the simple process of naming. Thus, the seven main characters all have a Swahili inspired human name so the story does not become confusing. The cheetah is Kikay, the baboon is Bakari, the lioness is Kali, the zebra is Shani, the wild dog is Jasari, the elephant is Nalla, and the hyena is Zalika. (At first, I was unsure how to spell some of their names, but then I realised I could turn on the subtitles - an advantage of watching on a home screen!)

There are no human actors at all. John Boyega narrates the different animals' stories, both individually and in combinations when species encounter one another, but he does not appear onscreen. The stars are the seven named characters together with their extended families, and the other unnamed characters who have lesser roles like the mongoose, the giraffe, the warthog, the eagle and the dung beetle. Not to mention the bees and flies who are the catalysts for certain events! The whole range of human emotions is apparent as the various characters' relationships within their own species are explored. Even behaviours like child abuse, bullying and pranking are highlighted as part of animal behaviour just as in their human counterparts.

The overall theme of the stories is that of survival. The Serengeti is shown as a harsh environment where killing for food is part of ensuring life continues, and where drought, intense heat, scrub fires, and storms all influence the way that creatures interact with their surroundings. There are instances of heroism as when a baboon rescues his foster baby from a burning tree despite the risk to himself, and group co-operation when a herd of elephants unites to rescue one of their calves from a river in flood. There is the fight for dominance within some species as young males mature and challenge the alpha male of the group; if they lose, they are expelled from the group to find their own way. There is rejection for a female who has betrayed the alpha male by becoming pregnant to another male - the result is her banishment from the group into a precarious existence without the support of her family. All of these events can be applied equally to a human situation.

The series consists of six episodes, each an hour long. We watched them over six days and found that the episodes were just the right length - too much at once would have resulted in overkill and made it more difficult to keep up with the various threads of the story. One thing that certainly stood out for us was the magnificent cinematography. The African backdrops, featuring various times of day from sunrise to full mid-day sun to twilight, were stunning and frequently I found I was looking at the silhouettes of the animals against the tree branches with the fading light contrasting with their solid shapes and then having to rewind because I had lost track of the story. Despite the main aim of the movie being to present the animals' lives, the sets could be enjoyed without any action at all!

Although the survival theme is a vital and very serious one, there were some delightful touches of humour which several times caused me to laugh out loud. The sight of the elephant calf trying to wade through mud with his elders was priceless; his little legs could not manage to keep him upright so that he kept falling flat on his trunk with limbs splayed out. When the baboon Bakari takes on the rearing of an orphaned baby, he has no idea what is in store. The baby is naughty and playful and determined to do exactly what he wants. When Bakari then finds a female who has just lost her own baby and is prepared to accept the orphan, he is delighted as she can feed him and it is clear that he thinks his troubles are over. But the baby continues to act just like a human baby - running rings around his exhausted parents and having the best time exploring the world and getting into trouble. And watching a big cat sitting in a tree and making himself comfortable only to be visited by a furious swarm of bees who think their nest is about to be invaded is priceless. That was one fast exit. And finally, mention must be made of the lion cubs' baby voices. They are so cute!

Although our children have not yet seen the movie, I would not hesitate to recommend it for younger viewers. The storylines will keep them focused, and they will certainly learn something about African animals. There is a small amount of violence on the occasions when one of the animals is killed for food, but this is quite tastefully presented with no gratuitous footage; however, a very young child should watch these sequences with an adult present. It is also a strong lesson that these animals, unlike humans, kill only for food! A great series which we plan to watch again when the children are present.