Earth (2009)

With its cozy references to animal ''moms'' and ''dads'' and its delicate avoidance of disturbing imagery in the depiction of life and death in the wild, this super-duper deluxe nature documentary (the first title from the new Disneynature label of environmentally conscious crowd-pleasers) clearly aims to recruit young viewers as conservationists. The pitch works for adults, too. Earth, a showpiece from the BBC team that made Planet Earth, is spectacularly photographed, gracefully edited, and effectively matter-of-fact in demonstrating the effects of of climate change. James Earl Jones narrates with the authority of Adam naming the animals. A–

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