Children and Nature; The Leopard Son

"Some must die, that others may live." That was the lesson Sally, a book club friend, reported to her mother after watching one of those live-action Disney wilderness films as a young child. A much smarter kid than myself (I not only felt betrayed, but shocked, each time the dinner bell rang out in the wild), Sally quickly learned important lessons about the natural world. Not all critters are cuddly and cute, daydreaming can be an occupational hazard (you snooze, you lose...your life), and as Pat Benatar would later belt out in a rather different context "you'd better run, you'd better hide," unless you're the biggest sonofabeast in the neighborhood.Some of the critters we've seen at the wonderfully appreciable distance of the 14th row in a theater or in the comfort of our living rooms have been brought to us through the cinematography of Hugo van Lawick, director of The Leopard Son. Narrated by Sir John Gielgud, with a thrilling score by former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, the film is set on the blisteringly hot buffet of the African Serengeti, where daily a stunning pageant of comedy and tragedy is played out. Van Lawick's tale revolves around a baby male leopard, wholly dependent on its mother for food, safety, and play...yet always willing, as children are, to test the boundaries. As the leopard son grows, we watch him climb shakily into an eagle's nest out of sheer curiosity, growl (unconvincingly) at a giraffe who's chosen his tree for grazing, and retreat to his high perch when threatened by a lion. Eventually, the leopard son is left to fend for himself, and the film builds considerable tension while we wait to see if he will make his first kill and thereby survive, or wait until he's dangerously weak. Later, he strikes out on his own and has adventures with cheetahs (who, it turns out, though similar looking, do not want to play with him), a lioness who unceremoniously steals his lunch, and baboons who challenge him to a fight he wisely declines. In a very odd (for leopards) and moving finale, the leopard son returns home to the tree of his childhood to discover both life and death. While not quite in the same league as Van Lawick's outstanding People of the Forest (VL-1/93), in which he told the story of a family of chimpanzees, The Leopard Son is still a very good film and is recommended. Aud: I, J, H, P.Dr. Jane Goodall, formerly married to Hugo van Lawick, is also taking her commitment to nature out to the people through her books about living with and studying chimpanzees and her outreach program to school children called "Roots & Shoots." In Children and Nature: Awakening a Sense of Wonder, Goodall and others talk about the importance of establishing a connection early on between children and the natural world. Goodall, who feels that children are exposed to "too much television," "too much playing with video," and is "terrified" by the potential isolation from nature which the Internet poses, argues that children today--especially kids in inner cities--are growing up out of context with nature.Although much of what Goodall and other interviewees claim seems true at a gut level, the examples they offer fall short of actual scientific evidence to support the more extreme notions that--by not interacting with nature--children are without an "emotional connection" or are losing their "moral compass." In addition, montage shots of children playing with animals or searching tide pools do not, in and of themselves, make a compelling argument. Other naturalists--Jeff Rutherford, President of the Marine Science Institute and Dr. Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and author of Sea Change--voice their opinions on the importance of connecting children with nature, but even within the program's 27 minutes, one tends to hear the same things being said again and again.Ultimately, this is not aimed at children (no lessons to be learned like "some must die that others may live"), but at adults and teachers. Unfortunately, its message--in many ways--is both obvious and overstated. Still, the fact that some inner city parent or teacher might be inspired to bring children and nature together is reason enough to consider this affordably priced entry as a strong optional purchase. Aud: K, E, I, P. (R. Pitman)