Disneynature: Oceans

After taking on birds for 2001's Oscar-nominated Winged Migration, French filmmaker Jacques Perrin and co-director Jacques Cluzaud segue to sea creatures for Oceans, capturing some of the underwater realm's most intriguing sights through awe-inspiring cinematography, backed by limited but informative narration from Pierce Brosnan, who sets the theme with a simple statement: “The ocean is alive.” The crew spent four years in, on, and around all five of the earth's major bodies of water to film everything from the salt-encrusted marine iguanas of the Galápagos Islands to the silky fur seals of South Africa. Other memorable images show horseshoe crabs scuttling across a beach, jellyfish pulsating through the deep, and sardines sparkling as the sun catches their scales (some creatures, such as the blanket octopus, look more like abstract paintings than living beings). Meanwhile, the cycle of life plays out as newborn green turtles make the treacherous trek from sand to sea, and hermit crabs unwittingly enter the cleverly camouflaged lair of the mantis shrimp. This follow-up to Disneynature's Earth targets kids as much as adults, and while the documentary generally avoids material of a graphic or political nature, the filmmakers here clearly aim to discourage pollution and encourage conservation. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Fennessy)