Coercive ‘Arctic Tale' may leave viewers cold

Published: August 17, 2007

Movies don't come much more manipulative than "Arctic Tale,” the inevitable nature film follow-up to the captivating and popular "March of the Penguins.”

Husband-and-wife filmmaking team Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson spent 15 years gathering footage of polar bears, walruses and other rarely seen creatures, according to the movie's production notes. But they couldn't turn that footage into a beautiful and real nature documentary.

Instead, they weave footage of several different animals into a fake story line, give the "characters” cutesy names and add cloying narration and music.

Of course, no anthropomorphizing faux documentary is complete without a thick sugar-coating on the animals' unseemly hunting, scavenging and reproducing behaviors. Instead, maximum screen time must be dedicated to the baby bears' cuddly-cuteness and the walrus' oh-so hilarious propensity for flatulence.

The film supposedly chronicles the birth, growth and daily challenges of Nanu, a polar bear cub, and Seela, a baby walrus, and their families and neighbors in the arctic. The movie never offers a disclaimer that these "characters” are actually composites of multiple critters. The footage is real; the story is "nature fiction.”

The film has some jaw-dropping footage, such as glimpses of tiny polar bear cubs inside a birthing den and views of walrus and seals swimming under the ice. The fascinating look at narwhals — whale relatives whose males have a single ivory tusk — is probably worth the price of a DVD rental.

But unlike "March of the Penguins,” the movie doesn't offer compelling, close-up visuals throughout. Much of the footage is grainy and captured from afar. Maybe that's because no matter how adorable you try to make them, polar bears are ferocious predators and walrus are big and tough enough to deflect polar bears.

The animals' antics are set to overused pop hits "We Are Family” and "Celebration” and an annoying score that telegraphs every development in the counterfeit story. Queen Latifah has the walrus "up in each other's business” and playing "pull my flipper” as she narrates from a script by Linda Woolverton, Mose Richards and Kristin Gore (Al Gore's daughter).

Of course, moviegoers may not realize that "Arctic Tale” isn't even a wildlife docu-drama. It's a global warming docu-drama with a clear environmental, social and political agenda. Parents and children attracted to what the movie posters advertise — "a real adventure in the coolest place on Earth” from the makers of "March of the Penguins” — might be surprised to find themselves taking in a climate-change cautionary tale and subsequent series of "green” tips.

"Arctic Tale” could have been an effective nature documentary and warning cry about the dangers of global warming. Instead, the movie comes off as a disingenuous and calculating attempt to separate nature-loving families from their money.

— Brandy McDonnell

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