Our Amazing Planet

It's my birthday, and as part of my birthday tradition of seeing a movie on my day of birth I headed to the movie theater after work. I was having a hard time deciding between Earth and State of Play; did I want to see a sweet documentary or a gripping who-donnit narrative? My sense of cuteness, and the fact that it was Earth Week, ultimately won out and I chose Earth. I was definitely not disappointed in my choice.

Our planet and the things that inhabit are pretty amazing. From Polar bears trying to find food in the melting ice caps, to a baby and mama humpback whale making the trip to the south pole, to an elephant herd trekking across the desert to a lush water area, Earth is home to many animals all just trying to survive and live. Those two may seem like they're the same, but many times the animals were in a fight to survive (see the baby caribou being chased by the wolf...and losing) while trying to get to a place that would allow them to live. In order to live they had to survive. Life is so much about the journey.

Being a Disney film, it strived (strove?) to be family friendly, making sure to refer to the animals as families with moms, dads and kids. Families are such an important part of living and surviving, that I found it very fitting. And it never hurts for kids to see families working together and caring for one another, even if they are elephants, ducks, polar bears, lions, or humpback whales.

And I'm not gonna lie, there were moments when I gasped out loud (run elephant, run, don't let the lion get you!) and moments when I cried (poor baby elephant who got lost in the sand storm and ended up following the herd's scent the wrong way) and times when I was shocked at what happened (papa polar bear trying to kill a walrus but failing). It was shocking to see these animals go through these hardships and getting killed (well, we didn't actually see anything get killed, this is Disney), but reminded me that that's what happens everyday. It's the circle of life. And it truly is amazing.

This is our planet. And we've only got one.