True-Life Adventures

True-Life Adventures is a series of short and full-length nature documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions between the years 1948 and 1960.[1] The first seven films released were thirty-minute shorts, with the subsequent seven films being full features. The series won eight Academy Awards for the studio, including five for Best Two Reel Live Action Short and three for Best Documentary Feature.

True-Life Adventures
Introductory title card (1952)
StarringWinston Hibler (narrator)
CinematographyAlfred Milotte (1–3)
Norman R. Palmer (2–12)
Herb Crisler (3)
Lois Crisler (3)
Edited byAnthony Gérard (1–11)
Norman R. Palmer (2–14)
Lloyd L. Richardson (6–9)
Jack Astwood (12)
Music byOliver Wallace (1–14)
Paul J. Smith (2–12)
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures (1948–1953)
Buena Vista Film Distribution Co, Inc. (1953–1960)
Release date
  • 1948–1960
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Some of the features were re-edited into educational shorts between 1968 and 1975. The latter year saw the release of The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures, a compilation film derived from the series.

Films
#film nametypedateeducational film
1On Seal Island (a.k.a. Seal Island)Two-reel shortDecember 21, 1948
2In Beaver Valley (a.k.a. Beaver Valley)July 19, 1950
3Nature's Half AcreJuly 28, 1951
4The Olympic ElkFebruary 13, 1952
5Water BirdsJune 26, 1952
6Bear CountryFebruary 5, 1953
7Prowlers of the EvergladesJuly 23, 1953
8The Living DesertFeatureNovember 10, 1953The following educational films were excerpted from The Living Desert:[2]
  • Animals at Home in the Desert (1974)
  • Predators of the Desert (1974)
  • What Is a Desert? (1974)
9The Vanishing PrairieAugust 17, 1954The following educational films were excerpted from The Vanishing Prairie:[3]
  • The Buffalo – Majestic Symbol of the Plains (1962)
  • Small Animals of the Plains (1962)
  • Pioneer Trails, Indian Lore and Bird Life of the Plains (1962)
  • Large Animals that Once Roamed the Plains (1962)
10The African LionSeptember 14, 1955The following educational films were excerpted from The African Lion:[3]
  • The African Lion and His Realm (1968)
  • Birds, Baboons, and Other Animals – Their Struggle for Survival (1968)
  • Elephants and Hippos in Africa (1968)
11Secrets of LifeNovember 6, 1956The following educational films were excerpted from Secrets of Life:[3]
  • Secrets of the Ant and Insect World (1960)
  • Secrets of the Bee World (1960)
  • Secrets of the Plant World (1960)
  • Secrets of the Underwater World (1960)
12Perri ("A True-Life Fantasy")August 28, 1957
13White WildernessAugust 12, 1958The following educational films were excerpted from White Wilderness:[3]
  • The Arctic Region and Its Polar Bears (1964)
  • Large Animals of the Arctic (1964)
  • The Lemmings and Arctic Bird Life (1964)
14Jungle CatAugust 10, 1960The following educational films were excerpted from Jungle Cat:[2]
  • Animals of the South American Jungle (1974)
  • Jungle Cat of the Amazon (1974)

Production

The films were among the earliest production experience for Roy E. Disney. This series was the launching pad for Disney's then-new distributor, the Buena Vista Film Distribution Company, Inc. Interstitial animated segments are included, and some filmed sequences are set to music. Ub Iwerks blew up the 16 mm film to 35 mm for theatrical projection and provided some special effects.[4]

Awards

The series won eight Academy Awards for the studio including five Best Two Reel Live Action Short awards for Seal Island, In Beaver Valley, Nature's Half Acre, Water Birds, and Bear Country, and three Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature awards for The Living Desert, The Vanishing Prairie and White Wilderness.

In other media

Television episodes from Disney's anthology TV series focus on the films, and it inspired a daily panel comic strip that was distributed from 1955 to 1973 and drawn by George Wheeler.[5] Several of the films were adapted in comic book format as one-shots in Dell Comics' Four Color series.

Nature's Living Album - Educational series

The following shorts were edited out of the other shorts/films/episodes for educational purposes. Either a fragment was exported out of a longer film or two or more sequences were edited together from more than two or more different films to form a "new" film. Thus they are not included on the Legacy DVDs.

Films made up of stock footage from two or more Disney True-Life Adventures films and thus not listed with respective original film above:[2][3]

  • The Weasel Family (1968)
  • The Wild Dog Family – The Coyote (1968)
  • The Wild Cat Family – The Cougar (1968)
  • The Deer Family (1968)[6]
  • The Beasts of Burden Family (1970)
  • The Bear Family (1970)

Documentary film
Main article: The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures

On October 8, 1975, Disney theatrically released The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures, a full-length motion picture documentary derived from 13 of the acclaimed True-Life Adventures films. It was written and directed by James Algar, and narrated by Winston Hibler.

Home media

Australian & New Zealand
  • The Living Desert (September 22, 1995)
  • The Vanishing Prairie (September 22, 1995)
  • Jungle Cat (September 22, 1995)
  • Secrets of Life (September 22, 1995)
  • The African Lion (September 22, 1995)
  • White Wilderness (September 22, 1995)
  • Seal Island (March 15, 1996)
  • Bear Country (March 15, 1996)
  • Water Birds (March 15, 1996)
  • The Olympic Elk (March 15, 1996)
  • Beaver Valley (March 15, 1996)
  • Nature's Half Acre (March 15, 1996)

DVD release

All of the True-Life Adventures have been released on 4 double-DVD sets as part of the Walt Disney Legacy Collection, which launched December 5, 2006.

Volume 1: Wonders of the World

Disc 1

  • Introduction by Roy Disney
  • White Wilderness (1958)
  • Water Birds (1952)
  • Beaver Valley (1950)
  • Prowlers of the Everglades (1953)

Disc 2

  • Mysteries of the Deep
  • "Wonders of the Water Worlds"
  • "The Crisler Story"

Bonus Features

  • "Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Birds"
  • "Tribute to James Algar"
  • "Filmmakers' Journal"
  • "Collectors' Corner"
  • "Original Theatrical Trailers"

Volume 2: Lands of Exploration

Disc 1

  • Introduction by Roy Disney
  • The Living Desert
  • The Vanishing Prairie
  • Seal Island

Disc 2

  • Islands of the Sea
  • Nature's Strangest Creatures
  • "Prairie"
  • Behind the True Life Cameras

Bonus Features

  • Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Desert Insects
  • Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Snakes
  • Filmmakers' Journal
  • Collectors' Corner
  • Trailers & Promo

Volume 3: Creatures of the Wild

Disc 1

  • Introduction by Roy Disney
  • The African Lion
  • Jungle Cat
  • Bear Country

Disc 2

  • The Olympic Elk
  • "Cameras in Africa"
  • "The Yellowstone Story"

Bonus Features

  • Tribute to the Milottes
  • Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Elephants
  • Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Cheetah Medical Exam
  • Filmmakers' Journal
  • Collectors' Corner
  • Trailers & Promo

Volume 4: Nature's Mysteries

Disc 1

  • Introduction by Roy Disney
  • Secrets of Life
  • Perri

Disc 2

  • Nature's Half Acre
  • "Searching for Nature's Mysteries"
  • "Adventure in Wildwood Heart'

Bonus Features

  • Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Butterflies
  • Tribute to Winston Hibler
  • Filmmakers' Journal
  • Collectors' Corner
  • Original Theatrical Trailers

Disney+

Many of the films are hosted on Disney's streaming platform Disney+,[7] although as of March 1, 2022, some had not yet been added to the service in the United States, including Seal Island and White Wilderness.[8]

Reception

Although critics denounced the series' anthropomorphizing of animals, educators honored the True-Life Adventures films. In 1954, the professional teacher organization Phi Delta Kappa International awarded Walt Disney its Education Award, and the National Education Association honored him with the American Education Award.[9]

Legacy

A 1982 Canadian Broadcasting Company documentary titled Cruel Camera interviews a cameraman who worked on the series, who said he disliked the inaccuracy of the narration. In a notorious example he discussed, the lemmings' mass suicide in White Wilderness was staged, with the same small group of lemmings repeatedly shoved off a cliffside—rather than hundreds intentionally jumping as stated by the narrator—into Alberta's Bow River, rather than the Arctic Ocean as is depicted.[10] In 2003, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game discussed the lemming-suicide myth and in 2022, business magnate Elon Musk referred to the story after calling for Mickey Mouse to be released into the public domain, tweeting, "Ironic that Disney would disparage an entire class of rodents when their main character is a rodent – jealous maybe?"[11]

In 2007, Disney established a new nature film label called Disneynature, which produces feature films similar to the True-Life Adventures series.[12] On March 20, 2019, Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, including the nature-themed National Geographic Films.

See also

Documentaries

References
  1. Moran, Christian (2017). True-Life Adventures: A History of Walt Disney's Nature Documentaries. Theme Park Press. ISBN 978-1683900726.
  2. "- Disney Shorts: 1970ies". Disneyfilmguide.page.tl. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  3. "- Disney Shorts: 1960ies". Disneyfilmguide.page.tl. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
  4. Smith, Dave (April 23, 2020). "Revisiting Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures: The Vanishing Prairie". D23. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  5. Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 396. ISBN 9780472117567.
  6. "Disney Channel - Natures Living Album - the Deer Family (1968) + Bumper". YouTube.
  7. Ritzen, Stacey (July 9, 2020). "The best Disney Plus documentaries". The Daily Dot. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  8. Shepherd, Josh (March 1, 2022). "Over 700 Disney-Owned Films And Shows Missing From Disney Plus". What's On Disney Plus. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  9. Dorn, Charles (July 2022). ""I Never Saw as Good a Nature Show Before": Walt Disney, Environmental Education, and the True-Life Adventures". History of Education Quarterly. 63 (2): 243–270. doi:10.1017/heq.2022.12. S2CID 250035406.
  10. Cruel Camera (1982). Event starts at 20:54.
  11. Olinga, Luc (July 25, 2022). "Elon Musk Resurrects a Humiliating Episode for Disney". TheStreet. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  12. Taylor, Drew (April 22, 2020). "The 13 Best Nature Documentaries on Disney+". Vulture. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
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