Disney’s beguiling ‘Chimpanzee’ will support Goodall’s nature preserve

Animals acting like humans? That's nothing new for Disney. But, usually, the film characters are imaginary.

Oscar the chimp and his family are stunningly human: They exhibit tenderness, frustration, stoicism, and playfulness. They are the stars of Chimpanzee, the newest film from Disneynature — the nature-doc offshoot of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. They offer a drama of human proportions.

The film, which opens Friday in advance of Earth Day, is the latest in a series of Disneynature releases that includes Earth (2009), Oceans (2010), and African Cats (2011). The documentaries blend lucid footage of animals and environs with narration by popular actors. (Tim Allen tells Oscar's story in Chimpanzee.)

As with the previous Disneynature films, part of Chimpanzee's opening-week profits will be donated to conservation efforts — in this case, the Jane Goodall Institute, cofounded by the well-known English primatologist.

Disneynature's financial pledges stem from a larger effort by the parent company to address environmental and wildlife issues, according to Disney representatives.

"Conservation has always been an important part of who we are," said Beth Stevens, senior vice president for environmental affairs at Disney. She recalled Disney's True-Life Adventures documentaries of the 1950s and '60s. "The legacy really spans more than 60 years."

The Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund has donated $20 million to projects worldwide, Stevens said, including efforts to preserve crane populations and to stop rhino poaching.

Each of Disneynature's U.S. releases has supported a specific conservation area, Stevens said: Earth generated money to plant three million trees in Brazil, Oceans helped to establish 40,000 acres of marine protected area in the Bahamas, and proceeds from African Cats went toward the protection of Kenya's savannah.

For every ticket to Chimpanzee purchased opening week, Friday through April 26, Disneynature will contribute 20 cents to the Jane Goodall Institute for the Disneynature Tchimpounga Nature Reserve Project, according to Disney's website.

Disney says it also has taken steps to minimize its environmental footprint. At Disneyland, for example, the trains now run on biodiesel produced with cooking oil from the theme park's kitchens.

Most visibly, the company aims to instill conservation values in children. For that goal, the Disney storytelling engine may be as effective a tool as any. The vivid portraiture of Chimpanzee, accomplished with clever visual narrative and close-up camera work, puts that power on display.

"We're really trying to tell you a story and put you in the footsteps of these characters," executive producer Don Hahn said.

Hahn, who produced the Disney animated classics Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, has a history with rich, anthropomorphic creatures. But shooting and characterizing real animals presented a different set of storytelling challenges.

Hahn's team worked with chimpanzee experts like Christophe Boeschhe to make sure they didn't draw outside the lines. Chimps are strongly territorial, as conflicts between rival groups show in Chimpanzee. But the filmmakers stopped short of attributing violent premeditation to the leader of the aggressors (who, like the Lion King villain, was also named Scar).

"There's other things we didn't hesitate on," Hahn said, including "the notion of love." The deep affection between Oscar and his mother, and later the alpha male Freddy, is unmistakable.

"We can take a blood transfusion from chimpanzees," Hahn said, underscoring the biological similarity between chimps and humans. "We are very related to them, and some of those emotions transfer quite easily."

The emotive stars of Chimpanzee largely write their own story. The classic elements are there: a cheery introduction, a tragic loss, and a protagonist's coming of age. But Oscar's tale — as depicted by codirectors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield, who worked on BBC's mammoth Planet Earth — comes across as refreshingly natural.

The filmmakers had strenuous work in the dense forests of Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda: Scientific advisers put them through "chimpanzee boot camp" and an acclimation process, Hahn said, before the major filming began.

The result is an intimate look inside the chimps' world. Viewers are beside Oscar as he learns how to use a rock to break open nuts, in the midst of a thunderous chimp skirmish, and among the primates as they groom and care for one another.

"It's important to know that we don't live alone," Hahn said. "We share the planet with some amazing creatures."

Contact Matt Huston at 215-854-5289 or mhuston@philly.com.

Film Chimpanzee Opens Friday at area theaters.