Walking with the Great Apes 2015
Distributed by The Video Project, PO Box 411376, San Francisco, CA 94141-1376; 800-475-2638
Produced by Norm Wilkinson
Directed by Jeremy Hogarth
DVD, color, 139 min. (23 minutes per episode)
Middle School - General Adult
Animal Behavior, Anthropology, Ecology, Science
Date Entered: 12/17/2015
Reviewed by Kristan Majors, Woodruff Library, Emory UniversityWalking with the Great Apes is a 6-part series about gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans along with the people that are helping to save them. This entertaining series follows a documentary film crew around the world to film great apes in their native habitats. The filmmakers pack a lot into this series resulting in the ideal educational film. The episodes are short, visually appealing, balanced, and fact-filled. Included in each of the 23-minutes episodes are interviews with leading conservationists, scientists, and locals. The filmmakers capture both funny and heartwarming moments making an inspiring series you’ll want to watch.
Each episode can stand-alone and be viewed in any order. For classes with limited time, Episode 1 serves as a great introduction to primate ecology and conservation and is appropriate to most ages. The chimpanzee episode is truly inspiring; it includes forest ecology in the Congo and an extensive interview with Jane Goodall. Viewers should be warned the chimpanzee episode briefly films a bushmeat market for apes and monkeys, so this one episode is not appropriate for younger audiences. For courses studying community-led development and sustainable conservation projects, the episodes about bonobos, chimps, or lowland gorillas are most relevant. The episode about orangutans also explores palm oil plantations in Indonesia.
The one flaw in this series is a minor one; the menu and episode list are mislabeled for DVD 2. Instructors should allow a few extra minutes to locate the episode needed. The discs played best in computers whereas some episodes skipped periodically in a DVD player.