The first of what we can safely assume will be many features to come from the new Disneynature line of films, earth is basically a ninety minute re-edited version of the BBC's famous documentary series, Planet Earth. Somewhat sanitized and obviously re-cut with younger viewers and families in mind, the bulk of the footage here will be pretty familiar to those already well versed in what the BBC originally offered us, but some new, never before seen bits give this a bit more interest than it might have otherwise.

Narrated with what can only be described as a majestic boom by the instantly recognizable James Earl Jones, earth gives us a look some of the most amazing plants and animals to ever roam the face of this planet. The focus here is a bit tighter than Planet Earth in that it delivers a lot of animal footage, the kind that kids love - the kind that is either tense and exciting or that makes you say 'wow, look how cute that critter is.' The exposition from the BBC series, that came courtesy of David Attenborough or Sigourney Weaver depending on whether you watched the BBC version of the redubbed Discovery Channel version, has also been brought down to a more kid friendly level. What that means is that instead of getting highbrow insightful commentary, you get a simpler explanation of what's happening mixed in with some periodic comic relief. This will likely annoy some but remember, this is meant for younger kids, and on that level it works surprisingly well. The Disney team has done a very good job of compiling a sort of Planet Earth's greatest hits for those who may not necessarily have the required attention span for the series that spawned this feature.

So what can parents/families/kids expect from earth? We learn how a few different species survive in their environments, starting with some polar bears that are having a tough time finding enough food to eat. We see a herd of elephants having to contend with a pride of hungry lions as they make their way across the desert and we see some whales swimming through the Arctic Ocean trying to avoid predators and find enough food. Basically, we learn about the cycle of life, and while there isn't any excessively gory footage here or anything that a child shouldn't see or learn about even at a young age, there are times where it can get a little intense - the perfect example being the beautifully shot footage of a leopard hunting down and eating a baby gazelle who, one his captor gets his paws on him, literally just gives up and dies. The scene in which a father polar bear on the brink of starvation heads right into the thick of a massive group of walruses, forced to find food or die, can also get a little hairy, particularly when we see the walruses are not afraid to use their tusks to defend themselves. It's not at all a constant barrage of doom, gloom and poor eaten animals, however - in fact, those are exceptions rather than rules as we also witness all manner of remarkable nature footage such as a mother duck teaching her ducklings to fly by basically forcing them to jump out of a tree, some wild footage of great white sharks doing their thing, birds and more.

The whole hour and a half's worth of content is incredibly well shot and set to a beautiful score. Jones' kid friendly narration maintains a respective tone and while this won't (or, can't) ever reach the epic scope of Planet Earth, it is, on its own merits, a beautiful production. It's just as educational as you'd want it to be and far more entertaining than you'd expect it to be, making it an excellent choice to show to curious kids wanting to learn more about the realities of the world around them. The narration compliments the footage perfectly and allows you to find enough of an attachment to the animals we follow - all essentially characters in their own right - and to care about what happens to them. As we learn about what happens to them, in turn we learn more about earth itself, resulting in one of the most intelligent and beautifully made kid's films to hit screens in some time.

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Disney's earth looks very good in this AVC encoded 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Basically, if you liked the way that Planet Earth looked on Blu-ray, you'll like how it looks here on this release as there doesn't appear to be much of a difference between the two presentations. Detail can vary a bit from one shot to the next but generally it is quite strong and at times almost breathtaking. Eagle eyed viewers will spot some mild compression artifacts in some of the darker scenes and it's hard not to notice the banding that seems to pop up in a lot of the otherwise incredibly impressive slow motion footage but by and large despite these minor inconsistencies the image impresses far more often than it doesn't. color reproduction can be quite beautiful, sharpness and contrast look good, and even if there's a bit of shimmering in a few spots the big picture holds up well and the transfer is a strong one.