ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The annual Earth Day holiday is all about educating people on taking care of this big blue marble we call home, and for many, Earth Day also marks the annual Disneynature film release. This year, the newest Disneynature film, “Sea Lions of the Galápagos,” is narrated by Brendan Fraser and follows the life of a sea lion called Leo as he tries to find his own community in the remote islands of Galápagos Islands after being forced to strike out on his own. Throughout Leo’s decade-long journey, viewers not only see Leo grow from a clumsy pup to a confident adult, but also learn more about the Galápagos Islands, with each island featuring its own wildlife and personality.
Like the other Disneynature outings, the cinematography is amazingly well done. The first shot alone, which features the sun peeking through clouds and streaming onto an empty ocean is pure eye candy and just perfectly done. The shots taken underwater are equally as stunning and capture so many different species of fish and other aquatic life, which makes for a lot of great color and spectacle and also show just how diverse aquatic life is. Another particularly stunning shot takes place a little while into the movie when viewers are taken to the island of Fernandina and witness a lava fire – I could practically feel the heat from the lava pouring everywhere and feel the steam from the water evaporating as the lava hit it.
Another particular favorite shot of mine is a scene a little earlier in the movie when Leo and some fellow sea lion friends go surfing – everything is captured so clearly and crisply, with the sea lions’ fun being completely palpable, and the beach music used during the scene brought a huge smile to my face. There are also a few overhead shots of Leo swimming alone, which are stunning yet also kind of sad since he’s looking for a permanent home. Overall, the cinematography is VERY well done, and the crews involved with that aspect of the movie definitely deserve some recognition.
Another technical aspect I really enjoyed was the music from composer Raphaelle Thibaut. The music fit each scene like a glove, whether a scene was rousing or somewhat sad or fun, so he definitely also deserves some recognition for his work on the music.
There are also multiple scenes us humans should be able to relate to, including one rather amusing scene when Leo is trying to get in a nap while a huge flock of Winged Albatrosses are doing their noisy annual mating ritual (which in itself is hilarious to watch). There have been multiple times when I’ve gone to bed at night and it seems like that EXACT time is when people are deciding to rev their car engines in the parking lot or play loud music or make some other noise that prevents me from falling asleep when I want. There are also a few scenes when Leo is awkwardly trying to make a friend or two, and younger viewers especially should somewhat relate to that – as Fraser notes in an early scene, making friends is hard! Overall, that aspect was also really well done.
There are also some neat aspects of the Galápagos Islands viewers get to learn about as the movie goes on. For one thing, apparently there are actually such creatures as vampire finches that feed off the blood of their fellow avian Nazca Booby neighbors, and there’s also apparently a snake species called the Racer Snake that eats newborn iguanas. I had never heard of either of these species, so there was definitely a bit of a curveball there for me. I also learned sea lions’ whiskers are super sensitive to their environments, and they’re apparently VERY good hunters and skilled at corralling fish for meals (which is featured in another very stunningly shot scene early in the movie when Leo’s mother, Luna, goes hunting). I also learned sea lions are able to swim only a week after being born, and an early scene featuring Leo’s first ever swimming lesson ends up being absolutely adorable and relatable for some younger viewers who might also have been nervous about getting in the water for the first time. Overall, the movie provides some great education while also being really fun, which is good for younger viewers and/or their parents.
I also greatly enjoyed the movie’s narration from Brendan Fraser and thought he did a great job with the project. He gives off a very affable quality to the story, sharing Leo’s journey while also injecting some humor and relatability to viewers. Along with that, I loved how the movie, while only having an 82-minute runtime, was able to give a rather thorough view of Leo’s journey and showed how he explored and learned and ultimately became the confident adult we see at the end of the movie. Overall, his narration added a great extra layer to the movie and Leo’s story, and I hope he’d actually be open to maybe another one in the future.
If I had one minor gripe about the movie, I wish there would have been some kind of epilogue also sharing what happened to some of the others in Leo’s life, particularly his mother, Luna, and one of his childhood friends, Maya. After the movie ended, I couldn’t help but wonder if Leo ever saw either one of them again at some point or if they ended up permanently separated, and I also rather wondered if either of them were still alive now. Overall, a very minor gripe, but definitely something I thought about after the movie was done.
Overall, I very much enjoyed Disneynature’s “Sea Lions of the Galápagos,” and I would give it a solid “A” grade. The cinematography is stunning from the very opening scene, and each scene is also greatly complemented by composer Raphaelle Thibaut’s music. I also very much enjoyed Brendan Fraser’s delightful narration, and he was able to make the story fun and engaging, which should be great especially for younger viewers. There is also a lot to learn about the Galápagos Islands as the movie goes on, making the movie as educational as it is fun. If you’re a fan of any of the other Disneynature films, “Sea Lions of the Galápagos” will be one to cue up on Disney+
