Chimpanzee (2012)

Directors:

Alastair Fothergill
Mark Linfield

Writers:

Alastair Fothergill (original concept) &
Mark Linfield (original concept) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 April 2012 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

For Oscar, every day is an adventure.

Plot:

A 3-months-old chimpanzee is separated from his troop and is then adopted by a fully-grown male.

Plot Keywords:

Chimpanzee | One Word Title | Animal In Title | Monkey

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Tim Allen

...

Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Alastair Fothergill
Mark Linfield

Writing credits
Alastair Fothergill		(original concept) &
Mark Linfield		(original concept)
Mark Linfield		(written by) &
Alastair Fothergill		(written by) &
Don Hahn		(written by)

Produced by
Alastair Fothergill	....	producer
Don Hahn	....	executive producer
Mark Linfield	....	producer
Connie Nartonis Thompson	....	associate producer
Alix Tidmarsh	....	producer

Original Music by
Nicholas Hooper

Cinematography by
Martyn Colbeck		(co-cinematographer)
Bill Wallauer		(co-cinematographer)

Film Editing by
Andy Netley

Production Management
Liz Stevens	....	production manager
Emma Zee	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Matthew Gough	....	sound re-recording mixer
Simon Hill	....	mix technician
Kate Hopkins	....	supervising sound editor
Philip Jenkins	....	foley mixer
Doc Kane	....	narration mixer
Kristin Mosher	....	sound recordist: Uganda
Tim Owens	....	sound editor
Johnathan Rush	....	sound mix technician
Jack Stew	....	foley artist
David Turner	....	sound facility director
David Turner	....	sound project manager
Andrew Wilson	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Lorraine Johnson	....	film recording supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Michael Kelem	....	aerial photography
Samuel Munene	....	assistant camera: Uganda
Tim Shepherd	....	time-lapse photography
Warwick Sloss	....	additional photography
Bill Wallauer	....	principal photography: Uganda

Editorial Department
Dan Clamp	....	technical manager
Wesley Hibberd	....	digital intermediate assistant
Luke Rainey	....	colorist

Music Department
Gordon Davidson	....	assistant score mixing engineer
Gordon Davidson	....	scoring pro tools engineer
Andrew Dudman	....	music recording engineer
Andrew Dudman	....	music scoring mixer
Allan Jenkins	....	music editor
Alastair King	....	conductor
Alastair King	....	orchestrator
Matt Mysko	....	assistant recording engineer

Other crew
Edward Anderson	....	field manager
Dan Clamp	....	technical manager
Sarah Garner	....	production coordinator
Maggie Gisel	....	production support
Rachel James	....	production accountant
David Reynolds	....	creative consultant (as Dave Reynolds)
Hugh Wilson	....	field assistant
Kirk Wise	....	creative consultant

Thanks
Jane Goodall	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Great Ape Productions

Distributors

• Disneynature (2012) (USA) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2013) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2013) (France) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (2012) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Audio Network  additional music
• Halo Post Production  sound post-production
• Real World Foley  foley facility

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

Tanzania | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Datasat | SDDS

Certification:

USA:G (certificate #47316) | Malaysia:U | Canada:G (Ontario) | Ireland:G | Mexico:A | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:All | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:7 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Ivory Coast

Company:

Great Ape Productions

Trivia:

The film crew spent three years working on the film in the remote Tai Forest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Tim Allen/Rocket City Rednecks/Jessie Baylin (#20.94)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

Rise

Bring the kids.

Calling Chimpanzee a documentary is only half right, for this sometimes contrived narrative seems so fabricated as almost to call into question the authenticity of the whole production. Three-year old chimp Oscar loses mom; alpha male Freddy adopts him. That seems fine until the battles between rival groups for the nut field guarded by his mom's tribe appear narratively convenient and cunningly edited.

But I must remember this production is sanctioned by Chimp champion Jane Goodall, so anything contrived is probably minimal. Yet that photography and chimp-intimate moments make it a delight.

Chimpanzee is the only G rated film I have seen recently, and deservedly so. Although the fights and the deaths are undoubtedly accurate in the Tai Forest of the Ivory Coast, the cutaway shots that brook no blood give the film a surreal cast, as if the story were fashioned by a child who could not fathom violence. Moreover, it is known that females will eat untethered little-uns; such observations do not pass the relaxed lips of Tool Time's narrator, Tim Allen. Really, Jungle book is more terrifying.

But I digress. The photography of the primates in their natural habitat is downright gorgeous, and the use of slow motion is more appropriate and restrained than any I have seen in years. One time-lapsed shot of rain drops falling on puffballs is not only exquisite but also so artful as to seem gratuitous, inserted for beauty's sake, not the story (although a figurative interpretation could be devised, but, hey, this is a documentary, not an art film).

The scenes running with the credits show some of the apparatus, including high-strung cable with remote camera, and time is spent to verify the plot line of the bonding alpha and Oscar.

So I'm back again to admiring the photography and grousing about the fabricated-seeming story. The narration is sometimes goofy and the music manipulative.

Just take the kids and enjoy; they will not be as whiny as I.