March of the Penguins (2005)

In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family.

Director:

Luc Jacquet

Writers:

Luc Jacquet (scenario), Luc Jacquet (adaptation)

Stars:

Morgan Freeman, Charles Berling, Romane Bohringer

Won 1 Oscar. Another 21 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Berling	...	Le père (voice)
Romane Bohringer	...	La mère (voice)
Jules Sitruk	...	Le bébé (voice)
Morgan Freeman	...	Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Narrator (voice)
José Coronado	...	Emperor Father (voice) (as Jose Coronado)
Sky du Mont	...	Narrator (voice)
Gösta Ekman	...	Narrator (voice)
Fiorello	...	Narrator (voice)
Sofie Gråbøl	...	Narrator (voice)
Hikari Ishida	...	Haha-Penguin (voice)
Ryûnosuke Kamiki	...	Ko-Penguin (voice)
Adrian Killian	...	Penguin Baby (voice)
Marek Kondrat	...	Narrator (voice)
Andrea Kathrin Loewig	...	Penguin Mother (voice)

Storyline

At the end of each Antarctic summer, the emperor penguins of the South Pole journey to their traditional breeding grounds in a fascinating mating ritual that is captured in this documentary by intrepid filmmaker Luc Jacquet. The journey across frozen tundra proves to be the simplest part of the ritual, as after the egg is hatched, the female must delicately transfer it to the male and make her way back to the distant sea to nourish herself and bring back food to her newborn chick.

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Plot Keywords:

father son relationship | monogomaus relationship | do or die | life cycle | moon | 

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Taglines:

In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way

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Genres:

Documentary | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Warner Brothers [United States]

Country:

France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

22 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

March of the Penguins

Filming Locations:

Terre Adélie, Antarctica

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,383,709 (France), 28 January 2005

Opening Weekend USA:

$137,492, 26 June 2005, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$77,437,223

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$127,392,693

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Geographic Films, Bonne Pioche, Wild Bunch

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hindi (in India) narration was done by the very famous Amitabh Bachan.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [narrating voice over] There are few places hard to get to in this world. But there aren't any where it's harder to live.

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Crazy Credits

As the closing credits roll, footage is shown of the photographers dragging their equipment across the ice, setting up their cameras, and shooting film as the penguins walk around them.

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Connections

Referenced in Have I Got News for You: Episode #37.2 (2009)

User Reviews

Marvelous!

If this comes to your town, do yourself a favor and see it on the big screen. I never realized how difficult life is for these amazing creatures. The fact that they continue to exist at all is something of a miracle. The movie doesn't anthropomorphize the penguins and yet there are times when the audience I attended with identified with them almost on a human level. The audience I saw it with giggled and said "Awww" many times with varying degrees of audibility. There are even some times when the audience fell dead silent in quiet reflection such as when, for one or two penguins, the long march was in vain.

Also, bring the family to this one! I saw it with my mother, sister, and grandfather and we all came out talking about our favorite parts and how amazing penguins are. My mom said she liked Winged Migration more, but I actually liked this one more.

P.S. I noticed in the credits that there were digital effects artists who worked on March of the Penguins. I'm not sure what digital effects were done. If anyone has any information on this, please send me a private message.