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But never mind such quibbles. Visually, the film is a remarkable scientific documentation of penguin life; and if it tilts toward fable or parable, there is still something noteworthy here. As families and as a larger social unit, huddled together against the cold, the penguins provide a remarkable example of cohesion and co-operation from which, no doubt, we humans could learn. And in the words of a classic Disney cartoon, "There's nothing so peculiar as a penguin / Unless it's you and I."

1. What do you think we can learn from watching animal behavior? Are there any similar examples in the Bible? (E.g. "Consider the ant and be wise," Proverbs 6:6-)
   
   
2. Do you think these animals "love" each other? How do you define or understand "love"? Is it emotional? Is it based in certain kinds of behavior? Is it spiritual? Is it uniquely human, a sign that we are made in the image of God? Or is it reflected in other parts of God's creation?
   
   
3. Why do you think the film so strongly encourages us to identify with the penguins? Should we react to the leopard seals' attacks on the penguins any differently than we do the penguins' attacks on their prey? Why or why not? How do the cinematography and editing affect which creatures we identify with?
   
   

March of the Penguins is rated G. The film is a documentary about animals living in the wild, and it therefore includes a few scenes of conflict between the animals, such as predators attacking their prey, as well as some sad scenes, such as one in which an egg freezes and cracks, killing the embryo inside; there is also a scene of penguins mating. But all these scenes are handled with discretion and are appropriate for most children. The narration also includes a few lines that allude to evolution, but not in an overly literalistic way.

Photos © Warner Independent Pictures

© Peter T. Chattaway 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Morgan Freeman seems to be campaigning for the role of America's Narrator. After his Oscar-winning performance as the storyteller of Million Dollar Baby, he's now narrating Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds and a documentary about flightless waterfowl … March of the Penguins. Apparently, the story he's telling here is a compellingly cool and delightful summertime escape. It's a documentary about penguins pushing their way through rough conditions to one of the most forbidding places on earth, following instincts that leave human beings shaking their heads in awe.

Mainstream raves are piling up here.

Audiences tired of badly-made, overly-budgeted and utterly formulaic Hollywood movies have started looking elsewhere for their entertainment—and one of the beneficiaries has been a National Geographic documentary about the mating cycle of Emperor Penguins in the Antarctic!

March of the Penguins, narrated by Morgan Freeman, has cracked the box office top ten for two weeks running, and it seems destined to become the second-highest-grossing documentary of all time, after Fahrenheit 9/11.

Steven Isaac (Plugged In) writes, "I won't try too hard to overlay human meaning onto the lives of these penguins, but Freeman goes out of his way to do so in a couple of places ('They're not that different from us, really'), so it's worth noting the great level of personal sacrifice penguin parents exhibit hatching and protecting their young. Survival mandates the involvement of both parents. To thrive, hard work is required. And great physical affection and selfless love are demonstrated along the way."

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