Favorite Flicks: March of the Penguins

© 2005 Warner Independent Pictures
Running time: 80 minutes Rated G
Narrated by Morgan Freeman

 

 

PLOT

Follow a year in the life of an emperor penguin with this Academy Award-winning documentary from French filmmaker Luc Jacquet. Composed of breathtaking footage recorded over a one-year period in Antarctica, the movie opens in March as male emperor penguins are starting an annual journey. After feeding all summer in the ocean, they begin a 70-mile march through frigid temperatures and 100-mile-an-hour winds to the thick ice of their breeding grounds. There, they meet the rest of the flock and find a mate. Each couple soon produces a single egg. For the next several months, they will split the responsibilities of protecting the egg and, later, raising their chick. Because the only available food is miles away in the ocean, one parent must protect the baby while the other heads for sea. The parents take turns making the trek, going months without food, while their chick gains strength. As the Antarctic spring begins in September, the slowly melting ice brings the sea closer. By November, the sea is only a few hundred yards away, and the chicks have become ready for independence. Though it will be five years before they start making the trip, the adults have only a few months before embarking again on their epic march.

HUMANE MESSAGES & OTHER GOOD POINTS

• Celebrates penguins and nature in general with stunning cinematography and promotes appreciation for emperor penguins’ natural habitat.

• Sensitively depicts penguins engaged in various natural behaviors, including mating, raising young, and hunting.

• Shows how teamwork and cooperation help penguins to survive and raise their young in “the harshest place on earth.” Penguin parents alternate babysitting duty, going weeks or months without food, as each parent travels long distances to eat and bring back food for the chick. When storms blow in, the flock huddles together, each taking turns at the warmest spot in the center of the group.

• Explores nature’s seasons, from spring to winter and birth to death, in a way that is neither depressing nor unsettling to children. As the film progresses from one summer to the next, some penguins succumb to old age, fatigue, or harsh weather, while a new generation of penguins is born and raised to young adulthood.

POINTS TO PONDER

From a humane perspective, few movies are perfect. Following are potential problems with the film that you may wish to address with your children or students.

• Young viewers may be upset by a few scenes depicting penguins being preyed upon. These scenes, however, are handled sensitively and show the realities of nature and predator/prey relationships.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

A few words on birds. Read Sandra Markle’s A Mother’s Journey for another telling of how emperor penguins survive and raise their young in such an unforgiving climate. Focusing on the sacrifices of mother penguins, this nonfiction book tells their story with detailed prose and illustrations. For more recommended reading, click here.

Predator or prey? The leopard seals and petrels in the film are only two of the predators penguins face. As a class project, have students find out what other species prey on penguins. Research those species’ natural histories and behaviors, including what other animals they eat and what preys on them. Also have students research what penguins eat, then use the information to create a poster depicting the Antarctic food web.

Antarctic adaptations. Penguins have made some amazing adaptations in order to survive in the Antarctic environment. Have students learn more about penguins’ different adaptations, as well as those of other animals who live in extreme climates.