The Living Desert

Wow, what a nice film! It's true that they just don't make documentaries like this anymore. The Technicolor is gorgeous, and narrator's voice is classically 50's. The score is whimsically apt, and the whole effect is just campy fun. "The Living Desert" is a truly enjoyable film. It educates without lecturing - a rare and very appealing quality. Children and adults will both enjoy following the antics of the kangaroo rats and other creatures of the desert. This film is a great example of the kind of wonderful work the Disney studio used to produce. One note of caution - if you are squeamish about insects, spiders, or snakes, don't watch this!!! All three get plenty of screen time, in full-blown Technicolor close-ups. I definitely had to close my eyes when the tarantula was on screen. Eek!

This was Disney's first effort to put a true life adventure on the screen. Supposedly it took nine years to make, however, some of the scenes were filmed under controlled conditions. Still, it is certainly worth seeing. For its time, the photography was outstanding. Winston Hibler does his usual fine job narrating.

I can see purists criticizing some of the footage for being too cute, the "dancing scorpions" and its voice-over, for example. But this was a commercial venture meant to entertain and educate at the same time. So liberties were taken. For example, predatory kills were kept to a minimum, with the quarry often getting away. Also, some critters like snakes and spiders seem natural villains to most of us, while little furry critters seem friendlier. The movie makes use of these popular reactions.

Nonetheless, Disney's little formula worked. As I recall, this feature and its companion The Vanishing Prairie, (1953), were both box-office successes. Now, of course, much of the same material can be gotten on cable. Still, some of the footage is superb: the blooming desert flower buds, the flash flood, and who would imagine a wasp that only hunts tarantulas--that's a real fight to the death. All in all, whatever the commercially driven excess, the footage still manages to fascinate and, yes, help educate non-naturalists like me.

When "The Living Desert" was first released, despite it being something new - a feature-length nature documentary released to regular movie theaters - it upset critics to a degree. I can sort of understand why it did. For one thing, it on occasion manipulates footage for humor, such as with the notorious "scorpion dance" sequence, which comes across as somewhat embarrassing today. Also, it is even more clear today that with 1953 audiences that some "outdoor" scenes were filmed on an artificial desert set on a soundstage. Despite these problems, the documentary is still worth a look. Viewers young and old will learn a lot about the wildlife in the American desert. The movie moves along at a brisk pace, with no dead spots. And some of the footage is still spectacular today, such as with the sequence with the tarantula-hunting wasp. By the way, Walt Disney did learn his lesson with this documentary - later entries in the True-Life series significantly toned down the humor and the manipulation.

1953 Oscar winner for Best Documentary prompts the question, "Why don't they make documentaries like this anymore?"...yet, the advent of the success of 2005's "March of the Penguins" proves that perhaps they do. This classic live-action film from the Disney studios details the lives of the animals and insects that fill up America's Southwest desert region. Some of the footage is manipulated for a jokey effect, but why complain when it's such a beautifully assembled picture? Colorful and entertaining, it's the perfect primer for children. Disney continued in this True-Life vein with "The Vanishing Prairie" in 1954. Very lovely, with a terrific background score from Paul J. Smith and narration by Winston Hibler. BAFTA nominee for the Special Award. Winner at Cannes for the International Prize and for Special Mention to the camera crew; also a nominee for the Grand Prize. Golden Globe winner of the Special Award for artistic merit. *** from ****