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MONKEY KINGDOM

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(Disney nature at its best)

“Hey, Hey, We’re the Monkees” is played in the background as this wonderful Disney nature film opens with macaque monkeys swinging on the vines in an ancient abandoned city in Sri Lanka.

For the next hour and 20 minutes the audience is treated to spectacular, up-close views of the monkey kingdom, molded into a story told by Tina Fey. We meet some interesting monkeys, all with their own personalities and places in the pecking order.

They seem so human, we thought, as we watched them care for their young, socialize, play, bully, fight and be naughty. In reality, we seem so much like them.

The credit goes to the photographers who lug their heavy equipment through the jungle, swamps and hills of the Sri Lanka forest, taking the incredible shots that Disney pieces together for its story. Our favorite part comes at the end. While the credits role, we are treated to shots of the photographers as they get up close and personal with the monkey “stars.”

The simple story shows how the monkey society is much like ours, with the social order leaving Maya at the bottom of the clan, while the Alpha male and his “Three Sisters” are at the top – literally. They live in the better protected caves, eat the riper berries from higher up in the tree, while the lower class monkeys fight for the scraps.

When the tribe is threatened by an outside tribe, they flee to the edge of the forest, bravely moving among the humans to steal food to survive. The scenes of the monkeys raising a school and a street market are a riot, until you realize that the people of Sri Lanka must chase these destructive creatures away.

The tribe regroups and under the leadership of a new monkey take back their land, crown a new alpha male and live happily ever after.

If you like to see nature up close you will love this movie, which offers much more than monkeys. To name a few, we see bears, mongooses, scorpions, leopards, lizards, deer and so much more.

The movie never slows down, offering dozens of wonderful moments that Disney has preserved for us, a fitting tribute to Earth Day and the contributions made to environmental efforts from part of the first week’s showings.

While there is some violence, the movie gets a G rating and is truly a great family film.

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