Movie Musings: Disney and More

Disney Nature Voices

The Disneynature film company was founded on April 21st, 2008. It is headquartered in Paris, France and run by Jean-Francois Camilleri who also serves as senior vice president and general manager for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures France. Disney decided to create this company as a result of the Warner Bros. documentary March of the Penguins winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film in 2006. It is reminiscent of Walt Disney himself, who produced the True-Life Adventure Series from 1948-1960 (which also won a great deal of Academy Awards). Today the Disneynature company has produced several interesting films. Most of them have had theatrical releases, though some have been direct-to-video. Each of them, however, has been narrated by talented actors who have also worked on other films for the Disney Studios.

James Earl Jones was the narrator of Disneynature’s very first film Earth (2007). Jones provided the voice of Mufasa in The Lion King (1994) and it’s direct-to-video sequel The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998). He will portray Mufasa again in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Lion King in 2019. Besides Mufasa, James Earl Jones was also one of the segment introductory hosts in Fantasia 2000 (1999) and narrated Disney’s American Legends (2002) which is a direct-to-video compilation of shorts about people like John Henry and Johnny Appleseed. He narrated the “Lion King” segment of the feature “The Story Behind the Story,” for the 2001 DVD edition release of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and was the voice of Santa Claus in the Disney Channel Original series Recess (1997-2001) and its direct-to-video movie, Recess Christmas: Miracle on 3rd Street (2001). Jones also reprised his trademark voice-over performance as Darth Vader for the Disney Park Attraction Star Tours: The Adventures Continue and the Oscar-nominated film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2014). 

Pierce Brosnan narrated Disneynature’s Oceans (2010). When Brosnan played James Bond from 1995-2002, he made a guest appearance on the show Muppets Tonight (1996-1998) as James Bond. He is also the current voice of Grimsby, Prince Eric’s elderly guardian from The Little Mermaid (1989) whenever the character makes an appearance in a Disney video game. He will next be seen reprising his role as Sam Carmichael, one of the three “fathers” in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), the sequel to Mamma Mia! (2008) with Meryl Streep.

  

Meryl Streep narrated Wings of Life (2011) which was Disney’s first direct-to-video film. For Disney, Streep played the Witch in Into the Woods (2014) which earner her a 19th Academy Award Nomination. She will next be seen as Mary Poppins’ cousin Topsy in Disney’s upcoming sequel Mary Poppins Returns (2018), which will reunite her with “Into the Woods,”/The Devil Wears Prada (2006) co-star, Emily Blunt as the title character and “Into the Woods,” director Rob Marshall.

Samuel L. Jackson narrated African Cats (2011). Jackson voiced Frozone in The Incredibles (2004) and he will be back for the sequel as well. He is also known for portraying the role of Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe including the films: Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winder Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018). He also portrayed the character in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present) and will do it again in the upcoming films Captain Marvel (2019) and Avengers 4 (2019).

Tim Allen narrated Chimpanzee (2012). Allen made his Disney debut as Tim “The Toolman” Taylor in the ABC series Home Improvement (1991-1999), which is a role that earned him five Golden Globe Nominations and one Primetime Emmy Nomination. He later lent his voice to Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995) and since then has voiced the character for all of its sequels and short films, including the upcoming Toy Story 4 (2019). Prior to the first “Toy Story,” he played the role of Scott Calvin/Santa Claus in The Santa Clause (1994), and reprised that role for two sequels The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006). “The Santa Clause 3,” reunited him with Martin Short, with whom Allen worked on Disney’s Jungle 2 Jungle (1997). He also made a remake of The Shaggy Dog for Disney in 2006 and in 2007, he made Touchstone’s Wild Hogs.

John C. Reilly narrated Bears (2014). Reilly voiced Wreck-It Ralph in Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (2018). Reilly is also given screen credit for having made story contribution to the first film. Besides “Ralph,” Reilly played Rhomann Dey in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He also had roles in Touchstone’s Boys (1996), Gangs of New York (2002), Dark Water (2005), and he played Amos Hart in Mirimax’s smash hit film adaptation of Chicago (2002) which earned him an Academy Award Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for the performance.

Tina Fey narrated Monkey Kingdom (2015). Fey also voiced Lisa in the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Ponyo (2008) and she played Nadya in Muppets Most Wanted (2014). She was the  voice of Jenny Johnson on the Disney Channel Series Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015). Fey has written and collaborated with close friend, Amy Poehler (who is known at Disney as the voice of Joy in Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out (2015)) on three films: Mean Girls (2004), Baby Mama (2008), and Sisters (2015).

   

John Krasinski narrated Born in China (2016). Before narrating that film, Krasinski made a cameo as himself in The Muppets (2011) and also voiced Frank McCay in Monsters University (2013), the prequel to Monsters, Inc. (2001). Krasinski is also known for playing the role of Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office (2005-2013).

A Disneynature documentary is appealing for all kinds of reasons: scenic locations, cute subjects, etc., but one of the things that makes the story worth hearing is a well-chosen narrator. And while each of these people are exceptional actors, they also have done noteworthy work as narrators. And thanks to each of their talented voices, the movies themselves have all done reasonably well for the studio.