Releasing 17 April, Disneynature’s eighth theatrical feature, Penguins, is going to be the first-ever Disneynature film to be released in IMAX.
Directed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, Penguins is a coming-of-age tale narrated by Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) about an Adélie penguin named Steve who’s on a quest to build a suitable nest, find a life partner and start a family. But it’s not an easy journey as he faces many obstacles, especially considering he’s targeted by killer whales, leopard seals and others who unapologetically threaten his happily ever after.
Disneynature vice president Paul Baribault commented, “Each film inspires a new conservation initiative, ranging from planting millions of trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest to the establishment of new marine protected areas, wild chimpanzee habitats and wildlife corridors, plus many more projects benefiting countless species. This 10-year milestone celebrates our commitment to working with the best nature filmmakers and premiere conservation organisations to not only inspire audiences to care about our natural world, but to make a direct impact through these programs.”
The first Disney-branded film from The Walt Disney Studios in more than 60 years, Disneynature was launched to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to share a wide variety of wildlife stories on the big screen in order to engage, inspire and educate theatrical audiences everywhere.
All seven of Disneynature’s theatrical film releases—Earth, Oceans, African Cats, Chimpanzee, Bears, Monkey Kingdom and Born in China—rank among the top 10 highest overall grossing feature-length nature films to date, with Chimpanzee garnering a record-breaking opening weekend for the genre.
For Penguins, Harry Gregson-Williams has composed the score and Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield, Keith Scholey, and Roy Conli has served as producers.