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March of the Penguins | 2005 | G | - 3.3.0
Documentary that follows the march of Emperor penguins across the frigid Antarctica landscape as they return to their breeding grounds for the mating season. It is a trek they endure every year. Narrated by Morgan Freeman. Directed by Luc Jacquet. [1:24]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - One penguin appears to mount another briefly (one lies on its belly and the other climbs on from behind).
► A male and a female penguin snuggle, nuzzle (they rub their beaks together) and "hug" tenderly. Several other penguin couples hug and nuzzle.
► We hear that the penguins look for a mate and that they are monogamous.
VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - We hear that an egg exposed to the cold will die and we see two penguins that lose their grip on their egg; it begins to crack and the penguins seem to grieve over it.
► Seals snap their jaws at penguins (we see them darting through the water, baring their teeth and hear a crunch): a penguin jumps to get out of the water, the seal grabs it, pulls it back under water and we see it clenched in the seal's mouth (we hear that the penguin's baby will now also die).
► A large bird swoops down on a group of chicks, it snatches one, who gets away, and then gets another one by the neck. We see a chick lying dead on the ground (from starvation).
► A female penguin pokes at its dead chick, it trumpets and grieves, then tries to steal a chick from another penguin but it is stopped by several others (they flap their flippers at it).
► We hear that the male penguins may need to abandon the infants to feed themselves. We hear that some of the female penguins may not make it back to the breeding ground, which would lead to the death of their baby because it would not get food. We hear that older penguins may succumb to the elements and starvation and "fall asleep and disappear" (we see a penguin lying motionless on the snow and ice covered ground). We see a lone penguin walking and hear that its chances of survival are very slim. We hear that some penguins will not survive the 70-mile trip from the sea to the mating grounds.
► Two female penguins tussle over a male (they swat each other with their flippers, poke each other with their beaks and shove each other with their bodies).
► Several brutal winter storms blow through and we see many penguins huddled together to stay warm (we hear that temperatures reach 80 below 0 and winds blow at 100 MPH). A chick quivers from the cold.
► Penguins regurgitate food to feed their chicks. A penguin coughs up a milky substance to feed to his chick. We see the inside of the penguins' mouth and their tongues and they appear to be covered with bristles.
LANGUAGE 0 - None.
SUBSTANCE USE - None.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - The mating process of the Emperor penguins, Antarctica, love, extreme weather conditions, reproduction, predators, family, separation, wildlife.
MESSAGE - Emperor penguins seem to love, grieve and feel in ways that are very similar to our own. Surviving in the wild is not easy for any creature.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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