African Cats: Film Review

Some teens have single moms or dads, some are raised by aunties, some have full families and some end up sort of raising themselves. When you see the Disneynature film African Cats, you’ll realize that things aren’t that different out on the African Savannah.

In the wild African Savannah, inside a huge nature preserve, big cat mothers hunt and raise their young. The filmmakers have named their giant feline “actors”.  Mara is a 6-month old cub with an older mom living in a pride of lions. Sita is a gorgeous single Cheetah mom with five kittens. The story follows these moms and babies as well as King of the pride, an older lion named “Fang” (one of his front teeth is hanging loose from a fight) and the tough guy lions who want to take his place.

The cat “moms” are the breadwinners as they hunt and teach their young to do so. Questions are asked by narrator Samuel L. Jackson throughout.  Will Mara, once on the outskirts of her pride, we welcomed back? Will Sita protect her young from marauding lions and hyenas? Will Fang stay on as pride protector or lose his spot to tough lion Kali and his sons?  Questions are answered; some with happy resolutions, others, sad.

African Cats is amazing to watch. In this G-rated film, the cat kill action is stopped just before blood is drawn so there are no gory takedowns, only the grace and bravery of these cats, sometimes against all odds. Pride protector Fang literally roars down a crocodile! Mom Sita takes on a whole pack of hyenas to protect her kits.

The only semi-negative comment I would make is that, although the cat action does demonstrate the story Samuel Jackson is telling us, it might be a little too “directed” and structured. I’d rather just see the cats doing their thing with a more liberal human interpretation.  None-the-less, the film, even without narration, demonstrates the power of a mother’s love, no matter what the species, and you will be totally engrossed in the outcome. Don’t worry, although sad in a few places, the film’s ending is uplifting and there is humor out on the Savannah as well.

The lovely song “The World I Knew” sung by American Idol winner Jordin Sparks is a joy to hear and Disney and Jordin want you to know that if you see the film in its opening week (starting this Friday) the studio will donate funds to the “Save the Savannah” Fund to keep the big cats’ home intact and protected.

For an engrossing portrait of family struggles in the big cat world, 4 out of 5 stars.