Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee is the story of an adorable and orphaned chimp called Oscar, but more than just a touching story set in the Tai National Forest in Africa’s Ivory Coast, the film functions as a vehicle to highlight the decline of the Chimpanzee population.

For the movie, Sir David Attenborough has joined forces with acclaimed natural history directors Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield to reinforce the importance of preserving chimpanzee habitat.

Sir David, life-long advocate of conservation efforts, lends his support to The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF), which has researched and observed Oscar’s family in the Tai Forest in West Africa’s Ivory Coast for over 30 years.
The Chimpanzee population of the Ivory Coast has declined 90% since Sir David’s first trip there over 20 years ago, and it is hoped that the work of the WCF and the attention brought about by the Disneynature movie will help save the remaining animals from extinction.
As Sir David remarks:
“Mankind has a very guilty past with chimpanzees, now, at last, we have an opportunity to pay back what we owe them.”

Forthergill and Linfield (and crew) have spent three years in the African rainforest (and under often hostile conditions) the capture the story of Oscar, an orphaned chimpanzee who eventually is adopted by the alpha-male of his group.

The movie begins with a moving picture of new-born Oscar, lovingly cradled by his adoring mother Isha. What we then witness are his first steps so to speak, in jungle terms this means watching what momma does, while at the same time enjoying being pampered by her. Scenes of cute Oscar being fed by mom, carried on his mom’s back, or getting checked for ticks and other bugs will particularly appeal to the younger audience, and there is little doubt that this is the intended target group.
But adults too might learn a few things here, for example that chimpanzees have territorial spats going on within their own groups, and – more disturbingly perhaps – that these seemingly friendly creatures have a very savage side to them as well… They love hunting monkeys and eating them… ripping their heads off while the poor monkey is still alive before heartily tucking into the remains. This being Disney, we don’t get to see the savagery in close-up, not even a drop of blood. Instead, we learn about the more gory details via the narration of comedian Tim Allen, which is somewhat of a mixed blessing as far as the movie is concerned…

While the narration is on the funny side, and the soundtrack occasionally reminds of swing-along-happy Jungle Book moments, it takes away from the fact that these chimpanzees are an endangered species.
Yes, we see the chimps taking an afternoon nap or laze about on tree branches, but danger lurks everywhere.
One such moment arrives when Oscar’s family are one day confronted by a fierce rival band of other chimps. Sadly, Oscar’s mum Isha loses her life during the assault (not that we get to see this this, you understand). Cue forward, and little Oscar with his big eyes is suddenly left to fend for himself, after it finally sinks in that momma won’t be coming back. Worse still, no one in his group is offering a helping hand, or seems to be ready to adopt him or even make friends with him. If he wants to survive (and at first it doesn’t look like it), the Oscar has to learn quickly and grow up even quicker. Watching the others, we are treated to highly entertaining scenes, such as Oscar trying to crack nuts, or picking various fruits. It’s tough going at first, but eventually he gets the hang of it. After a while, the most unlikely of candidates not only takes Oscar under his protective wing but eventually adopts him: Freddy, the groups savvy and aloof leader! From that moment on, little Oscar’s life changes forever, and in the final scene we see Freddy carrying his new protégée on his back just like momma used to.

While on the one hand the movie provides a fascinating insight into the life and habits of chimpanzees (they all have real personalities, and often ‘human’ habits), on the other hand that insight is blurred thanks to a rose-tint take on things.
For example, Sir David Attenborough states: “The need for their protection is greater than it’s ever been, in the last twenty years 90% have gone, and you can show absolutely that the reason that 90% have gone is that they have not been protected. If we can get more guards, we know that we can save the chimpanzees of the Tai Forest.”

That’s all well and good, but it wouldn’t hurt if the movie reflected a bit more of the danger these chimpanzees are exposed to, and depict the more gritty aspects as to why they are so endangered. We learn that chimps are particularly threatened by poachers, who hunt them down for bush meat. I am not suggesting that scenes of a graphic nature should be included, after all, that could compromise Multiplex box office figures… god forbid. What could have been of interest (and also educational for the younger audiences) however, is a more detailed mention of poachers at work, and the fact that it’s also the spread of the Ebola virus which proves deadly to those primates. An additional threat are the many acres of forests that are cleared by burning, to make room for farmers who grow a few crops on the land.

Still, I can see some Chimpanzee / Oscar merchandise bouncing on the horizon, and if a percentage from every sale goes towards the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation, then that should make for a swinging result.

ABOUT THE WILD CHIMPANZEE FOUNDATION
The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is a non-profit tax-exempt organization funded in 2000 with the aim to enhance the survival of the remaining wild chimpanzee populations and their habitat, the tropical rainforest, throughout tropical Africa. The philosophy of the WCF is threefold: implement projects of education, conservation, and research for and by the African people. Currently, they have teams in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Liberia.