MOVIE NEWS: Oceans

Editor’s note: we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming (again!) for a word from OWL’s assistant editor, Kendra Brown. (Craig will be back next week.) Enjoy!

Pop quiz, OWL readers: what makes up 71 percent of the Earth’s surface? That’s right: water. And 97 percent of that water is ocean. So when the creators of the new movie Oceans decided to dive in, explore, and film all five of the world’s oceans — the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Antarctic — you can imagine just how big a project it was. Yep. Huge. But after seven years of hard work, including four years of filming, the movie opened in theatres on Earth Day.

This is Disneynature’s second Earth Day release after last year’s Earth. And, like Earth, Oceans gets up close and personal with some amazing wildlife — but this time, the cameras take you under the sea.

Here are five fun facts about the movie and our oceans:

1. Even the smallest ocean is big. The Arctic, which is the world’s smallest ocean, covers an area of 13 million sq. km (5 million sq. mi.), which is about the same size as the United Kingdom. The world’s largest ocean, the Pacific, covers a mind-blowing 180 million sq. km (70 million sq. mi.). That’s 20 times bigger than Canada!

2. There are more than 80 different species in the movie. Whales, sharks, marine mammals, reptiles, birds, and coral — plus dozens of other species — make an appearance in this movie. Clearly, the world’s oceans are not just home to fish. The exact number is unknown, but scientific estimates range from thousands to millions when it comes to the number of different species in the world’s oceans.

3. The largest animal to ever exist on Earth still exists today. Any guesses? It’s the blue whale (pictured above). This ocean giant can grow up to 33 m (108 ft.) in length. Line up three school buses in a row, and that’s about the same length.

4. Follow-up: the largest animal eats one of the smallest. The blue whale chows down on teeny-tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, which are about 5 cm (2 in.) in length.

5. The filmmakers shot 469 hours and 35 minutes of footage. However, the movie is only an hour and a half long. But boy, is it awesome.

Overall, I loved this movie. The visuals are incredible, plus there are some super cute and funny animal scenes (side note: sea otters are the cutest!). The movie also left me feeling hopeful about the future of our oceans. As narrator, actor, and environmentalist Pierce Brosnan points out, this generation has done more to help the environment than any other, and continues to do so. That’s great news for us, our oceans, and our planet.

And, finally, a bonus: for every Oceans ticket sold during opening week, Disneynature plans to make a donation to The Nature Conservancy to save coral reefs. So, if you’re planning to see the movie, now’s as good a time as any!

Hope everyone had a happy Earth Day!

Kendra, owlblog@owlkids.com