''African Cats'' (known as ''Felines'' in France) is a 2011

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of tr ...

film about a pride of

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s and a family of

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

s trying to survive in the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

h directed by

Alastair Fothergill Alastair David William Fothergill (born 10 April 1960) is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the series producer of the series ''The Blue Planet'' (2001), ''Planet Earth'' (2006) and the co-director of ...

and

Keith Scholey Keith Scholey (born 24 June 1957 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema, and a former television executive. He is the joint series producer of the Netflix original documentary series ...

. The film was released theatrically by

Disneynature Disneynature is an independent film studio that specializes in the production of nature documentary films for The Walt Disney Studios. The production company was founded on April 21, 2008, and is headquartered in Paris, France. The company's n ...

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

, April 22, 2011. The film is narrated by

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

(

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actor ...

in the UK release). A portion of the proceeds for the film were donated to the

African Wildlife Foundation The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is the leading international conservation organization focused exclusively on Africa's wildlife and wild lands. AWF's programs and conservation strategies are designed to protect the wildlife and wild lands of ...

and their effort to preserve

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Amboseli Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, Kenya. The park is in size at the core of an ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local ...

Wildlife Corridor. The film's initiative with the African Wildlife Foundation is named "See African Cats, Save the Savanna," and as of May 2, 2011, ticket sales translated into 50,000 acres of land saved in Kenya.

Plot

In the southern plains of the

Maasai Mara National Reserve Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve A game reserve (also known as a wildlife preserve or a game park) is a large area of land where wild animals live safely ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, lives Mara, a six-month-old lion cub, with her mother Layla, who both belong to the River pride, led by Fang, an old male lion, named after his remaining fang after he gets a distinctive broken

tooth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...

because of an earlier fight. In the northern plains of the Maasai Mara, lives Sita, a cheetah who has just given birth to five cubs to take care of. Sita and her cubs coexist with another lion pride led by a large male named Kali, who wishes to expand his pride and territory by taking over Fang's own with the help of his four sons, which however he cannot reach as both sides are divided by the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

infested

Mara River The Mara River is a river in that begins in Narok County (Kenya) and in ends in Mara Region (Tanzania), and lies across the migration path of ungulates in the Maasai Mara/Serengeti ecosystem. The River's Flow The Mara River basin covers a s ...

. One day, Sita's cubs are playing while Kali and the largest of his sons are on patrol. Sita, seeing them as a serious danger to her cubs, goads both lions, so as to lure them away. But after the confrontation, the cubs have scattered. Sita desperately calls for them. As it gets darker, hyenas are seen and heard. In the morning, three of her five cubs return to Sita. Although she continues to call for the other two cubs, it's clear that they have been killed by hyenas. Meanwhile, Layla is injured by a

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

's kick while

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

. As the

wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-to ...

begin to migrate to greener pastures, so does the River pride. However, due to her injury and old age, Layla has trouble keeping up. Mara stays alongside her mother and tries to help on her way. Soon, they begin to lose track of the pride. Knowing that Mara needs her family for her survival, Layla forces through her injury, and they soon find themselves within the River pride once more. As time passes in the northern side, Sita's cubs thrive, and begin to show more of their cheetah nature. One day, a gang of three adult cheetah brothers roaming about zone in on Sita. Again, Sita finds herself having to divert attention from rivals so that they do not find her cubs. However, being fellow cheetahs, they do not tire as easily as lions do; and soon, the brothers separate Sita from her cubs. As they circle them, the cubs stand their ground and hiss at the

bullies A bully is someone responsible for bullying, using aggression to intimidate or dominate others. Bully may also refer to: Animals * American Bully, a breed of dog * Bull Terrier or bully, a breed of dog * '' Gobiomorphus'' or bully, an Australia ...

, meaning they have inherited their mother's prowess and

bravery Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, ...

. Before the cheetah brothers can do anything, a passing

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

chases them away – meaning that in the savanna, even bullies get bullied. Some time later, the river has lessened. Kali and his largest son take advantage of it so they can cross and begin their

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

on the River pride. They head towards the southern territory. Fang, upon seeing them approaching, runs for his life, but Layla does not back away – knowing that Mara could be killed should the assault succeed, she fearlessly attacks the rivals. Soon, the other lionesses, inspired by Layla's courage, join in the fight. Kali and his son are defeated and leave the area, though they remain on the southern side of the river. Victory completed, Fang returns, and life returns to normal for the pride as well. Layla has been injured ever further during the fight. Seeing that she might not make it, on a rainy day – which the lions take advantage of to bond with each other – for Mara's sake, she goes to her sister Malayka – who has cubs of her own – and reconnects with her so as to maintain a spot in the pride for Mara. Once she sees that Mara is accepted by Malayka, Layla slips away from the pride to find a quiet place to die. Meanwhile, hyenas approach Sita and her cubs, but the brave mother cheetah, having already lost two cubs to them, does not back away; sure enough, she attacks them fearlessly, not letting them anywhere near her cubs. Finally, the hyenas give up the fight and leave – Sita's bravery has kept the remaining cubs alive and free from danger. As time goes by, Kali reunites with his four sons. They later return to the River pride for another assault. Upon seeing them, Fang runs, never to be seen or heard from again – if he is to ever return again, he would be shown no mercy. Kali takes over the pride and exiles Fang's cubs, including Mara – now a young adult. Her male cousins are seen as the number one threat to Kali and his sons, so they hunt them down. Seeing that they can no longer stay within their pride, the young males have no choice but to cross the river, even though its level has grown and it is infested with

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s, nonetheless, they reach land unscathed. The lionesses initially refuse to admit Kali as their leader, the wound of losing their cubs still far too fresh in their minds. Mara tries to live on her own and fend for herself, but she was banished before she was taught to hunt, and finds her first attempts at catching meals on her own, even small

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...

s and especially big rhinos and buffaloes, humiliatingly unsuccessful & learns that there are benefits in belonging to a pride. Meanwhile, Sita & her cubs follow the gazelle herds to the River Pride's domain, where they settle down while getting into a feud with the River Pride. Soon the wildebeest return, and the lionesses begin to hunt for their new cubs – Kali's offspring, having made peace with him and his sons. Mara successfully hunts and feasts. Soon after, she proves herself to the pride, and is at last welcomed back – Layla's sacrifice for raising her cub was not in vain. Meanwhile, Sita's cubs are now young adults, and they're thriving. They hone their hunting skills, they practice on a

serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, except rainforest regions. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and hunting it is either prohibited or regulated in ran ...

and a

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

, and even get to cross the river. Afterwards, they encounter hyenas then Kali's pride, and learn to stand up to hyenas like a true brave cheetah does, and to avoid and outrun lions (instead of hunting them!). Finally, they successfully hunt an

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

for food. Sita, seeing that her cubs are now ready to forge their own path, leaves them and returns to the solitary life of a cheetah. The narrator shows that Mara and Sita's cubs are the finest examples of a mother's love. During the credits, it is shown that Sita's cubs went their separate ways & she has become one of the most successful cheetah mothers to roam the plains, Mara has been accepted by her pride and is now ready for

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

hood herself, Kali still reigns supreme on both sides of the river, and the filmmakers are still looking for Fang.

Marketing

A trailer for the film has appeared in several movies.

Production

The families of the animals in ''African Cats'' were filmed on the

, a major game region in southwestern Kenya. The Maasai Mara is one of the few remaining places in Africa where lions, cheetahs and leopards live in large numbers and in close proximity. To help achieve scientific accuracy, the directors recruited Dr. Sarah Durant of the Zoological Society of London. Durant worked in Tanzania for the last 19 years, studying cheetahs and working toward the conservation of all of Africa's large carnivores. The film is narrated by

Release

The film was released on April 22, 2011, and as of April 12, 2011, over $1.7 million in tickets were sold in advance of the film's release. As of May 2, 2011, ticket sales translated into 50,000 acres of land saved in Kenya. The full-length trailer for ''African Cats'' was originally released on December 7, 2010. The film was released in France on February 1, 2012, under the title ''Felines'' (French: ''Félins''). The film was released on April 27, 2012 in the United Kingdom with narration by

. The premiere was attended by several important guests of honour, including

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

and

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

and Lucy Rosen.

Critical reaction

The film has received generally positive reviews from critics. Based on 76 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an overall approval rating of 72% with an average rating of 6.2/10. Its consensus states "It isn't quite as majestic as its subjects, but ''African Cats'' boasts enough astounding footage -- and a big enough heart -- to keep things entertaining." Another review aggregator,

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, calculated an average rating of 63 based on 18 reviews.

Home media

The film was released as a

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

combo pack and movie download on October 4, 2011 (the same day as

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack). The DVD version of the release includes the "Disney & Nature" and "Save the Savanna" bonus features, while the Blu-ray version additionally includes the music video for "The World I Knew" by

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...

and a behind-the-scenes extra called "Filmmaker Annotations." The movie download version includes the two bonus features from the DVD, plus three segments from the "Filmmaker Annotation" Blu-ray extra. Disneynature will also donate a portion of the home media proceeds earned through October 10, 2011 to the African Wildlife Foundation's "Save the Savanna" initiative.

Music

"The World I Knew" is a song performed by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

recording artist

, and serves as the theme song of African Cats. The song was written by Ryan Tedder and

Inflo Dean Josiah Cover, professionally known as Inflo, is an English record producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He helms the R&B music collective project Sault, which foregrounds black-centric issues. Career In 2014, British rock band ...

who also produced the song. It was released by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

as a digital download on the 12th of April, 2011, on iTunes and amazon.com. The film also features music by composer

Nicholas Hooper Nicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer and guitarist. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions '' Land of the Tiger'' and '' Andes to Amazon'', as well as the TV movies ''The Girl in the Café'' and ''My Family and Other ...

; Hooper's soundtrack to the film was chosen as one of the 97 Original Scores eligible for a nomination at the

84th Academy Awards The 84th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2011 in the United States and took place on February 26, 2012, at the Hollywood and Highland Center Theatre in ...

in 2011.

Background

Jordin describes the song as being about "everybody having a path they have to take but when you have that one person next to you or a few friends, if you have your family with you pretty much you can face another day, you can get through any obstacle and you can make it through anything."

Music video

The song's music video was shot in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

. The video places Jordin in a surreal world of sparkling butterflies and magic waterfalls, as she sings about eternal love. Viewers also get to see footage from the film, including scenes involving lion and cheetah cubs. The video premiered on Disney Channel on April 2, 2011 during ''

The Suite Life Movie ''The Suite Life Movie'' is a 2011 American science fiction comedy-drama television film directed by Sean McNamara, written by Michael Saltzman, and starring Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Brenda Song, Debby Ryan, Matthew Timmons, John Ducey, Matthew ...

'' and played at the end credits of the film.

Reception

Box office

The film earned $3.3 million on its opening day, which was just short of ''

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

s $4.1 million start and was the third-highest grossing opening day for a documentary film. However, Friday accounted for 55% of its opening weekend, as it set the record for the highest Friday percentage share for a movie, and grossed just over $6 million for its opening weekend, ranking in sixth place with a per-theater average of $4,921 from 1,220 theaters. The opening was the same as Disneynature's previous film, ''

Oceans The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...

''. The film's worldwide gross was $30,857,747.

Critical response

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

, 73% of 79 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.30/10. The website's consensus reads, "It isn't quite as majestic as its subjects, but ''African Cats'' boasts enough astounding footage -- and a big enough heart -- to keep things entertaining."

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{Jordin Sparks singles 2011 films 2011 documentary films American documentary films Disneynature films Documentary films about cats Documentary films about nature English-language French films Films about lions Films directed by Alastair Fothergill Films scored by Nicholas Hooper Films set in Africa Films set in Kenya Films shot in Kenya American independent films French documentary films French independent films 2011 directorial debut films Films about cheetahs 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s French films