True-Life Adventures Collection

Winston Hibler

Alfred Milotte

Oliver Wallace

Walt Disney

James Algar

Documentary

Seal Island

Walt Disney Productions

United States of America

CinemaSerf

A look at the life of the fur seals on Seal Island (in the Aleutians) which co-inhabit the island with reindeer and scrawny looking foxes, lupins, lichens and other colourful plants that also thrive here in the lighter months. Bull seals (weighing almost as much as an horse... big horse, little horse?) arrive. Apparently seals have a common ancestor with a bear? Seals are polygamous and may have 100 wives... Yes, you get the drift. The narrative is very fact-based but despite trying to give some of the creatures human names and traits ("Mrs" etc.) is actually rather dry. The photography is quite innovative though, especially with the puffins and other seabirds. Then the female seals arrive and the bulls start to get a bit broody - the month of June, and hormones go a-raging. The score is quite jolly and carries the Hibler narration along for an entertaining half hour and the nimbler cows create quite a sense of fun on land and sea. Worth a watch, I think.