Narrated by animal lover Kristen Bell, the latest IMAX documentary features the ever endearing animal - the giant panda.
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They are cute, they are mischievous and they make the toughest man go ‘awww’. Narrated by animal lover, Kristen Bell, the latest IMAX documentary features the ever endearing animal - the giant panda. While many people recognise the mammal as one of the cutest animals in China, they are also the most endangered bear species on Earth, with fewer than 2,000 remaining in the wild in their native China, due to human destruction of their natural forest habitat.
The film, titled 'Pandas', took about four years to create, following the birth of a female cub named Qian Qian, to her as an adult panda. Opening with adorable shots of baby giant pandas sleeping together in a crib, playing around with their keepers in an outdoor playground, especially a wooden slide that both human and animal loved playing with.
To ensure that these giant pandas will be here for the next few decades, it is important for them to be able to assimilate into the wildlife, instead of living their lives in wildlife parks. To do that, they travelled to the United States to find Ben Kilham, a black-bear rescuer known as “Poppa Bear” to research on his program. Mongolian researcher Bi Wen Lei, as well as Jake Owens, an American wildlife biologist to lead the project and develop a friendship with one of the selected pandas, Qian Qian. Qian Qian is the female cub that has been selected to head to the mountains of Sichuan, outside her protected habitat.
Like most wildlife documentaries, Pandas is an educational trip to the movies, learning more about these giant pandas and the dedication by scientists and biologists around the world to protect this species. In addition, you go on a journey with super buds Qian Qian the panda and Owens, and be able to witness their affection for each other over the course of the four years. Despite squeezing the growing years into a few minutes, you do go on this emotional journey when you learn about the unfortunate incidences Qian Qian had to overcome. This reviewer will admit that I did shed a tear or two.
As Kristen Bell calls them ‘the King Kong of cute’, the 40-minute documentary packs a lot of educational information not just about the giant panda species, its living conditions, but a pretty intense drama as well. If anything, 40 minutes felt like a really short amount of time as I was left wanting more from these delightful gentle giants.
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