Africa: The Serengeti
"There is a place on earth where it is still the morning of life and
the great herds still run free." These words, delivered by the resonant
voice of James Earl Jones, begin and end the story of the greatest migration
of land animals anywhere on the planet. Africa: The Serengeti, the
first African epic filmed in IMAX/OMNIMAX, brings to life this incredible
story taking viewers on a journey with over 1.5 million animals as they
travel over 500 miles across the Serengeti plains.
Africa: The Serengeti is an IMAX safari into the "last great
place on earth" -- the Serengeti plains, a place where life and death
dramas are played daily within the most important animal sanctuary on earth.
A heart-pounding chorus of hooves and the sight of wildebeests as far as
the eye can see, introduce the audience to the spectacle that few humans
have ever witnessed, the Great Migration. The film is a tribute to those
ungainly, clown-like animals as they set out on their year long odyssey,
accompanied by countless zebras and gazelles. Many have made this trip before;
for the young it is their first journey, for others it could be their last.
The Great Migration takes place within the two East African nations of Tanzania
and Kenya and focuses on the Serengeti/Mara ecosystem, an area of more than
18,000 square miles. While this film is an accolade to the wildebeests it
is also a documentary featuring a fascinating array of animals including
lions, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, monkeys and even crocodiles.
During the two years that the film has been in circulation, eighty-eight
theaters world-wide have leased it. The Houston Museum of Natural Science,
which is responsible for distributing the film, worked closely with Graphic
Films Corp., a Hollywood-based film production company, during its production.
Local investors funded the production of the filmp; a first for the
Museum. Africa: The Serengeti has won four film industry awards and has
been nominated for several others. HMNS is now working on a second IMAX
production on the wildlife and pristine wilderness of Alaska, due for completion
in the Spring of 1997.
Africa: The Serengeti will both excite and educate audiences. Elephants
must eat several hundred pounds of leaves and twigs a day just to retain
their ideal weight of 14,000 pounds. Hippos are more menacing than they
look and there is neither malice nor remorse on the Serengeti. Predators
kill to eat, and to feed their own, nothing more. Birds also play an important
role in the Serengeti. The cattle egret and mottled starling feed on insects
brought by the herds while elegant pink flamingos, forthright Kori Bustards,
and even lanky ostriches bring their own kind of beauty to the Serengeti.
The Serengeti has also been called the cradle of humanity. One of the most
famous archeological sites on earth is located in Olduvai Gorge, near the
Ngorongoro Crater. Viewers will journey into the Gorge and learn of the
2 million year-old human fossil discovered there and also of the people
who now call this area their home--the Maasai. They were once the most formidable
warriors of East Africa but now they live the more peaceful life of tending
cattle and family while still maintaining their unique customs and traditions.
Dramatic and beautiful as Africa: The Serengeti is, it is the ending
that is the most touching and one that audiences will remember long after
they have left the theatre. After having endured drought, starvation and
numerous adversities, including the crossing of the crocodile-infested Mara
River, the audience needs reassurance that life is more powerful than death.
They will not be disappointed as they cheer on one wobbly little calf whom
they know must rise and walk within five minutes of birth or be abandoned.
After several heart-wrenching attempts the calf finally finds his legs and
trots off to join his mother, giving the much-needed affirmation that even
on the great plains of the Serengeti, life is indeed more powerful than
death.