Documentary
Synopsis
Cast: Avery Brooks
Producer(s): Discovery Channel Pictures
Crew: Director - Michael Caulfield, Writer - Michael Caulfield, Producer - Michael Caulfield, Executive Producer - Tim Cowling, Original Music - Roger Mason, Cinematographer - Tom Cowan, Film Editor - Kathleen Korth, Sound - Roger Savage, Scientific Consultant - Ian Douglas-Hamilton
Distributor: IMAX Corporation
Release Date: 01/01/1998
Running Time: 40 minutes
OFFICIAL SITE
Production Notes:
-Notes provided by Discovery Channel- Most animals in Kenya's Amboseli National Park know to steer clear of two battling male elephants. But one herd zoomed right in: the camera-packing crew of Africa's Elephant Kingdom, who risked everything to film the first large-format movie for Discovery Channel Pictures. "Heads, trunks and tusks banged together, sending clouds of dust coiling into the sky," recalls producer/director Michael Caulfield. "The elephant that was losing came around one side of our pickup, and soon they were literally above us. We had to keep ducking as 88-pound tusks and mammoth trunks flailed over our heads." Thanks to larger-than-life IMAX technology, audiences will feel just as up-close-and-way-too-personal as the crew did during these and other dramatic moments. Filmed over six months with the help of Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the world's foremost elephant expert, this 40-minute film follows along as an elephant family struggles through cycles of devastating drought and torrential rain. It also tells the story -- through the eyes of the regal, 60-year-old "Old Bull" -- of the most intimate moments in elephant life, including: the wobbly-legged uneasiness of newborn calves taking their first steps; the fury of matriarchs charging to defend their families; the innate ritual of young males jousting for mating rights; the agony of elephants weakening as a dry spell lengthens, and the joy when nourishing rains finally return; and the steely determination of bulls knocking down trees to feed upon. "One bull simply put its head against a tree, drove straight forward and, roots and all, popped it out of the ground like a cork," says Caulfield. But the film uncovers more than brutish behavior. Africa's Elephant Kingdom reveals a gentle, compassionate and even intelligent side to the mighty mammals. A curious behavior, for instance, that hints at mourning emerges as a family comes upon the bones of a dead elephant. Their methodical and respectful examination of the skeleton prompts the film's director to link the mind and spirit of elephants to those of humans. "You can forget any pretense that these animals don't have some kind of corollaries to humans," Caulfield asserts. Dr. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the movie's scientific consultant, lent his zoology expertise to the filmmakers by setting out every morning in his small Cessna airplane to locate where the film's "starring" family had traveled during the night; he'd then radio back their location to producers. The doctor's knowledge and instincts, honed over decades of studying African elephants, further allowed the crew to anticipate and interpret some of the most remarkable moments. In addition to adrenaline-pumping scenes on the ground, Africa's Elephant Kingdom soars into the sky via helicopters, balloons and a specially-designed crane. "The 'ooh-ah,' 'gee-whiz' shots that people go to the giant IMAX screen for are all here," says Caulfield, who believes the film will make "an intense emotional connection" with audiences. "If I don't get people helplessly laughing at some of this, and have them equally touched at other times, then I won't have succeeded." With such big cooperation from the IMAX camera and his subjects, Caulfield has little to worry about.
