It's like those nature programs I watched as a child.

My favorite memories growing up were that of me and my grandfather hanging out watching nature documentaries for hours. I was one of those kids that would have rather watched Natural Geographic than any cartoon you could throw at me. I even took it so far as to hide in the closet and read the Natural Geographics he kept in there, with my flashlight, while I was supposed to be sleeping. So, giving me a movie like Arctic Tale to review seemed a bit unfair as I'm bound to be biased.

Arctic Tale, I'm told, is much like March of the Penguins. Though I say that lightly as I've never seen March of the Penguins (yeh yeh I know slap me later). Though friends who have, compare the two. So dropping any comparisons, as I'm not sure I'd be any help there, lets start from the beginning. Arctic Tale follows the stories of two animal families. Nanu the polar bear cub and Seela the walrus pup share their lives, tales, and challenges for better or worst. Narrated by Queen Latifah the movie is part documentary part story and it's a hard call to say which is more intriguing the amazing scenery and film work or the stories of the animals that you cannot help to fall for. Young children will be mesmerized while older children and adults will really understand the stories and the world surrounding the animals. Though not totally brutal the stories are honest as to what sort of challenges these animals face from predators, to learning their place in the world, to the affects of global warming. The pictures are a little haunting as you realize that by the time our own children are adults the world these animals live in could be all but gone. It made me a little sad when I realized that Connor's favorite bear at his grandparents house just happens to be a polar bear cub that my own great aunt gave me as a child. Will they survive so that Connor's children may sleep with the same bear at nap time without it being almost a mythical beast?

Presented in bluray, Arctic Tale is gorgeous and really all that it should be as the film work is really extraordinary. Though I'm sure its wonderful in whatever format it is presented in it seems such a shame to see it any other way. The colors are so crisp you feel as if your almost there on my big lcd screen. Special features include its own little documentary of the making of Artic Tale, a polar bear spotting game, and the theatrical trailer. Not a ton but the documentary is actually pretty interesting as you can't help to wonder how they got all this close up footage of the animals involved in the story.

You can buy your own copy of Arctic Tale on Amazon right now. We highly recommend it!