Search - Nature: Animals Gone Wild on DVD

Easily NATURE's Most Edutaining Episode Ever

Sure Thing | San Diego County, CA United States | 12/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, the episode "Animals Behaving Badly" (which was my main reason for getting this DVD) is presented exactly as it was on PBS except for the presentation of the underwriters which is absent. The picture quality is excellent to the point that some segments which I originally thought to be done on film could clearly be seen to actually be on video.

Both programs on the DVD look at the continuing conflict between wildlife and urban sprawl. As the human population rises all over the world, wild animals are being crowded out of their natural habitats or being forced to adapt to the new environments with undesirable consequences for humans. NATURE takes a good-humored look at this problem in "Animals..." with no shortage of puns.

While marine mammals are my passion (and the program begins and ends with them), my favorite sequence turns out to be the one with the squirrel where the filmmakers test its ability to overcome obstacles while trying to steal seeds from a backyard bird feeder. A preview of this sequence can be seen at the PBS website for NATURE.

The episode on Grizzly Bears is good but I have to say nowhere near as much fun to watch as "Animals..." which is actually the second title on this DVD.

This was a tough act to follow even for NATURE, but they did do a sequel called "Animals Behaving Worse" (with the same narrator) and was really more of the same. I do recommend that as a companion piece. Hopefully they will continue to follow this topic as we humans do need to be made more aware of the wildlife around us and that it's better to learn to live with it than against it.

For a great companion book, see "Wild Neighbors: The Humane Approach to Living With Wildlife.""

Animals gone to sleep would

Ray Tinsley | 04/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This video was far from being funny, we didn't even find it to be entertaining. It is informative but falls well short of its "Gone Wild" title. If given the opportunity again, I would pass on this DVD, its dry."