Search - Disney's Whispers: An Elephant's Tale on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, Watch With Your Kids, Scary Moments Movie Release: 2000 DVD Release: 10/23/2001 Format: DVD - Pan and Scan SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 12 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Children's/Family, Animal Picture

Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Angela Bassett - Groove
Joanna Lumley - Half Tusk
Anne Archer - Gentle Heart
Debi Derryberry - Whispers

Dereck Joubert's film is a cross between The Bear and Homeward Bound, but features an elephant in the lead role. The disc offers a standard full-frame transfer. The closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Surround. There are no subtitles on this release. Supplemental materials feature a pair of animated shorts, Clown of the Jungle and Big Wash. This is a fine, if uninspired family oriented DVD that has a list price some might consider too high for a disc with so few extras. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide