David Attenborough brings the world of natural Madagascar onto the screen. This is one of the biggest islands in the world with a natural world unlike anywhere else. It's millions of years since it was separated as Africa and India drifted apart. It's a four part series. The first three parts have the standard beautiful nature cinematography with the last ten minutes of each episode showing the struggles of the filmmakers. The beautiful pictures are unforgettable. The ten minutes are sometimes interesting but it could still be cut down a little bit. What I find most compelling is the knowledge that this is a disappearing world. Everybody knows about the lemurs but this is an island onto itself. It is possible that this world will go the way of the elephant bird.
The last episode tells the story of the extinct elephant bird. In 1961, David was given giant shell fragments from a village boy. When he pieced the 3D puzzle together, it formed a nearly whole giant egg. It is the egg of an extinct giant bird which Marco Polo mentioned. With stories of the bird carrying off elephants, the bird is given the name elephant bird. While this episode doesn't quite have the beautiful nature shots, it tells the compelling extinction story which nicely wraps up the sad scary truth. I know very little about the island and it's sad that so much of it may never be known.
The last episode tells the story of the extinct elephant bird. In 1961, David was given giant shell fragments from a village boy. When he pieced the 3D puzzle together, it formed a nearly whole giant egg. It is the egg of an extinct giant bird which Marco Polo mentioned. With stories of the bird carrying off elephants, the bird is given the name elephant bird. While this episode doesn't quite have the beautiful nature shots, it tells the compelling extinction story which nicely wraps up the sad scary truth. I know very little about the island and it's sad that so much of it may never be known.
