*Some spoilers below
'Animal' is a four-part docuseries which gives us some stunning natural scenery and some stunning wildlife footage, which makes 'Animal' must-see viewing.
Netflix has a new docuseries out now which is called 'Animal'.
'Animal' is a largely enchanting, entertaining and educational docuseries. It has four different episodes to it: each episode of 'Animal' focuses on a different group of wonderful animals and is narrated by a different person. Each episode has a different celebrity narrator, this approach to this series is one of the things that makes 'Animal' unique to nature documentaries.
Every celebrity narrator of this docuseries gives a different mood to each episode, their narration slightly changes the feel of each episode.
Being narrated by different celebrities may help draw in more people to view this nature documentary, which may also result in more people caring about nature and being made aware of the issues facing the natural world today. If it does do that, then that would be a positive outcome for animals and the natural world.
The end of each episode also gives the series a unique feel, as at the end of each episode viewers are given an insight into the challenges and threats that wildlife face in the modern world today. This insight into the challenges and threats facing wildlife today is never done in a preachy way - it is done in an educational way.
Highlighting the threats that nature faces today is important and welcoming from 'Animal,' as if we know more about how wildlife is being impacted and the threats they face then we can help protect wildlife and create a better planet for them. I learned some things from 'Animal' that I didn't know before, so, when a documentary is teaching you knew things, it is doing its job properly.
The series opens with big cats, with the second episode focusing on dogs. With the episode on big cats, we see some amazing footage of majestic big cats like lions and tigers - with some powerful footage especially focusing on lions. We also get to see the mysterious, elusive and cute snow leopard and how they are living in and adapting to a hostile and ever-changing landscape.
One of the things I like about 'Animal' is its focus on many different species. The focus on every big cat species is refreshing, as sometimes it feels like some big cat species - like snow leopards and clouded leopards - don't get the same focus and attention as lions and tigers do. That's not to say that lions and tigers shouldn't get attention and focus - they should - it is to say that all big cat species deserve conservation effort, attention, care and consideration. 'Animal' dedicates its time and energy focusing on some big cat species which sometimes feel left behind.
The second episode, which focuses on dogs, is also refreshing and focuses on animals that sometimes don't get the attention and consideration they deserve: such as the attention and consideration 'Animal' shows to the endangered African wild dog. By focusing on animals that don't often get the spotlight, 'Animal' gives a voice for some underrepresented animals. We also get to see a lot of cute puppies in this episode, which gives the viewer some cute scenes.
Episode three largely takes us down under, to Australia and focuses on Marspiuals. We get to see some adorable Marspiuals like koalas and other cute species which are rarely focused upon. This episode in particular was important, as it highlights and focuses on many different species that people may not know about.
Finally, the last episode focuses on Octopuses. This episode has quite a different feel from the first three episodes of 'Animal,' given that the episode Octopuses is the only episode of this series to focus on a marine ecosystem.
The Octopuses episode shows how intelligent octopuses are and how able they are to adapt to the environment around them. There is a particular part of this episode that shows how much mother octopuses sacrifice for their young - it is both heartwarming and sad to watch at the same time.
The only criticism of 'Animal' I have is that some scenes are distressing: these are scenes I did fast forward. This is not a unique criticism of 'Animal' - as many nature documentaries are the same. However, it is the reason why I am giving 'Animal' a 4 out of 5, rather than a 5 out of 5 review star rating. Overall though, I enjoyed 'Animal' and thought it was great viewing.
It is one of the best things Netflix has released and I hope that they do more docuseries like this. Hopefully, we can get more docuseries and documentaries which focuses on animals that are endangered and critically endangered that are rarely, or never focused on. Hopefully, we also get to see more of 'Animal' too.
If you are to watch anything this December, this should be on your list.
Review of 'Animal': ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Comments