Today In Disney History ~ March 16th

“This short, which technically was not listed as part of the True-Life Adventures series, but has the look and feel of those shorts and features, was nominated for an Academy Award and was extremely well shot. because I want to cover this in some detail, this is a spoiler warning:
This short covers some of the wildlife (predominantly birds) on four islands-the Galapagos, Guadelupe, Falklands and an island in the Midway chain. While touching very briefly on the turtles of Galapagos and a bit more in-depth on two varieties of iguana and a species of crab, the documentary focuses primarily on birds, including several species of penguin on at least two of the islands, cormorants, frigate birds and the albatross.
I found the sections on the various penguins fascinating, because penguins are typically thought of as belonging to colder climates than you would find around the Galapagos or the Falklands. There’s just something about penguins that interests me, I guess. There’s at least one moment of tragedy shown, which is to be expected in one of these Disney releases.
For anyone who’s seen many of the Disney wildlife productions, the usual flourishes are here-they show albatrosses, which are also known as goony birds, trying to land after a flight and mainly crashing. They also show a few aborted takeoffs, adding sound effects (screeching brakes) at least once, presumably for comic effect.
The thing about these shorts is that, even after the passage of decades (more than 45 years in this case) the quality of the camera-work is still exceptional and can hold its own. Say what you like about Disney, but they did excellent work from a technical standpoint and were clearly ahead of the curve-which is understandable, as they were frequently creating the technology which pushed the curve forward.
This short can be found on Volume 2 of the True-Life Adventures DVD sets issued under the Disney Legacy label and the DVDs are most absolutely recommended.”