My Blog

May 28, 2008

May 12, 2008

Rocket Dog's dead. she was killed by a reacher's car. I'm very sorry to tell you this. I have known about it since May 1, but I wanted to post this sad news after in was confermed. WE ALL MISS YOU ROCKET DOG!

Flower

P.S. Ella/mango is the new leader.

May 7, 2008

Life History: Most of us first met Flower in the Meerkat Manor series when she was an established dominant female of the Whiskers. But now we learn about her young years - from her birth during a summer storm up to the birth of her own pups: famous Shakespeare, Mozart and Tosca. Her youth and ascend to dominance were eventful, yet not untypical for a meerkat female. Major milestones in Flower's life are shown, but several of the details differ from the KMP Life History. Furthermore, stand-in meerkats are frequently used, including the occasional pregnant male... Better just to enjoy the movie, than to analyse it - it is a tribute to Flower, not a documentary!

Filming: The movie footage was filmed in the past two years, independent from the teams filming Meerkat Manor 4. Quality of footage in the movie is spectacular - partly and most surely due to the large screen (godzilla size meerkats...), but above all the composition of the pictures is just perfect, catching the pure essence of the Kalahari, and the meerkats' actions. Oxford Scientific's experience gained over the years of filming Meerkat Manor clearly shows... New techniques used are colour footage of pups after birth (taken in Cotswolds wildlife park, UK); new not to the wildlife documentary industry, but to Meerkat Manor is also that they engaged bird and snake handlers - there is a wonderful 'eagle flies over the Kalahari' scene in the beginning. Apart from the meerkat action, the movie shows amazing pictures of the Kalahari (Augrabies Falls, Kgalagadi Park, Witsand Nature Reserve, partly taken from a helicopter) and a lot of wildlife.

Narration: Whoopie Goldberg's voice is soothing, calm and often almost masculine, yet with a compassionate touch, and the occasional joke. It fits very well to the atmosphere in the movie.

Characters and personalities: The movie paints a rather black-and-white image of the two female leaders: Here is Flower, the caring, wise, valiant heroine, and there is Vialli, the ruthless, greedy, self-centered adversary. However, a meerkat dominant female needs both qualities to be successful, and we all know that Flower had both qualities...

Explicit scenes: One of the major differences to the Meerkat Manor series is the fact that the movie not only shows life footage, but several scenes have been actively re-enacted with other meerkats, or meerkat groups. The movie does not repeat The Journey's End, or Flower's death; however, dying Petal and Holly, as well as Vialli's death on the main road are shown in staged scenes. The credits explicitely mention that some scenes have been re-enacted, but also that no animals have been harmed during the making of this film. Mating scenes are shown; the most impressing, yet ferocious, scenes however are the group encounters with Lazuli - awesome footage!

Conclusion: Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins is a must-see for anyone who likes meerkats, who loves Flower - but also astonishing nature movies!

May 4, 2008

Meerkat Manor
To Have and To Have Not
TV-G

Maybelline's control over the Aztecs is dwindling and her futile attempts at leadership have made a lot of her subordinates quit. Rocket Dog isn't fairing much better. With a bigger group of meerkats under her command, her dominance is rocky.

Meerkat Manor
All Manor Of Love
TV-PG (S)

Wilson moves in at Maybelline's Aztecs but makes a dash for it when Zaphod pitches up. He then turns his amorous attentions to one of The Whiskers girls.

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
Rising Star
TV-PG (S), CC

The Whiskers stray onto Commando territory, where they are taught a lesson by the feared enemy, Nikita. Seacrest then stays behind for lessons of another kind!

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
The Family Way
TV-PG (S), CC

Rocket Dog's pregnancy causes problems for Sophie, while rover Seacrest helps The Aztecs find a new home.

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
The Mark of Zorro
TV-PG (S)

Zorro takes a group of Whiskers boys off roving at the Commandos, where little Karim gets lucky and the whole group stage a military coup. Sophie faces a life in exile following her eviction from the Whiskers.

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
Great Expectations
TV-PG (S)

Rocket Dog is in her final days of pregnancy, and desperately needs to find a new burrow to give birth. Zorro is getting his first taste of what life as a Commando will be like as feisty Nikita wages war on her pregnant subordinates.

 

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
The Bodyguard
TV-PG (S)

Rocket Dog's pups are left vulnerable when babysitters Sophie and Axel are distracted by Wilson's roving antics. Rival sisters Maybelline and Rocket Dog experience differing fortunes.

Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation
Divided We Fall
TV-PG (S)

Rocket Dog's pups are taken on an unscheduled outing away from the burrow by a pair of babysitters. The short trip turns into a nightmare expedition when a rival group show up.

April 28, 2008