Chimpanzee: Oh the Humanity

"It's a classic scenario in sentimental fiction: An adorable orphan humanizes a crusty old codger. "Humanize" might not seem the obvious verb for what happens in Chimpanzee, Disneynature's latest kiddie documentary. But it's dead on; this escape to the planet of the apes is anthropomorphic to a fault."

"The story, delivered excitedly by narrator Tim Allen, is about a "precious baby boy," given the only-in-Hollywood tag of Oscar by filmmakers Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield. They call the baby's mother Isha, and the local chimp patriarch Freddy. The leader of a nearby chimp "mob" that threatens Freddy's clan is outfitted with the name Scar (although not with Jeremy Irons' voice)."

After Isha's off-screen death — only partially the fault of Scar and his gang — Oscar is abandoned. None of the other moms in the 35-chimp tribe is prepared to take responsibility for another hungry baby. But before he starves to death, Oscar is adopted by an older male chimp, which is apparently a rare occurrence."