Product Description Every great story has a magical beginning especially when that story involves the real-life adventures of a unique family of meerkats known as the Whiskers and their most beloved member, Flower. As prequel to the Meerkat Manor television series, this feature film traces the rise of Flower from a young meerkat pup to the leader of the pack. Watch as Flower blooms into a remarkable matriarch and forges a legacy amidst the unforgiving landscape of one of the harshest deserts on the planet the Kalahari. Narrated by Academy Award® -winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins will warm your heart and leave you awed by the magic of Flower s journey. .com Popping Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins into the DVD player and pressing play seems like a guaranteed win-win, and ultimately it is, but oddly enough Whoopi Goldberg's narration detracts from some other wonderful things happening in this feature film. Based on the television series narrated by Sean Astin, this elaborate story of the Whiskers clan crossing the "Great Divide" (the highway) to look for alternate territory is sweet and funny, thanks to the meerkats rather than the sometimes sappy script. In it, Flower is born into a charismatic litter, including Petal, Thumper, and Hazel, who reveal wilderness to be a dangerous place. As Flower witnesses repeated Whisker clan hardships, including battles with various impressive predators, Flower grows into the natural leader that she eventually becomes. Over the course of the story, one meets several matriarchs, both of the Whiskers clan and of their warring tribe, the Lazuli gang. At times, the narration is spot-on, while at other times Goldberg's narration teeters confusingly between documentary and fantasy, between adult and child humor. Not to say there is anything inappropriate here for kids. In fact, one of the films' best attributes is its ability to show death as an integrated part of the life cycle. Additionally, it is a pleasure to witness meerkats at close range, especially during several clan battles set underground. (Baby meerkats abound throughout, making for footage that is quite irresistible!) Told as a folk tale about animals and land who "share secrets every day," Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins may not be Milo & Otis or Babe, but I'll take baby meerkats any day. --Trinie Dalton
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