Animal Planet: Great Animal Documentaries
As global leaders meet for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and shape the fate of our planet, we offer this slate of great documentary films about the animals -- wild and domestic -- that share this planet with us.
Gunda
An intimate look at the life of a sow and her companions.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Norway, United States • 2021
- Director Viktor Kossakovsky
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Hulu, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Kanopy
The Year Earth Changed
As we retreat into lockdown, Mother Nature makes a comeback.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2021
- Director Tom Beard
- Cast David Attenborough, Bhashkar Bara, Dulu Bora, Anshul Chopra, Christine Gabriele
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV Plus
My Octopus Teacher
A diver and a wild octopus earn each other’s trust — and friendship.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- South Africa • 2020
- Director Philippa Ehrlich, James Reed
- Cast Craig Foster, Tom Foster
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Honeyland
Hatidze Muratova, one of the last "bee hunters" in Europe, raises bees based in a sustainable and minimally invasive manner.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Macedonia • 2019
- Director Tamara Kotevska
- Cast Hatidzhe Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Microsoft Store, YouTube, AMC on Demand, Kanopy
Born in China
An epic journey into the Chinese wilderness that follows the adventures of three animal families: panda, golden monkey, and snow leopard.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, China, United States • 2016
- Director Lu Chuan
- Cast John Krasinski, Zhou Xun
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Disney Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand, AMC on Demand
Virunga
Journalists and park rangers struggle to save the mountain gorillas and their natural habitat, and to expose political corruption.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Congo • 2014
- Director Orlando von Einsiedel
- Cast André Bauma, Emmanuel de Merode, Mélanie Gouby, Rodrigue Mugaruka Katembo, Vianney Kazarama
- Genre Documentary, War
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
Flight of the Butterflies
A documentary about the monarch butterfly, which has one of the longest known insect migration routes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Mexico, Canada • 2012
- Director Mike Slee
- Cast Megan Follows, Gordon Pinsent, Shaun Benson, Patricia Phillips, Sofía Sisniega, Stephanie Sigman
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Hoopla, Shout! Factory TV
Project Nim
The world will be a different place once you've seen it through his eyes.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2011
- Director James Marsh
- Cast Bob Angelini, Bern Cohen, Reagan Leonard
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy, Hoopla
Earth
This documentary follows three remarkable, yet sadly endangered, families of animals across the globe.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, Germany, United States • 2007
- Director Mark Linfield
- Cast Patrick Stewart, Constantino Romero, James Earl Jones, Ken Watanabe, Ulrich Tukur, Anggun
- Genre Documentary
- Available on No streaming locations found.
March of the Penguins
(La Marche de l'empereur)
In the harshest place on Earth, love finds a way.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2005
- Director Luc Jacquet
- Cast Charles Berling, Romane Bohringer, Jules Sitruk, Morgan Freeman, Torsten Michaelis, Andrea-Kathrin Loewig
- Genre Documentary, Family
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Spectrum On Demand
Winged Migration
(Le peuple migrateur)
Five film crews follow a rich variety of bird migrations through forty countries and across each of the seven continents.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Germany, Switzerland • 2001
- Director Jacques Perrin
- Cast Philippe Labro, Jacques Perrin
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand
Microcosmos
(Microcosmos : Le peuple de l'herbe)
15 years of research. 2 years of equipment design. 3 years of shooting. And one great movie to restore your sense of wonder.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Switzerland, Italy • 1996
- Director Marie Pérennou
- Cast Jacques Perrin, Kristin Scott Thomas
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Criterion Channel