Marching with nature's best: March of the Penguins is a family-friendly movie that instills a sense of awe at the resilience shown by emperor penguins as they procreate despite mother nature's harshest whims.

In the creation of the penguin we catch a special glimpse of God's sense of beauty, order, and humor. And in March of the Penguins we are treated to an absolutely captivating, astonishingly beautiful view of one of nature's (until now) secret life-cycle rituals that takes place annually in our planet's most forbidding environment.

Every year, mature penguins leave the sea and begin a remarkable trek across the Antarctic ice to their breeding grounds. March of the Penguins follows a group of several thousand emperor penguins on their arduous journey of 70 miles to one of these special places.

"Take it all in all, I do not believe anybody on earth has a worse time than an Emperor penguin," wrote Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a global adventurer and a survivor of Captain Robert F. Scott's doomed journey to the South Pole. After viewing this outstanding film you will, no doubt, agree with Cherry-Garrard's assessment.

Upon leaving their oceanic home, the penguins must waddle over miles of treacherous ice to the gathering place where they will find their mates. It is a frozen desert, a wasteland with temperatures of minus 70 degrees and winds of more than 100 miles per hour. They will be without food for months, living off their body fat and snow. Like salmon returning to spawn in the same creek bed in which they were hatched, an inner compass guides the emperors to the same mating place where they were conceived and born.

Enchantment and Tragedy

The sight of hundreds of penguins marching in single file is such an odd and amusing spectacle that it temporarily obscures the seriousness of the life-and-death struggle at the center of this incredible event. Upon reaching their destination--where a natural rock outcropping provides only slight protection against the polar winter winds--the penguins begin their search for a mate amongst the thousands that have gathered at the sanctuary.

Penguins are monogamous (for each mating season, that is), and their selection of a mate seems to be highly influenced by the mating call. Amidst a deafening cacophony, the penguin somehow finds his or her true love. The penguins' courtship is beautiful and tender, with singing, cooing, and nuzzling. The female produces but one egg, and then begins the real story of survival against seemingly impossible odds.

After laying her egg, the mother penguin is weak and famished, having lost one-third of her body weight. She must make the return journey to the sea to feed for several weeks and then return to relieve the father, who carefully tends the egg in her absence.

However, before morn can leave for a meal, she and dad must successfully execute a very delicate operation: transfer of the egg. Even a few seconds of exposure to the extreme Antarctic temperatures can freeze and crack the precious treasure. Thus, the egg is cradled upon the mother's feet and enveloped with a fold of her feathered fat for warmth. The father is likewise equipped, but transferring the egg from one parent to the other is no easy matter, and we see a number of instances in which the fragile object tragically rolls onto the ice and is destroyed in a moment by the unforgiving elements.

The egg hatches while morn is away, and the chick continues to live for weeks in dad's protected pocket, nourished by regurgitated food from the rapidly dwindling supplies in dad's stomach. The chicks--which look like toddlers in bulky, fuzzy, floor-length coats--are even more comical in appearance than their tuxedoed elders. The penguins huddle together for warmth during the most severe storms. Yet even with their incredible natural features that uniquely suit the penguin for these environs, the extreme conditions always take a toll. Some adults and chicks succumb to cold and starvation. Others perish in the fierce jaws of leopard seals that prowl the edges of the ice floes, waiting for the penguin parents as they take turns making food runs.

A Few Caveats

March of the Penguins is a magnificent, family-friendly film that will be enjoyed by one and all. Morgan Freeman's sonorous voice narrates a beautiful, almost poetic script. Many of the shots in this film are so astounding that you will find yourself asking, "How did they do that?" Thankfully, the DVD's special features show you how, taking you on location behind the scenes.

A caveat about the special features: there is repeated reference to the supposed fact of "global warming," which, we are told, is responsible for irregular ice formations that trap and kill unfortunate penguins. Hence, are we--evil, gas-guzzling humans--responsible for the tragic deaths of these lovely, delightful creatures.

Unfortunately, this type of enviro-propaganda seems virtually de rigueur in every National Geographic production. However, if one listens closely, one will hear an admission from the film team that this "theory" is still unproven and they have no idea whether the ice irregularities are something new or have been natural to the Antarctic from time immemorial.