Reel Critic:

For those of a certain age, the showing of a Disney nature film during school offered a welcome break from the tedium of books, tests and lectures. Shot in color and offering amazing footage of flora and fauna, these films helped establish a sense of wonder regarding the natural world in an entire generation of Americans. The films were also shown on television on “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color,� another Baby Boomer staple.

This wonderful heritage is now being revived by Disneynature, an independent film unit of Walt Disney Co. Disneynature carries on work started by Walt Disney, who was himself a pioneer in wildlife filmmaking. Disney produced 13 True-Life Adventures films between 1948 and 1960, including “Seal Island� (1948), “The Living Desert� (1953) and “Jungle Cat� (1959). This series of films earned the studio eight Academy Awards.

Disneynature released its first film, “Earth,� in 2007 and set opening-weekend and single-day box office records for a nature documentary.

The company’s latest offering, “Oceans,� is in theaters now. “Oceans� is directed by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, who were responsible for the Oscar-nominated “Winged Migration� in 2001. Producing this documentary was a monumental task. Two full years of preproduction work was required, followed by four years of actual shooting involving 75 separate excursions. Finally, it took another year to edit the more than 480 hours of film into a coherent 86 minutes.

“Oceans� spans the globe in order to present as thorough a view as possible of the incredible diversity of plants, crustaceans, fish, marine mammals and birds that depend on the ocean for survival. From the Arctic Circle to Antarctica and every place in between, the filmmakers sought venues in which the sea life was undisturbed and the environment as unaffected by man as possible.

Such expense and effort has resulted in one stunning visual after another. In one scene, a mother humpback whale gently nudges its calf to the surface for air. In another, a rampaging orca drives itself onto the beach in order to snare a hapless seal. In still another, hundreds of dolphins and gulls jump and dive after the same school of fish in a seemingly synchronized aquatic ballet.

“Oceans� is narrated by Pierce Brosnan in a clipped and somewhat deadpan manner. The narrative is not intrusive or particularly informative, but serves its purpose. While the film is mostly a celebration of the beauty and majesty of the sea, a brief mention is made of the threat of pollution and global warming. Perhaps Disney simply wishes to avoid even a hint of controversy, but given the ecological disaster that could eventually result from these factors, a more thorough examination might be in order.

Unless you have a very large home theater, “Oceans� is really worth seeing on the big screen. Nature documentaries are usually relegated to the Discovery Channel and the like and must be viewed at home. “Oceans� offers a rare opportunity to see some of Earth’s most magnificent creatures in a way few will get to experience on their own. If our oceans and the creatures associated with them are of interest to you, “Oceans� is worth a look.

VAN NOVACK is the assistant vice president of institutional research and assessment at Cal State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife, Elizabeth.