“NATURE’S MOST DEDICATED CAT MOM”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
TIGER is both engaging and educational. The narrator does a good job at educational storytelling, balancing humor and drama at just the right moments. On top of that, although the story is about one of nature’s greatest predators, there is never any on screen killing. However, there is still some animal violence. After all, tigers are predatory creatures, and the movie shows other dangerous animals such as crocodiles and a python. So, some caution and discretion for younger children is still advised. Ultimately, however, TIGER is grand tale about one of nature’s big cats. It’s a happy addition to the Disney Nature documentaries.
CONTENT:
This movie has a moral, educational worldview embracing motherhood, the movie’s entire point is to educate viewers about how tiger families survive in the Indian jungle, the tigers aren’t put up on pedestals and humans are not shamed nor mentioned, the sole purpose seems to be to showcase and highlight how a tigress goes about raising such a big brood of cubs, there is a line that compares a tiger to a “spirit,” in the fact that when a tiger is hiding they are “everywhere and nowhere,” but the line has no religious context to speak of;
No foul language;
There are a few moments of animal violence, including a male tiger and female tiger attack each other, there are many times when the cubs are all play fighting amongst themselves, one whole scene is dedicated to frogs kicking each other off of rocks during their mating season, the aftermath of successful hunts are shown where one tiger manages to catch a deer offscreen and another tiger manages to catch a sloth off screen, two crocodiles manage to drown a deer, and a group of vultures feast on a bear cub who doesn’t make it;
There is an implied mating between a female and male tiger where the female tiger doesn’t intend to bear cubs, but the female tiger plans to mate with the alpha tiger as his new and permanent mate after her cubs from another tiger are grown old enough to survive on their own;
No nudity;
No alcohol use;
No smoking or drugs; and,
Nothing else objectionable.
MORE DETAIL:
TIGER is one of newest documentaries to arrive on Disney+. As the name implies it follows the story of a tiger, or rather a tigress, as she teaches her new cubs to hunt. The main characters of this show include five tigers in particular. Ambar, the mother of the brood, is the main focus for most of the film. She has a grand total of four cubs who are identified by both their unique stripe patterns and their personalities. The biggest and bravest male is called Ravi, the clumsy younger male is called Golu, the older female is called Ivy because she loves to climb, and the smallest female is called Charm, who likes her solitude.
Taking place in a jungle forest of India, Ambar is set to raise her unusually large brood of tiger cubs. However, it doesn’t prove to be easy.
The first big obstacle is the fact that anytime a tiger is spotted by any animal, a large warning is spread throughout, which frequently makes it hard for Ambar to hunt. Normally, when tigresses have cubs, the male tiger is usually assisting in some way. However, Ambar’s original mate was fought and scared away by the new alpha male, Shankar. So, on top of having to raise and feed her cubs, she needs to do it in secret because Shankar would kill her cubs if he caught them. The third major issue for Ambar is each of the cubs’ personalities leads to difficulties in her teaching them due to their quirks.
Despite all these obstacles, Ambar and her cubs seem to thrive and grow.
[SPOILERS FOLLOW] Ravi manages to grow into a big and strong alpha male in his own right, although almost gets himself killed when he becomes the tiger equivalent of a teenager and tried to fight Shankar. Luckily, his mother was able to save him. Ivy’s love of climbing ends up serving her well when she grows up and becomes a powerful and clever hunter. Charm at one point during the rainy season is separated from her mother and siblings but manages to survive and becomes more confident and a better hunter than all the rest. Only Golu doesn’t survive to adulthood when he’s eaten by a crocodile and vultures during a time when his mother left the cubs defenseless. After her cubs are grown and leave, Ambar joins Shankar as his new mate to start a new family. As she does that, Charm also mates and produces cubs, continuing the circle of life.
All well-made documentaries should seek to do two things: impart knowledge and tell a compelling narrative. This documentary is successful at both. The narrator is excellent at describing what is going on in an engaging way, making moments either humorous or dramatic when they need to be. On top of that the camera work for some of the shots is excellent, accurately portraying the mood of the movie. Also, TIGER not only teaches viewers about tigers, it also teaches them about other creatures in the Indian jungle, including sloth bears, frogs, mugger crocodiles, Indian pythons, and monkeys.
The one thing that is both good and surprising about TIGER is this documentary about one of the planet’s most dangerous predators to be more bloody and ruthless than this was. There is killing and death in TIGER, but the killing is all done off screen. So, the movie contains less violence than expected. This isn’t to say that no violence or blood is shown.
Overall, TIGER is engaging and educational, well worth its 90-minute viewing time. Disney has done a very good job giving a glimpse into the daily lives of one of nature’s most ferocious and largest wild cats. Children can watch TIGER with some adult discretion. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.