Main Cast: Angela Bassett, Joanna Lumley, Anne Archer, Debi Derryberry
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 72 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Beverly Joubert and Derek Joubert, a husband-and-wife team who've won widespread acclaim (and a certain amount of controversy) for their beautiful but unflinchingly realistic wildlife documentaries (including Eternal Enemies and Wildlife Warriors), wrote and directed this feature-length drama that uses footage of animals in the wild to tell a story about elephants in their native environment. After the death of its mother, a baby elephant named Whispers (voice of Debi Derryberry) grabs the tail of Groove (voice of Angela Bassett), a pachyderm exiled from her tribe. Groove is hardly the nurturing type, but the child won't let go, and soon she bonds with the youngster as they make their way through the dangers of the jungle in search of the Great River, a fabled paradise for their kind. Anne Archer, Joanna Lumley, and Alice Ghostley are among the actors who provide the "voices" of the animals; the entire film was shot at the Chobe National Park in Botswana, South Africa, a nature preserve where the Jouberts live and work. Whispers: An Elephant's Tale was financed and released by Walt Disney Pictures. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Whispers recalls the by the numbers nature films with voices from 1960s TV, The Wonderful World of Disney, and feature film favorites such as 1963's The Incredible Journey. This foray into the animal kingdom isn't as charming as its predecessors, and adults will find the dialogue inane at times and the liberal borrowing from Bambi not a little insulting. Clearly, grown-ups are not the target audience, and children will find the wise-cracking anthropomorphism funny and the Lion King-like soundtrack warmly familiar. A brief nighttime attack by a pack of lions may alarm younger children. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
