Disney+ hosted a special panel during the 2022 Television Critics Association winter press tour in support of Earth Day, announcing new movies and specials that celebrate our planet. This year’s Disney+ Earth Day content will include Disneynature’s Polar Bear narrated by two-time Academy Award nominee Catherine Keener (Capote, Being John Malkovich). National Geographic’s Explorer series heads to the Amazon with Explorer: The Last Tepui, and viewers are invited back to Apricot Lane Farms to check in on John and Molly Chester with The Biggest Little Farm: The Return.
Polar Bear, the Biggest Little Farm followup, and The Last Tepui will premiere on April 22, 2022.
Disneynature’s Polar Bear
The film tells the story of a new mother whose memories of her own youth prepare her to navigate motherhood in the increasingly challenging world that polar bears face today. Helmed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson, the directing team behind Disneynature’s Penguins, and produced by Fothergill, Wilson, Jason Roberts, Keith Scholey and Roy Conli, Polar Bear launches exclusively on Disney+ on April 22, 2022.
Explorer: The Last Tepui
The Disney+ Earth Day special Explorer: The Last Tepui, from National Geographic, follows elite climber Alex Honnold (Free Solo) and a world-class climbing team led by National Geographic Explorer and climber Mark Synnott on a grueling mission deep in the Amazon jungle as they attempt a first-ascent climb up a 1000 foot sheer cliff. Their goal is to deliver legendary biologist and National Geographic Explorer Bruce Means to the top of a massive “island in the sky” known as a tepui.
The team must first trek miles of treacherous jungle terrain to help Dr. Means complete his life’s work, searching the cliff wall for undiscovered animal species. The one-hour special is the newest installment of National Geographic’s long-running “Explorer” series. This Earth Day, learn why the tepuis – much like the Galapagos – are a treasure trove of biodiversity worth protecting.
The Biggest Little Farm: The Return
The Disney+ Earth Day special The Biggest Little Farm: The Return, from National Geographic, is based on the 2018 award-winning feature documentary film that tells the story of John and Molly Chester, who abandon their urban life in Los Angeles to live on a barren farm to grow delicious food in harmony with nature in Ventura County. The new special follows the farmers’ 10-year tireless journey as they transform the land into a magical working farm and document the whole process in this heartwarming special that is akin to a real-life Charlotte’s Web.
Apricot Lane Farms is a beautiful, complex world that reflects our planet’s biodiversity, and this special introduces audiences to animals that will quickly burrow into their hearts, like Emma the pig who welcomes her newest litter and an adorable lamb named Moe who befriends the family. This Earth Day, see how the farmers utilize the interconnectedness of nature to help build soil health, maximize biodiversity, and regeneratively grow the most nutrient-dense food possible.
