Entertainment

‘Frozen Planet’ Premiers in U.S. With ‘Amazing Natural Drama’ — Climate Change Rhetoric to Follow

BBC and Discovery Channels Frozen Planet Premiers in the U.S.

(Photo: Discovery Channel)

The highly anticipated series “Frozen Planet,” a co-production by the Discovery Channel and BBC, premiered last night in the United States starring Nature — and Alec Baldwin.

Sunday’s prime time two-hour premier kicked off the seven-episode series, which is the culmination of more than “two and a half thousand days”  spent by a crew capturing footage in the field, according to Fox News. Fox reports that this more than four year undertaking to give a documentary account of wildlife in Antarctica and the Arctic highlights not just the science of the environments but provides comedic and romantic effect as well:

In Sunday’s second hour, male penguins by the hundreds of thousands anticipate the spring return of the females, for whose favor each male must compete by building a swankier nest than his rivals. In a delightful sequence, a painstaking penguin gathers stones one by one, only to have them filched, one after another, by a scheming neighbor whenever the hapless suitor’s back is turned. These performers, with their Chaplin-esque gait and impeccable timing, would have been right at home in a 1920s two-reeler.

There’s also bittersweet romance on “Frozen Planet.” Nature’s ultimate loner, a 1400-pound male polar bear, has lumbered across the ice all winter in search of a mate come spring. Picking up her scent from 10 miles  away, he finds her, after which they share a tender interlude. Then, just two weeks later, their brief encounter ends as they are fated to part.

BBC and Discovery Channels Frozen Planet Premiers in the U.S.

(Photo: Discovery Channel)

BBC and Discovery Channels Frozen Planet Premiers in the U.S.

(Photo: Discovery Channel)

Fox News reports that “Frozen Planet” is the work of a 38 person camera crew, 2,356 days in the field, 1 1/2 year at sea and 840 hours of blizzards:

“The weather is often rubbish,” [Executive Producer Alastair] Fothergill acknowledges. But physical discomfort isn’t the real problem. “Everybody thinks it’s all about storms and cold — but it’s actually about `gray light,’ when the ice looks really, really ugly. You can wait for weeks, and all the while the polar bear is doing his stuff, but you have to say, `Don’t shoot it. Wait until the light is good.”

Check out MSNBC’s preview of the series:

One of the producers, Vannessa Berlowitz told Fox News that scenes in the documentary are so good, it can appear as if they were scripted, “but we don’t fake anything”:

“That’s the thing about the natural world: It gives you amazing natural drama,” says Berlowitz. [...] “And the audience thinks, `Wow, they did that without trained animals!”

BBC and Discovery Channels Frozen Planet Premiers in the U.S.

(Photo: Discovery Channel)

While this may be the case, last year, when the series premiered in the United Kingdom, controversy ensued when it was revealed that a scene depicting the birth of polar bear cubs was staged in a zoo but appeared as if it were in the wild on film. From there, other scenes were also revealed to be staged.

The Blaze interviewed documentary wildlife filmmaker Chris Palmer at the time who said that it is not uncommon for staging to occur in nature documentaries but it can result in the audience feeling deceived. He said, “When people look at a documentary, there is an implied promise that what you’re seeing is real.” Palmer said that sometimes staging scenes makes sense, like in the case of the polar bear mother and cubs, but notes that it should be made transparent to the audience. BBC did offer information about the scenes it staged to capture some more difficult footage on its website at the time.

On last night’s show, as highlighted by the Huffington Post, a mother polar bear is shown trying to bring home dinner while her cubs, much like human children, take off for fun, potentially making it harder for mom to catch prey by alerting seals below the ice to their presence. Watch footage from that scene:

Last night’s episode also featured the time-lapsed formation of a “brincle.” We brought you news of this “icicle of death” last year when it was filmed forming for the first time. Watch the brincle formation:

One of the differences between the show that ran in the United Kingdom late last year versus the version just starting off in the United States is the narrator. The voice in the American version is the familiar “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin, while the voice heard in Europe was famed zoologist David Attenborough.

The seventh and final episode of the series airing April 15 entitled “On Thin Ice” will focus on how climate change has and is expected to affect the icy poles. This last episode will be narrated by Attenborough in the U.S. as well.

Comments (91)

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  • STEEEEVE53
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:58am

    Last night, when I happened to come across the show, I watched it for a while, then when I was flipping through the listings on my tv, I noticed that it was being carried by at LEAST four channels at the same time – Discovery, Animal Planet, Universal HD, and the Science Channel.

    Do you think there may be a reason for that ? I don’t know who produced it, but I am sure someone will investigate the production and distribution of the show. Having a media that will not hesitate to support an agenda can indeed be very helpful to a cause.

    Report Post »  
    • babylonvi
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:33pm

      This is obviously propaganda with multiple distribution points. Any bets there is a Soros funded organization in there somewhere?

      Report Post » babylonvi  
    • Al Gored
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:37pm

      Reminds me of:

      ABC CBS NBC CNN MSNBC…

      Report Post »  
    • smcdaniel
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:05pm

      All of those channelse are partr of the Discovery Network.

      Report Post »  
    • beachj11
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:13pm

      Narrated by Alec Baldwin? No thank you! Due to Mr. Baldwin’s hate rant on Sen. James Inhofe covered here on the blaze, I went ahead and purchased the kindle version of Sen. Inhofe’s new book “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future”. I’m already about 100 pages in and find it enlightening and fascinating! I highly recommend it. Alec, I thank you!

      Report Post »  
    • Al Gored
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:32pm

      ABC CBS NBC CNN MSNBC…

      The Obama network

      Report Post »  
    • noczars
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 2:14pm

      I noticed the same problem. There were 5 channels with the show on at the same time. I refused to watch the show and can’t wait to see how this plays with “Global Warmer” Freaks.

      Report Post » noczars  
    • joe.r.piehole
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 2:16pm

      DURRRR I’m a social conservative, and there aint no such thang as climate change. All yer fancy science is not as valid as my thousand year-old superstition. DURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

      Report Post » joe.r.piehole  
    • beachj11
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 2:43pm

      Joe.R.Piehole,

      Baahhhh… I’m a liberal media teat sucking sheep. I “quote” and claim to know everything there is to know about science yet I have never read a real scientific journal in my life. I have low self esteem, low moral values and justify my behavior by denying the existence of God.

      Sir, I am both a devout Christian and a Geologist. I could give you enough science AND religion to make your “free thinking” head explode. Take my advice and go free think somewhere else.

      Report Post »  
    • newt
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:32pm

      too much paranoia…some times a cigar is just a cigar.

      Report Post »  
    • zoose
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:34pm

      Not interested.

      Report Post » zoose  
    • kowdung
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 1:40am

      They are all run by Discovery Communications. That’s why they all ran it, same parent company.

      I watched it and thought it was pretty interesting, a lot of cool shots and beautiful scenery. There were some mentions about how the ice is melting at a faster rate, but nothing over powering (yet) about global warming.

      Report Post »  
  • tracer51250
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:58am

    I only watched part of this and couldn’t help but think of the OWS movement: A hard working penguin gathering all those rocks to build his nest to build a family and take care of them while some sneaky, lazy entitled penguin nearby would go and steal the rocks as they were placed in the nest. The funniest part was so typical of a self-entitled OWS-er, when another penguin tried to do the same to him he had a fit!!! It was classic.

    Report Post » tracer51250  
  • Al Gored
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:50am

    .
    Die Kalte Sonne (The Cold Sun)

    Report Post »  
  • ROB RAGE
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:48am

    I Love Global Warming…sure beats Global Freezing your Ass Off…My Plants Love CO2…without it…we all die…Al Gore wants to extort Billions from hard working Americans with his Carbon Credit Exchange Scam…He wants us to cut back while he cuts forward with Mansions, Private Jets and Limo’s..What a Hypocrite…what a Gangster…He should be sharing a cell with Governor Blago and Obama’s good buddy Mobster Tony Resco..!

    Report Post » ROB RAGE  
  • tjgje
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:38am

    I just want to point out that the comments above prove how effective the left has been at brainwashing the public into associating “global warming” with “man-made”. The globe is warming for many reasons that have nothing to do with man. So, when you hear global warming, think in terms of the long run uptrend in temperatures occurring since the Little Ice Age. There are natural cycles around the trend and we are currently near the peak of a cyle. We will cycle back below the trend in the near future as the earth cools from natural causes.

    Report Post »  
  • lee48md
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:35am

    Knowing Baldwin is part of this, tells me everything I need to know. I won’t watch.

    Report Post »  
    • RinkyDink34
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:39am

      That’s My Ball; I’m taking my Ball and going home!

      Report Post » RinkyDink34  
    • Tx Devildog
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:09pm

      Alec Baldwin is only a mute button away!! I suggest putting some Ted Nugent, or Toby Keith on and then watch!!

      Report Post »  
    • AlwysReady
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:39pm

      Lee48MD, I agree with you, 100%. I will wait and try to get an English version sometime down the road; Obama and Baldwin, I cannot listen to either of them. Rinky, you are entitled to your opinion, but my life will be just fine if I never see it.

      Report Post »  
    • MammalOne
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:11pm

      Just put it on mute. The video footage is still amazing.

      Report Post » MammalOne  
  • MTNative
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:27am

    The filming was magnificent, very inspiring. As if we didn‘t know that a nature film involving the coldest places on earth isn’t going to be a marketing tool for global warming/climate change/economic control. Just ignore those parts or remember them for when this all proves to be false.
    I think it is time to make a list of all supporters of global warming and have a TV series of “I told you so” when we go for a couple of decades with a cooling trend. That‘s something I’d like to watch. Can we go back and re-edit all of this film then with audio talking about normal warming and cooling cycles?

    Report Post »  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:01am

    Now if they’d feed baldwin to a polar bear family in the wild…THEN I would watch this propaganda series.

    Report Post »  
    • RinkyDink34
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:17am

      I watched it last night, and understood right off by the narrators comments that the film was pushing the global warming agenda. Anyway I know better I am not a brain dead liberal and if it is really is a problem to hear the global warming mantra then just mute the sound and enjoy the wonderful photography. I am looking forward to watching the next segments. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face you silly goose.

      Report Post » RinkyDink34  
  • Talbot
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:00am

    I notice all the climate change bunk. It was still a good piece. I do think they used scenes from Planet Earth.

    Report Post »  
  • cemerius
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:45am

    Didn’t pay attention to the narrator but enjoyed the scnery…..liked the melt water rivers and the hole that went down a mile to “lubricate” the ice……HATED the veilled references of global warming, such as, the natural ice melt has increased do the the earth warming…etc. etc….Liked the battle weary mating polar bear covered in “war scars”……all those battles to defend what was his and not one beer!!! Next time I slap some pervert for pro=longed looks at my gorgeous wife…I will use the “polar bear defense” :)

    Report Post » cemerius  
  • Cabo King
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:42am

    to bad Left Wing Loon Alec is doing the program, can’t stand that idiot

    Report Post » Cabo King  
  • Stoic one
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:27am

    Global warming – Climate change I do not care what you call it is here; it always has been. In the fossil records there are DRAGONFLIES that are two feet in wingspan! In order for an insect to have that size the oxygen content was calculated to be around 30%. When life began ,according to the fossil record, there was no free oxygen in the atmosphere; it was the waste product of life at the time . Carbon dioxide and methane are food for other organisms in the web of life.
    If the global temperature rises five degrees; imagine all of the fertile tundra that can feed the world! Life adapts and finds a way to flourish. If we are truly concerned about the well-being of humanity and the planet , then humans need to colonize space. A space elevator is the most economical long term way to transport payloads off the planet. let’s do this rather than bemoan the positions of the welfare state.

    Report Post » Stoic one  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:37am

      Two things prevent me from watching the series. If it’s on the Discovery Channel and it has snow…they’re going to plug Global Warming/Climate Change/Global Climate Disruption…and not least of all…father of the year..Alec Baldwin.

      Report Post »  
  • MammalOne
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:08am

    Nature is cool.

    Report Post » MammalOne  
  • jnobfan
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:04am

    Didn’t take me long to figure out it was a Global Warming infomercial. Love the Tivo!!
    I don’t waste hardly anytime watching live tv anymore – especially new stuff and sports. How anyone can watch baseball or even golf anymore live is amazing to me. How many Flowmax and Cialis commercials can you possibly watch before you have to turn it off?

    Report Post »  
  • thankyouvets
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:03am

    probably if the english guy were narrating, I may have watched, but alec baldwin? and tom hanks narrating the obama reelection video, what a disappointment. hollyweird at its best.

    Report Post »  
  • Latter.Day.Saint
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:03am

    I don’t watch discovery channel if I can help it.

    Report Post » Latter.Day.Saint  
    • beachj11
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:50pm

      But you’re missing out on so many great global warming infomercials narrated by Alec Baldwin, Oprah Winfrey and other liberal gods!

      Report Post »  
  • HKS
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:00am

    As soon as Alec Baldwin gets involved it goes from historical to political agenda. It’s a liberal propaganda machine by default.

    Report Post » HKS  
    • Truthurts
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:21am

      I thought you were going to say, “from historical to hysterical” instead of propaganda. I guess either one would work. Baldwin and Maher must be a real hoot overheard together at a Hefner party.

      Report Post » Truthurts  
  • SREGN
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:00am

    Can’t I just watch the Polar Bear humping part on YouTube, and avoid the propaganda part?

    Report Post »  
    • chips1
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:14am

      The bear was only 15 years old. Child porn at it’s finest. It’s what Dems do. Probably trying to justify Politicians.

      Report Post »  
  • LukeAppling
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:00am

    When Alec Baldwin is involved in anything I turn it off he is such a shill much like Obama they will say or do anything for buck. Baldwin is an older, fatter Martin Sheen who is a young ED Asner.

    Report Post »  
  • drago
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:57am

    Not going to watch it, baldwin is enough to keep me away,not to mention there are probably enough references to global warming in there, to choke a horse…..

    Report Post »  
    • Thors Hammer
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:02am

      You’re right. I started watching, but changed channels as soon as they started preaching about global warming. It would be nice to watch a true nature program that doesn’t have an agenda. Garbage!

      Report Post »  
    • TheBurningTruth
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:03am

      Same here. Now I‘d watch shots from Baldwin’s funeral, but only if it were NOT staged.

      Report Post » TheBurningTruth  
    • Mandors
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:23am

      Might be fun to turn it into a drinking game: every time “climate change” or “global warming” is mentioned you have to drink. You’ll probably need a reservation to get your stomach pumped, but if you‘re already watching this propaganda that’ll be necessary anyway.

      Report Post » Mandors  
  • LukeAppling
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:56am

    Prior to “Global Warming ” ,scam there was the “global cooling ” scam both are the same scam designed to raise taxes on American companies to finance redistribution of American wealth to “more deserving countries” to be named by the United Nations associates. Until the scientific promoters were exposed by their e-mail exchanges as to their real goal which was to enrich themselves on government grants until they were exposed. Gore, soros, Podesta, Chicago Climate, BrightSource, Solyndra, Fisker, CH2M, Evergreen solar,GE and First solar are a very small number of the phony companies ripping off taxpayers through Obama and his “energy policy”.

    Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:56am

    .
    ‘Frozen Planet’ for just a minute I thought it was a story about Hillary’s crotch……..

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • chips1
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:20am

      Frozen or frigid? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

      Report Post »  
    • Voice_of_One
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 6:00pm

      @SpankDaMonkey, don’t do that. Now I have to clean my monitor, keyboard, and everything else.

      Report Post » Voice_of_One  
  • oldguy49
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:45am

    too bad they did not have this kind of film and alex baldwin in the early mid 1700′s when we had a mini ice age…oh!! george washington could have narrarated it……………..

    Report Post »  
  • Tifn8r
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:38am

    I watched with my kids. The video was amazing!
    Of course, the best part was when the kids mocked the garbage Baldwin was spewing – especially about the presumption that ice crystals might be alive, and then in the next sentence referring to the crystals as “living creatures”!
    The caveat about filming in “controlled environments” was cute too – so you don’t know exactly what was staged.

    I LOVED listening to my kids point out the discrepancies about the globe warming, but all those massive icebergs still form, do their job etc…. then they pointed out that the world was warmer than it it now at one time because Hammurabi got those elephants over the alps somehow!

    Oh yeah- did I mention we homeschool? – You should try it, if you can.

    Report Post » Tifn8r  
    • thankyouvets
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:02am

      @Tif,
      my kids are grown now, but if I had known then what I know now, they would have been homeschooled! Good for you! I know its not an easy job, and they (kids) sound delightful!!

      Report Post »  
    • saveamericafromthestupids
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:18am

      YES, homeschool your kids so that you can teach them the endearing character trait of mocking people!!

      Report Post » saveamericafromthestupids  
    • Tifn8r
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:22am

      @stupids

      My kids found your post (mocking mockery) ironic, and pointed out that your online id using “stupids” is indicative of an education below the 2nd grade level.
      They also pointed out that mocking people isn’t a character trait. Hypocrisy however….. You’ve got that one nailed.

      Report Post » Tifn8r  
    • DSTSS2010
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:52pm

      Hannibal crossed the Alps via elephant. Hammurabi was Babylon know for his code of laws.

      Report Post » DSTSS2010  
    • majasdad
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:22am

      Hey TIFN8R,
      I was pleased to read that you gave credit to the film despite you not agreeing with the global warming side of it. You were one of two or three people on this thread commenting on the beauty of nature. Good for you.
      Most other people are missing the main message as they freak out over what they see as “propaganda”. I for one, however, am convinced that man-made global warming is an issue we have to deal with.
      Regarding your home schooling, maybe you should read up on your Rome/Carthage history a little, then you might have known it was Hannibal and not Hammurabi who crossed the Alps with his elephants way back when. I doubt public schools would have gotten that small albeit significant fact wrong, but hey that’s just me. All the best, and a sincere good luck to you.

      Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:38am

    I saw it on the list of programs and clicked the info button. I got as far as ‘Alec Baldwin’ before I knew I wasn’t watching.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • let us prey
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:49am

      Ditto.

      Report Post » let us prey  
    • cemerius
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:42am

      If I did an info I might have too….but I watched it up until the killer whales started having lunch on seals……all through the “story” there were veilled references to “global warming”……say a lie long and hard enough and it becomes part of the psyche!! Yeah great scenery but it told me that the “snake oil scam” was alive and well!!!

      Report Post » cemerius  
    • scruffycat
      Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:01am

      I watched some of it. I can smell an anti-industry hug-the-trees load of commie crap a mile off. But there was a surprising lack of anything else on last night. What I saw of Frozen seemed like a rerun of stuff that Marlin Perkins or Wild Planet did. The same kind of Animal shows that I have been watching for 50 years only in High Def. Maybe that was unique thing about Frozen: high def. What I saw was: The sun returned to the Arctic after a 6 month hiatus. Things started to melt. The Whales chased the Penguins, the coyotes chased the penguins, then the Polar Bears were chasing the penguins and the seals too, then the cold wind came down and chased the penguins and froze some, then the caterpillars had to eat real fast because winter was coming again, and the Albatross finally learned to fly, and then everything froze again. Too cold… warm this planet up!

      Report Post » scruffycat  
    • majasdad
      Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:27am

      @LET US PREY

      Prey on what? Sounds like you’re a vulture.

      Report Post »  
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