Disneynature’s “Born in China” goes into the wilds of China and captures intimate moments with three animal families: a doting panda bear mother, a two-year-old golden snub-nosed monkey who feels displaced by his baby sister, and a snow leopard who is a single mom trying to feed and keep alive two cubs in a hostile environment.
The captivating and compelling feature-length nature film is narrated by John Krasinski (“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” NBC’s “The Office,” “Amazon’s “Jack Ryan”). Sitting down with director Lu Chuan and producer Roy Conli in the New York Disney office, the two were excited to talk about their new project.
Disneynature has produced a number of nature films, including “African Cats,” so why cats and other animals in China?
ROY CONLI: Disneynature has been around since 2008 but the legacy goes back even further so it has been a part of my culture in a way. But what really got us interested in China is the fact that it is a unique area that no one has really ever gone into. It has such a landscape that no one was really aware of and animals that are absolutely fascinating.
CHUAN LU: It’s kind of a surprise for me because before this project I directed live action movies, made of them. So when I was told Disney liked my films and wanted to give me an offer, I thought they wanted me to make a big commercial type of movies like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ [laughs], but it turned out to be a nature movie.
[After some consideration] I took the job. For me it was kind of a risk because in China we didn’t have any feature nature movies before but I love wild animals. Also, the Chinese environmental protection issue has become very serious and more and more important to China.
We all know about the Panda, but are other animals in the film indigenous to China?
CL: Yes.
RC: We all love animals. They’re incredible and whether they’re on the plains of the Serengeti or the outback in Australia, you’re going to find these animals are our neighbors they are our friends; and if we don’t respect them and support them, we’re gonna lose them.
Moviegoers who see “Born in China” during its opening week (April 21-27, 2017) will benefit the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
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