Chimpanzee - B

Rated G, 78 minutes

"Chimpanzee" is the latest heartwarming Earth Day documentary offering from Disneynature and narrated by Tim Allen. Charming and handsomely filmed, it's remarkably brief and entirely suitable for families and young children, even if the story itself feels unoriginal and slight. The film follows young chimpanzee Oscar, his mother Isha and the tribes leader in navigating the complex territory of the African forest. They must not only survive the elements but a rival gang of brutal chimpanzee's out to take over the area where Oscar and his tribe of chimps have lived for years. The chimps themselves, particularly the lovable Oscar, not to mention the luscious African forest, are the real stars of the short documentary; it's not a history of chimps designed to unload a lot of facts, "Chimpanzee's" motive is to tell Oscar's story of survival, and that's just fine. The narration by Disney star Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" and "Toy Story" fame helps move the film along, even if you get a strong sense that Allen is just reading directly from a well-placed script. Kids and families should find it funny, fascinating and often times humorous (especially when it comes to the chimps attempting to break open nuts or eat fruit). "Chimpanzee" is hardly groundbreaking, this type of thing has been done before, but that doesn't mean it's not entertaining or heartwarming. Worth a look especially for animal lovers, a portion of the proceeds from the film will go to the Jane Goodall Institute, who also co-produced the film with Disneynature.