Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie Review

On the bright side, spit doesn't require rent

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 22, 2012

In these modern times, the prospect of home ownership is akin to a cancer scare. It’s a promise of oncoming misery, containing such anxiety and dread that fewer folks are taking the plunge, unwilling or unable to endure the financial commitment and extended period of responsibility. Who needs the headache? Life would be far simpler if we all could secrete a milky fluid from our hindquarters, using the goo to manufacture a temporary living space free from predators. With that evolutionary process millions of years away, we’ll just have to make do envying the natural world, observing animals and insects go about their daily business of home assembly and defense, erecting massive dwellings of comfort and gob-smacking complexity in the wilds of the world. No mortgages, no association fees. Just some anal fluid, patience, and instinctual might. A short time later, there’s a home to enjoy.

“The Animal House” is a documentary delving into the arduous building practices for many of these unexpected abodes, isolating the toil and upkeep required for inhabitants to maintain their fragile domiciles. We’re not talking contracts and blueprints, but creatures scurrying off into the wild to gather construction materials, braving the elements and suspicious outside interest to pull together a cozy place for food storage, egg laying, and all-inclusive shelter needs. Armed with a global attitude, the production heads all around the world to spotlight the house-hunting demands of the subjects, attempting to get in close enough to witness the development and destruction of these residences, without disturbing the paranoid inhabitants.

In Wyoming, we come across a family of beavers preparing a substantial dam, clearing the local forest of wood as they habitually chomp through trees, dragging the fruits of their labor over to a rising river to help reinforce their home with mud and foliage. With teeth that grow faster than human fingernails, the beavers plow through materials, furiously working to halt water flow and build a sweatbox storage facility for the brutal winter months, when food is scarce and babies need birthin’. Near Arabia, Socotra Cormorants undertake a habitat ballet of sorts, creating thousands of geometric plots just out of the reach of their neighbors, permitting a safe nest away from thieving community members and their sharp, dangerous beaks. In Mongolia, hamsters scurry underground in elaborate tunnel systems, building a cushion of seeds to help with comfort and feeding. And South American ants commence a furious network of home construction, often using themselves as the foundation while the rest of the workers concern themselves with the needs of the queen.

“The Animal House” keeps away from explicit blasts of awe to inspect the particulars of the building period, watching these creatures select materials and perfect angles on their dwellings. For some, aesthetic choices are purposeful, hoping to attract a mate with a spacious, clean domicile, employing a rich architectural eye to secure their needs, sometimes playing with optical illusions to slap down some razzle-dazzle. Others spend their time digging out a fortress, with prairie dogs interested in home security needs, burrowing into the earth to create a living space that also acts as a first defense system, with lookouts warning the community of looming predators. In fact, most of the homes on display are created with invaders in mind, manufactured in a manner that offers protection first and relaxation second, preserving the way of life for another day.

Building resources fascinates the production. It’s one thing to create a residence out of wood, bamboo, or other traditional elements available in the wild, but feces? Um, sure. Certain owls in Wyoming use buffalo dung to help smack together a house, and the documentary is more than happy to share extreme close-ups of insects secreting up storm to develop their living space. Resourceful male swiftlets use their own saliva to assemble tiny white “cups” for the safekeeping of eggs, littering caves with hundreds of glowing nests. As expected, such extravagance in design and achievement is currently being plundered by man, furthering his role as the ultimate environmental buzzkill by chipping away the shells, selling them to the highest bidder. Consequently, fewer of these wildly meticulous nests are found in the world these days. Thanks, insatiable human greed!

The photography in “The Animal House” is quite pleasing for a nature documentary, sneaking into the bowels of the burrows and the thick of the jungle to observe assembly and protection. Although the production runs into a little trouble (a diligent beaver inadvertently covers over a secret den camera with mud), the footage is impressive, reinforcing the intricacy of the homes, with all of their purposeful rooms and attention to waste disposal methods. Ants are especially industrious, building an entire city underground, home to 12 million inhabitants. One striking scene displays the insect work in full, filling an abandoned leafcutter ant kingdom with concrete to showcase just how colossal the dwelling actually is, clearing away soil to expose a futuristic metropolis of ant business.

Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation is largely average for a nature documentary. The source material provides a few less savory digitally photographed tangents, but the program is chiefly captured with satisfactory camera equipment, supplying a comfortably crisp image with limited softness. The tight frame reveals plenty of fine hairs and insect textures, offering an agreeable amount of detail to fully comprehend the sophistication of neighborhood assembly. Environmental changes are appreciable, with smooth color transitions revealing sturdy hues, with grassland greens and browns quite welcoming. Animal fur also provides a refreshing hit of vibrancy. Shadow detail is comfortable without ever being remarkable, keeping low-light interiors communicative and dense hair open for inspection.

Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix isn't extraordinarily active for a program of multiple perspectives and feral instinct, maintaining only a mild rear presence, used to maintain distances, echo, and a few sequences of insect scurrying. The action is adequately held up front, with cleanly delivered narration carrying dramatic fullness, separated well from the amplified animal events. Atmospheric changes are recognized, carrying from the deep jungle to squishy wetlands. Scoring is mild, pushed down to support the visuals, not direct them, without much dimensional heft. Directional activity isn't noticeable, lacking a swing befitting a show consumed with travel. Low-end is nonexistent.

Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplementary material on this disc.

Nature: The Animal House Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Interestingly, "The Animal House" points out a little environmental damage from the stars of the show, who often steamroll through an area, only to abandon their residence when time comes for change. It's a provocative idea of behavior not explored in full by the documentary, yet adds a curious parallel to man, adding some tangy punctuation to a composed, yet satisfying and educational visit to this parade of homes.