Knut & Friends Blu-ray offers decent video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Adorable polar bear cub Knut -- who became a celebrity after defeating the odds to survive at the Berlin Zoo -- stars in this enchanting German documentary, focused on Knut's delightful antics and his relationship with a nurturing Berlin zookeeper. Meanwhile, three newborn polar bears in the Arctic struggle with their harsh environment, and a couple of orphaned brown bears enjoy some mischief-making.
"Oh my goodness, look at those paws…Casey, I want one…Look at him trying to walk…So so cute…I
want a polar bear to suckle on my finger." These are word-for-word transcriptions of the squeals of
delight my wife would make every time she popped into the room while I was watching Knut &
Friends, a documentary about the first polar bear in thirty years to be born and survive in
captivity at the
Berlin Zoological Gardens. The weird thing is, it was me who was calling her in every five minutes to
check out Knut's latest moment of almost unbearably cute cuddliness. Together, we were clutching
our hearts and sighing like a pair of over-the-moon pre-teen girls watching Twilight. It's
embarrassing, I know. I dare you though—try to watch Knut & Friends without once cooing
like a dove at the unrelenting adorableness on display. Prisons could play this film to soften the
hearts of the most hardened criminals. Animal abusers might be moved to repent. And had Knut
been born in the 1970s, citizens of East Germany would've torn down the Berlin Wall just to see
him rolling in the mud or rumbling and tumbling with his trainer. Such are the side effects of "Knut
fever," which spread throughout Germany like a pleasant plague after the polar bear's inauspicious
birth in December, 2006.
Three men and a baby polar bear...
By all reasoning, Knut shouldn't have survived. Rejected by his mother and left to die on a rock in
the polar bear enclosure, Knut was rescued by zookeepers and kept in an incubator for 44 days.
The documentary starts when Knut is a pup, newly removed from his artificial womb and placed
in the care of zookeeper Thomas Dörflein. Just like caring for a human baby, raising Knut is an
around-the-clock job that requires Dörflein to actually live with the polar bear at the zoo, feeding
and bathing him every two hours. We watch as Thomas nurses Knut with a special brew—made
of cat food, cod liver oil, and baby formula—that's meant to replace the nutrients Knut would
otherwise be getting from his mother's milk. As he grows—which is a fairly quick process—we see
Knut take a variety of "firsts," from his first cautious, plodding steps across the floor, to his first
time outdoors and his first exposure to the public, which draws hundreds of journalists from
around the world. Soon enough, Knut and Thomas are doing daily shows for zoo visitors,
affectionately wrestling like father and son. And while Knut brings the cute factor, it's Thomas
who's the real star here in my book. Patient, nurturing, and protective, he ultimately became a
minor celebrity in Germany and received countless offers of marriage, from women who obviously
saw him as the ultimate provider.
Knut & Friends is definitely geared more toward children, so we unfortunately don't get
any
interviews with Thomas, the other zookeepers, or members of the press. Rather, the unseen
narrator (Eric Meyers) introduces himself as "the wind," and takes the perspective of a gust that
can blow down and check in on Knut and the other bears featured in the film. Yes, as if Knut
weren't cute enough, we also follow the exploits of two other bear families. Wild polar bear mom
Maidu awakes from hibernation and journeys with her three cubs to the ocean, teaching the little
ones how to hunt, play, and clean themselves along the way. And then there are Masha and
Pasha, two brown bears in Belarus who learn to fend for themselves after their mother dies. The
film plays hopscotch between these three different stories, giving the most screen time to the
affectionate relationship that develops between Knut and Thomas.
It'll be lost on most kids, but as an adult watching the film it's clear that Knut is going to
eventually outgrow his human foster father and turn into a dangerous and no longer cuddly
2,000 lb. carnivore. And that's exactly what happened, though the documentary basically ends
with Thomas and Knut taking a nap together. Eventually, zookeepers had to wean Knut off of
human contact, and for a long time he apparently bellowed in loneliness, isolated in a compound
that also kept him out of the public eye because he had become addicted to applause. Even more
tragically, Thomas Dörflein died of a heart attack in 2008, though Knut & Friends doesn't
mention this, except for a dedication in his honor that runs before the end credits. The film also
dodges the controversy surrounding Knut's birth. Because German law requires animals rejected
by their mothers to be euthanized, animal rights activist Frank Albrecht claimed that Knut should
also be put to death. While Albrecht was being sarcastic—he just wanted to see the law changed
—there was a massive misunderstanding, prompting children and their parents to protest outside
the zoo. There have also been allegations that the zoo has too overtly commercialized Knut—in
the film we see kids buying stuffed animals, t-shirts, and DVDs—and a rival zoo has even sued to
get some of the profits.
Obviously, as a film for kids, it makes sense that Knut & Friends skips all the cynicism
and tragedy. And kids—especially young, animal-loving kids—will likely want to put this disc on
repeat. The bears are adorable, the stories are heartwarming, and there's enough science mixed
in to make Knut & Friends modestly educational as well. While adults may be wooed by
the cuteness—even I was, temporarily—the cuddliness wears off after awhile, mostly because of
the lack of real depth and the incredibly repetitive and obnoxious soundtrack. If only I rated in
terms of adorableness, this would be a five star review.
Knut & Friends tumbles onto Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's incredibly
inconsistent, mostly because the documentary mixes 35mm film photography with high definition
and standard definition video sources. The sections that follow Maidu and her cubs are quite
detailed. Fur texture is nicely rendered, clarity is crisp across the frame, and the arctic whites and
blues are perfectly reproduced. There are some stunning landscapes here, especially one time-lapse
shot of clouds moving over the barren tundra. I was most impressed, though, by the gleaming,
accurate texture of the snow. Likewise, the Masha and Pasha segments are sharp, and the
Belarusian forests are given deep greens, strong black levels, and good contrast. Unfortunately,
Knut's share of the film looks far worse, with a lot of home video-style hand-held camerawork that's
obviously upscaled. You'll notice rampant aliasing, chunky artifacts, overblown highlights, motion
blur, and a distinct lack of fine detail. This is definitely disappointing, especially since it constitutes
such a large part of the documentary. The kids probably won't mind, but if you're a picture quality-
conscious parent, you'll have your share of wince-inducing moments.
There's not a lot to say about Knut & Friends' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track,
other than it does what it needs to and not much more. The narrator's voice cuts cleanly and
intelligibly through the mix, the bears' various grunts and bleats and groans are recorded on-
location and mostly un-muffled, and the surround channels are given some light homework, putting
out some woodsy ambience and whipping wind through the rear speakers. The music, however, is
almost indescribably bad. The film recycles four or five truly miserable songs that will haunt your
every waking moment. I have one stuck in my head right now, and I'm considering whistling the
theme song to M*A*S*H or Rocky just to get it out. The songs sound like Muzak—
with flat "studio" mixes and cheesy effects—but they're actual compositions written for the film. In
terms of genre, they fall somewhere between soulful pop and fake reggae, and the female vocalist is
trying way too hard to impress us.
Knut & Friends doesn't exactly tell the full story—it glosses over the controversy of the
bear's birth, the tragedy of his lonely adolescence, and the on-going dispute over the profits he
generates for the zoo—but it offers a cute 'n cuddly, family friendly experience that will satisfy most
younger kids. If you've got a burgeoning animal-lover at home, Knut & Friends is at least
worth a rental.
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