Leopard Son

This is great children's fare for any parent that is not too squeamish to admit that carnivores eat real animals, that meat is muscle that once belonged to a critter like us, and that other animals have a different but valid social structure and value system of their own. Our 3-year-old loves this movie, as do the rest of the family.


Great animal tale!   October 1, 2001
Bea Levy (New York, NY)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful

For a while, this movie played on television a lot, and my husband and I watched it every time. It's such a nicely told tale from start to finish that it's a great favorite with us. (We even named our cat "The Leopard Son"!) Though it's a nature documentary, the title animal in the movie is a goofy young leopard with a really engaging personality, making it a real story, too. The narration and filming are wonderful. We can't wait to introduce The Leopard Son to our own young son.


Ignore reviewers with no sense of humor   November 16, 2004
JWLT (Three Rivers, California. USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The Leopard Son is a spectacularly well executed film. Yes, indeed, the director does edit the footage so as to support a human-like narrative. So what. Contrary to the patronizing tone of a couple of these reviews, no one with even half a brain will believe that the leopard son woke up ond day and said "Well, I guess I'll go see how mom is doing." The footage of the African savannah alone is worth the watching, to say nothing of the various footage of lions.


Anthropomophized Leopard sends wrong message   January 4, 2000
Bess Greenbaum (Ny, NY)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful

This film had some decent cinematography, but it was edited in such a way as to create a contrived story that has little or no similarity to an actual leopard's life. The narration mythicalizes the leopard's existence, and the story revloves around comparing the leopard's journey through life to that of human maturation.

By portraying non-human life as somthing that is human, filmmakers patronize the organism(s) that are being represented. This film, pitched as a "real-life lion king", is a poor example of Natural History film. Those who wish to appreciate and respect leopards and other forms of non-human life that are represented through film and video should avoid this film. It merely provides a cozy narrative within which humans can "identify" with the leopard; simplifiying its existence so that it is easily consumed by viewers who want a happy story.