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| Available at Amazon.com |
Flower is a meerkat. A meerkat is a small ferret like creature that lives usually in South Africa or other hot desert terrains. Flower actually lives in the Kalihari Desert with her family: the Whiskers. Together, as a family, they search for food, burrow out their own dens in which to live, and constantly seek protection from each other. Meerkat Manor may seem like some other animal shows that follow around certain species, but it is filled with much more compassion and love then even most series with human beings in it.
Viewers of the series listen to the voice of Sean Astin (Lord Of The Rings, The Goonies) as he narrates the actions and daily lives of the meerkats. The Whiskers aren’t the only clan shown either as they are constantly getting new neighbors of other meerkat clans. Some have proved to be violent and too much to handle, such as the Zappas. While others are more calm and friendly like the Starsky clan which once inhabited the area nearby. Flower, though, is by far the overall leader of her clan and makes sure that not only her little ones are well taken care of, but all that are with them.
The third season of Meerkat Manor starts off in a much different way than the first two did. Instead of introducing us to the clan and getting off on the right foot, Flower is in search of a new place to live after her clan has been driven out of their home by a violent mob. As if that wasn’t enough, the Whiskers’ run face to face with the Zappas and some of Flower’s pups go missing. Luckily, they are found and a new life begins in a brand new place. Things just aren’t easy for the Whiskers and that stems from much more then rival clans as the desert’s harsh heat and dry spells really take tolls on all of them.
If you’ve never watched an episode of Meerkat Manor before, then I sincerely suggest you start from the beginning. I find it hard to think that those who aren’t fans of the series would want to continue watching after this third season. It isn’t bad. As a matter of fact, it is probably the best season so far. But it’s filled with horrible moments, harsh times for the Whiskers, and incredibly sad times for all. The thing is that newcomers to the series also won’t get the full affect of how heart wrenching some of the losses in this third season truly are without forming the bond with all the characters first. It amazes me how close I now am to all of these little creatures that are worlds away.
For a series devoted totally to animals and the only dialogue being narration, it’s simply riveting. Meerkat Manor not only does a fantastic job of being a serious drama, but also makes way for a lot of educational information. You’ll see just how the meerkats learn to survive and feed off of one another to get by. And some of the footage is just incredible as we are treated not only to the animals above ground but also deep inside of their dens. The directors and cameramen go to great lengths to make the viewers feel as if they are right there and watching members of their own families. Its great work like that and the sincere voice of Astin that makes you forget the Whiskers are animals, and let’s you look at them as equals.
Oh, and for those that are newcomers to the series and see the little necklace thing on some of the meerkats; don’t freak out if you are an animal protector or whatever. It’s not hurting them. It is merely a tracking device so that the camera guys can keep tabs on them.
Episodes
Disc One:
On Dangerous Ground
The Mission
Sister Act
The Death of Romance
Sibling Rivalry
Heavy The Crown
Disc Two:
Journey’s End
A New Day
Farewell, My Lovely
Three Degrees Of Separation
The Graduate
Family At War
The episodes are shown in 1.66:1Widescreen format and are absolutely beautiful. There isn’t really much color considering these episodes are filmed in the desert, but the camera work catches some truly gorgeous shots and all looks great.
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Sound and they sound good as well. Astin’s narration takes center stage and the wonderful musical score plays in the background and can be heard at a nice level.
None
Don’t watch this season if you’re not a fan of the show and really want to be. It’s just not a good place to start, even though I’ll call this the most action-packed, sincere, sad, and most awesome season so far. Columbus, Daisy, Mozart, Flower, and the rest of the new friends you’ll meet are best introduced in the first season with a nice follow-up party in the second season. Tragedy strikes a lot in this third season and you really can’t feel the true force of it all without having formed a relationship with the meerkats. There are no special features included in this set and that’s rather disappointing because I would have loved a “behind the scenes” look at how filming is done. Oh well. And this is also not a season that holds a lot of replay value just because some of the episodes are too depressing to watch over and over again. Yet, it’s a great addition to any collection and one that fans will love and new fans will come to adore.
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Animal Planet presents Meerkat Manor: Season 3. Created by: Caroline Hawkins. Starring: Sean Astin (Narrator). Running time: 260 minutes on 2 discs. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: June 17, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Danny Cox
