Pandas: The Journey Home

Gr 5 Up—Pandas make for adorable and captivating documentary subjects. With their lumbering gaits, painted-by-a-little-kid faces, gentle demeanors, and precariously small population numbers, who could resist learning more about them while watching footage of them going about their days? While the subjects of this DVD are indeed compelling, the slow pace may cause the attention of younger viewers to stray a bit. The program looks closely at the Wolong Panda Center in China, where for decades the animals have been bred in captivity and then trained to return to the wild. There are many gorgeous, sweeping shots of the mountains where the facility is located, giving viewers a good idea of a panda habitat. The filmmakers focus on Mary, a young animal keeper who works in the panda "nurseries," "kindergarten," and the release area. Part of the center was destroyed in the 2008 Sichuen earthquake, and Mary and other workers are seen going back there to use some of the buildings as a base from which to release pandas. The director often films the staff in a very cinematic way, with the camera dollying as they work. In contrast to the dramatic cinematography, Joely Richardson narrates with a soft British accent and a rather slow rhythm.