African Cats in theaters on Earth Day!

Leaping into theaters on Earth Day, 2011, “African Cats” features the real-life love, humor and determination of the kings of the African savanna: Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a rival lion.

      

During the film’s opening week (April 22-28), a portion of the proceeds from that week’s ticket sales will be donated to the African Wildlife Foundation through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to protect the Amboseli Wildlife Corridor, a passage between the Amboseli, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills National Parks that is frequently used by lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, giraffes and a host of other animals in the African savanna.  See more on the ‘African Cats,’ Save the Savanna program here

An epic true story set against the backdrop of one of the wildest places on Earth, “African Cats” captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna.  Narrated by Oscar®-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson, the story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a rival lion and his sons.  Disneynature brings “The Lion King” to life on the big screen in this True Life Adventure directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill (“Earth”).  An awe-inspiring adventure blending family bonds with the power and cunning of the wild, “African Cats” leaps into theatres on Earth Day, April 22, 2011.

• “African Cats” is the third release for Disneynature, the first new Disney-branded film label from The Walt Disney Studios in more than 60 years.  Launched in April 2008 to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to capture a variety of wildlife subjects and stories, Disneynature was behind both “Earth” and “Oceans.”  

• “Earth,” the first film to premiere domestically under the new label on Earth Day 2009, garnered a record-breaking opening weekend for a nature documentary.  On its opening day, the film also broke the single-day box-office record for a nature documentary.

• Hitting theaters on April 22, 2010, “Oceans” was the #1 film that day and had the third highest opening weekend box-office gross of all time for a nature film.  “Oceans” is the third highest grossing feature-length nature film in history. 

• Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife documentary filmmaking, producing 13 True-Life Adventure motion pictures between 1949 and 1960, including “Seal Island” (1949), “Beaver Valley” (1950), “The Living Desert” (1953) and “Jungle Cat” (1958).  The films earned eight Academy Awards®. 

• Narrator Samuel L. Jackson was nominated for an Academy Award® for his performance in “Pulp Fiction.” His credits include big-screen hits like “Die Hard: With a Vengeance,” “A Time to Kill,” “Stars Wars:  Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace,” “Shaft,” “Changing Lanes,” “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” “The Incredibles,” “Cleaner,” “Unthinkable” and “Iron Man 2.”