'Chimpanzee,' 'Arctic' capture fight to...

'Chimpanzee,' 'Arctic' capture fight to...

Mark Linfield/Disney

The orphan chimp Oscar is the focus of Disneynature's film 'Chimpanzee.'

The stars of the latest campaign for ecological awareness are decidedly furry and cute.

This Earth Day, Warner Bros. and Disney are showing their support for the animal kingdom with two documentaries focusing on the struggles of young endangered animals.

Disneynatures Chimpanzee follows little orphan Oscar, who struggles and ultimately thrives in the Ivory Coast rainforest with the at-first grudging help of an older male chimp. Oscar learns to become self-sufficient, stay safe from enemy chimp tribes and have some fun along the way.

I think one of the reasons people are liking it so much is that at all ages, people are identifying with the chimpanzees because the film is like a human drama, and a human drama is just ageless, isnt it? filmmaker Mark Linfield says.

Warner Bros., meanwhile, will present its IMAX extravaganza To the Arctic 3-D, including its stunning footage of one very protective mother polar bear and her two impossibly cute 7-month-old cubs.

Bolstered by several very recognizable names Meryl Streep narrates To the Arctic and Tim Allen lends his grunts to Chimpanzee the films lead the way into a new age of documentaries, chock-full of postproduction effects and unique story lines that both instruct an d evoke emotion.

Whats revolutionary about the technical advantages we have, along with the support of large production companies, is the time we have in the field, Chimpanzees other director, Alastair Fothergill, says. People dont go to the cinema to be taught a lesson. People go to the cinema to be emotionally engaged.

And with footage of vicious animal-on-animal hunts, including one particularly heart-racing scene of the polar bear mother and her cubs fleeing a hungry male polar bear, the educational aspects of the films are very much intact, promoting both awareness and action.

With Chimpanzee, 20 cents from each ticket sold during opening week will go to the Jane Goodall Institute for the Disneynature Tchimpounga Nature Reserve Project.

Goodall, the famed primatologist, couldnt be more thrilled with the final product, which she called a long time coming, given her more than 50 years in the field.

This will be a blockbuster, Goodal l said. It cannot but help that people will love Oscar and people will be fascinated by the behavior, be shocked by the violence and hopefully care more in our battle to save the chimps. And I do think, yes, that little Oscar will get an Oscar.

jchen@nydailynews.com