The Meerkats

The Meerkats, also known as Meerkats The Movie, is a featurelength 2008 British wildlife fiction film which anthropomorphises the daily struggles of a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It was produced by BBC Films and The Weinstein Company, and filmed by the awardwinning BBC Natural History Unit. It is the debut directorial feature of James Honeyborne, previously a producer of natural history programmes for television. The worldwide premiere was held at the Dinard Film Festival, France in October 2008, expanding to a wide release the following week. The film was released in 2009, onAugust in the UK. A US date has not yet been announced. This was dedicated to actor Paul Newman, who died in 2008, shortly before this movie was released.

The Meerkats was announced in November 2006 as BBC Films and The Weinstein Company agreed a cofinancing deal for the film, with The Weinstein Company also handling international distribution. The yearlong principal photography began on location in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa in the same month. It became the Natural History Units first featurelength wildlife fiction based on original material, and followed the successes of Earth 2007 and Deep Blue 2003 which were both companion pieces to BBC television series. The script was written by Alexander McCall Smith, author of many books set in Botswana. Paul Newman provides the narration, which was recorded at a studio near his home shortly before his death. The Meerkats was the final film credit of Newmans long career.Meerkat Manor The Story Begins, a second featurelength wildlife film on meerkats, was also released in 2008. It was produced by Animal Planet, Discovery Films and Oxford Scientific Films, the makers of Meerkat Manor, but was not screened in theatres. BBC Films Joe Oppenheimer, a producer of The Meerkats, has stated that the two films are very different in character the BBC and Discovery originally planned to collaborate, but couldnt agree on a common ground. James Honeyborne has described The Meerkats as a standalone, bluechip wildlife film from the ground up. It will be immersive. There will be a huge sense of place on a massive scale. You will really see real wild animals. ........

Source: Wikipedia