Product Details

• Actors: Whoopi Goldberg
• Directors: Mike Slee, Chris Barker
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: The Weinstein Company
• DVD Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0017LGQHM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,562 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Every great story has a magical beginning especially when that story involves the real-life adventures of a unique family of meerkats known as the Whiskers and their most beloved member, Flower. As prequel to the Meerkat Manor television series, this feature film traces the rise of Flower from a young meerkat pup to the leader of the pack. Watch as Flower blooms into a remarkable matriarch and forges a legacy amidst the unforgiving landscape of one of the harshest deserts on the planet the Kalahari. Narrated by Academy Award® -winning actress Whoopi Goldberg, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins will warm your heart and leave you awed by the magic of Flower s journey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Flower, May 27, 2008

By 

Gunner (Smyrna, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins (DVD)

Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins DVD


This movie is a tribute to Flower, the matriarch of the Whiskers clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It follows Flower from the time she was just a pup until she becomes the Matriarch of the whiskers Clan.

If you enjoy Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet, you have to get this movie. I agree that Sean Astin, the regular narrator, would have done a better job narrating than Whoopi.
Highly recommended for fans of Flower, and Meerkat Manor the series.

Gunner May, 2008

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Whoopi is Awful, May 25, 2008

By 

OutsideJob (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins (DVD)

I love Meerkat Manor and I really like Whoopi Goldberg, but she is really awful as the narrator of this film. She mumbles through the whole thing and is often indecipherable. We're essentially watching a nature show, and Whoopi keeps deadpanning jokes and stumbling through the lines in an unnatural way. They should have just kept the same narrator as from the regular show.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so bad., June 29, 2008

By 

The Linea Alba (Meteor Falls, Hoenn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins (DVD)

In my opinion, the movie really isn't as bad as everyone says; I've got one problem with it, and that is the actual footage of the Meerkats shown in the movie are just random Meerkats that basically happened to 'do what the film crew wanted them to,' and when they did, they edited the tape together to give us the movie. If the movie was actually filmed like the Meerkat Manor series in which the actual named Meerkats are being filmed in their lives, then the movie would have been much more pleasing.

Whoopi's narrative is a bit different from what viewers may be used to, but I think she adds something 'special' and different for the movie, since the movie IS a bit different from the series. It's a good 'prequel' to the series for someone who has never seen it.

I still favour the series over the movie, but the movie is still worth seeing if you love meerkats and are open-minded to a different narrator.