7 films that showcase nature as Earth Day rolls around

When Earth Day rolls around every April 22, caring for the environment becomes the topic. These six nature-related movies remind us why our planet is great.

BY MARCIA HAMMOND

Apr 22, 2016, 12:42 PM

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(AP Photo)

When Earth Day rolls around every April 22, caring for the environment becomes the hot topic.

After all, nature was here first. To celebrate the planet, we’ve come up with a list of seven of the best nature-related movies.

‘Bambi’

The original trailer for the 1942 Disney hit hyped love and relationships plus danger and courage. And heartbreaking loss. Before anyone starts screaming about spoiler alerts, we’re going to remind you this film is 73 years old. Coincidentally, that’s about how long it’s going to take some of us to get over the death of Bambi’s mom.

‘Touching the Void’

This 2003 film details the true-life ordeal of two guys determined to climb Siula Grande in Peru’s snowy Andes Mountains. To say it didn’t all go well would be an understatement.

Coming back down, one guy breaks his leg during a storm. That is nothing compared to what happened to Joe next: He goes over the edge. He is tethered, hanging midair in swirling, blinding snow. He cannot even see or hear his buddy. Simon thinks he’s dead and cuts the rope.

Yeah. Wow. That’s a friendship breaker, right there.

‘March of the Penguins’

This Oscar-winning documentary captivated millions in 2005. The film follows the grueling annual journey of the emperor penguins’ to find a mate and procreate in Antarctica.

These diving, waddling birds leave the sea to make their way inland under the harshest conditions to reach a specific breeding ground where they can start a family.

Voice overlord Morgan Freeman describes the action.

‘Bears’

Released on Earth Day 2014, Disneynature’s “Bears” tracks a real family of bears for one year. We watch cubs being born, we watch mama watch over them, we watch them grow and learn how to survive. All of it captured across an awesome Alaskan landscape.

‘A Bug’s Life’

Ants can totally talk, y’all. Usually, bugs are creepy. This is why they are, as a species, often referred to as creepy crawlers. But Flik turns out to be one cool ant in this Disney-Pixar cartoon from 1998.

He starts out as a bit of a loser, but good green grass, the little thing becomes a revolutionary when he stands up to a jerkface grasshopper. Named … Hopper. It could have been worse, one imagines. Extremely Long Legs, Ginormous Eyes, Thing That’s Green. Those are worse AND unwieldy.

‘Antarctica: A Year on Ice’

A woman in this 2014 documentary said before pulling on bunker handle it was like “opening a door to another world.” Day is night and night is day out in the icy isolated wilderness. But it is a spectacular wilderness. People with the hearts of lions willingly live there. They are researchers, cooks, a fireman, repair workers, a chopper pilot.

It’s a community that lives without sunshine for one-third of the year and in complete sunlight for another portion of the year.

Well, at least we don’t have to live through 24 hours of sunlight in Arizona.

‘Oceans’

The five oceans of the world get the documentary treatment from Disneynature (shocker!). The 2009 film was an underwater marvel of storms and boats and beaches and reefs and startling creatures.

Nature is amazing.