23 movies that highlight wildlife best

In between Jonathan Taylor Thomas being the Tiger Beat dreamboat that he was and walking away from Hollywood to live normally, he starred alongside fellow ‘90s heartthrob Devon Sawa in Wild America as part of a trio of brothers who head out to make a nature documentary. Just note that it’s a toss-up between the scene with the moose and the other with the bear for most frightening!

From the wild ways of the Central Park Zoo to the lemur-filled realm of Madagascar, Alex the lion and his gang of runaways embark on the adventure of a lifetime, which has spanned three movies and inspired a spinoff series for Nickelodeon.

It took Leonardo DiCaprio fighting a bear to finally garner him the Oscar.

Homeward Bound is a remake of a 1963 film, but it’s the ‘90s version that remains ingrained in the hearts and minds of many. A harrowing tale of three pets just trying to go home, facing the unknown in the mountains on their journey; truly incredible.

Back in the day, people were way more hardcore about saving the rainforests. So much so that the world not only had a Saturday morning superhero to give weekly reminders via Captain Planet but also the animated movie FernGully.

Based on a true story, Into the Wild finds Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless, a man who set his sights on living in the Alaskan wilderness and just what that entailed as he did it.

The Lion King is known for many things: vibrant musical numbers, a tragic death, and a scene that definitely alludes to a pair of lions trying to procreate. It’s one of Disney’s best, but it has also given kids a fun way to look at the African landscape.  

Someone, please explain how this rather boring movie about a cat and dog risking their lives on repeat managed to have a complete chokehold on millennials as kids.

Every Kung Fu Panda has some sort of wildlife element, but the third installment is when Po went off and found a magical-looking part of the world full of…other pandas!

Congo has everything from trying to find a lost city to secure diamonds to a gorilla that embraces sign language — all of that and more, with various African locales serving as the backdrops.

Bruce Willis will always have Die Hard, but one might make the argument that his best was when he voices a sneaky raccoon in Over the Hedge. The wildlife in this is more so the type we’re all familiar with, the forests that sit at the base of a suburb.

When news broke that Hollywood would try and make another Jumanji , many were skeptical. How does one come close to what Robin Williams and Co. did in the original? While Williams’ version sits atop a beloved mountain built of nostalgia, the 2017 version starring Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black held its own as its stars were dropped in the middle of the jungle!

Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl Strayed, a woman who has dealt with a lot in life and seeks to find some kind of solace in nature. With that, she heads out on a solo, 1,100-mile hike toward self-discovery.

Watching Bambi and realizing it was hand-drawn in 1942 just impresses the mind.

Does the snake look real? Absolutely not, but the surrounding area of the Amazon does, and that’s what matters here!

Once the beauty of George’s abs wears off, one can appreciate the comical take on his jungle surroundings.

Wildlife also includes the breathtaking landscapes of Utah, which are featured heavily in 127 Hours , in which James Franco plays a man trying to survive when things go awry.

Finding Nemo is one of Pixar’s most eye-catching releases with stimulating scenery captured underwater on this quest for family.

The dinosaurs might have been a mixture of animatronics and special effects, but there was nothing man-made about the picture-perfect landscapes that served as the base of this modern-meets-prehistoric thrill ride.

The animated version of The Jungle Book is a classic, but the jungles were truly brought to life when it was redone (again) in 2016.

Happy Feet showed audiences snowy landscapes in a way that was far less scary than movies like The Thing.

Cast Away answers one of the oldest questions out there: What would you do if you were stuck on a deserted island while also giving people a look at the reality of said scenario? Yes, the views are nice but the situation is bonkers.

One of the best tales underwater, ever. The Little Mermaid both under and above water is a wondrous spectacle from the colorful sea life to the romantic aspects underneath the willows; Ariel and Co. served up wildlife delights.