March of the Penguins

March of the Penguins is a nature documentary film narrated by Morgan Freeman. The film was produced by Yves Darondeau, Christophe Lioud and Emmanuel Priou. It was released in 2005. March of the Penguins follows the Emperor Penguins in Antarctica as they embark on their yearly expedition across the continent to breed and raise their young. At the age of five years, penguins leave their home in the sea and walk across the icy land to the ancient breeding grounds. Once they arrive, each Emperor Penguin searches for a mate, with whom they will produce a chick. In order to keep the chick alive, both the mother and father penguin must take turns trekking back and forth over a period of several months from the sea to the breeding grounds to provide food for the chick.

In the summer, the Emperor Penguins' breeding grounds are not far from the ocean, and so the penguins don't need to travel far to feed. By the time the summer ends, however, the breeding grounds are more than 60 miles from the ocean, but the adult penguins still must make the long, difficult journey to ensure the survival of their chicks. Each female penguin lays one egg each breeding season, and she and her partner must work together to prevent the chick from freezing or starving to death in the dangerous climate.

After the female penguin lays her egg, she carefully passes it off to her mate, who then incubates the egg beneath his stomach, atop his feet. The female then travels back to the ocean to eat and collect food for her chick. The female penguins are away for two months feeding, during which time the male penguins huddle together to protect themselves and the eggs against the bitter cold and Antarctic winds. When the females finally return, the males then go to the sea to feed, and the process continues on this way for several months.