Those hungering for rare footage of our cousins playing and foraging, fighting or fleeing are in for a number of treats.
- Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post, April 20, 2012
Walt Disney himself couldn't have scripted "Chimpanzee" any better.
- Rafer Guzman, Newsday, April 20, 2012
Resurrects some of the worst traits of the studio's True-Life Adventures series of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, dubiously shaping some amazing footage with cornball narration that relentlessly anthropomorphizes its simian subjects.
- Lou Lumenick, New York Post, April 20, 2012
It's really a wonder of nature, a reminder of how we are bound to other species and how valuable and special and downright magical their lives are. It may be a bit corny at times, but it's also downright enlightening.
- Tom Long, Detroit News, April 20, 2012
One wonders whether more than a few viewers won't want to take home a baby chimp after seeing the film.
- Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, April 20, 2012
We don't see footage of different chimps and have to pretend it's the same; this is one fellow, from one clan, trying to survive.
- Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger, April 20, 2012
Unfortunately, when so many strings have been pulled along the way, Oscar's triumph feels contrived for dramatic impact, even though it really happened.
- Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail, April 20, 2012
The stunning and mostly uncompromising visuals more than compensate for the frequent corny turns of phrase.
- Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 2012
[It] might as well be called "Simply Irresistible," because thanks to the mischievous monkeyshines of a baby chimp named Oscar, it comes pretty close.
- Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2012
It's unfortunate that the filmmakers juxtapose those striking visuals with a warlike anthropomorphizing element.
- Claudia Puig, USA Today, April 19, 2012
To experience "Chimpanzee," the latest piece of gorgeously shot pablum from Disneynature, is to endure an orgy of cuteness pasted over some of the most asinine narration ever to ruin a wildlife movie.
- Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times, April 19, 2012
Combines astonishingly vivid and intimate footage of animal life with narration that sometimes crosses the line between accessible and intrusive.
- Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times, April 19, 2012
Perhaps the best strategy for enjoying the movie would be to a) leave sensitive tykes at home and b) bring a portable music player to provide an alternative soundtrack.
- Mark Jenkins, NPR, April 19, 2012
With its emphasis on entertainment rather than edification, the film occupies a warm-and-fuzzy middle ground between "The Jungle Book" and Animal Planet.
- Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 19, 2012
All audiences stand to be charmed except those grouches who prefer their animals to be valued as animals rather than as furry little people.
- Ty Burr, Boston Globe, April 19, 2012
It has plenty of charm and is filled with astonishingly intimate footage worth seeing on the big screen but is sketchy on details and dumbed down by cutsy, anthropomorphizing narration.
- Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine, April 19, 2012
Of course, if you're a fan of old-school Disney True-Life Adventure tales like "Joker: The Amiable Ocelot," then you're used to this sort of sanitizing of the world's rougher edges.
- Alonso Duralde, The Wrap, April 20, 2012
The final five minutes give location interviews with the hardworking camera crew, and this is the only time when this plasticky film comes alive.
- Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK], May 03, 2013
Even by the standards of sentimental nature documentaries, Disney's Chimpanzee borders on the pathetic.
- Nigel Andrews, Financial Times, May 02, 2013
Gives us a hero to root for, but it's not coy on the tougher side of the natural world either.
- Olly Richards, Empire Magazine, April 28, 2013
