Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins

First of all, I give troyacurtis71 five stars. The movie was very low cost and I recieved the package only 3 days later. Very good service.However, the movie was terrible. Seriously, the producers butchered the idea of Meerkat Manor. It was fast paced and felt rushed. Also, Goldberg is a TERRIBLE narrator. Throughout the entire movie I felt like she was speaking to a five year old. Don't they realize Meerkat Mannor captured the imagination of more than young children? Also, she exaggerated certain details, making it feel less authentic and professional. I think it could have been a good movie if they used a better narrator, like Sean Astin. There's only a few good points about it: you learn about Flower's past, although I'm not sure how much of it is authentic. I've heard many controversies that some of the details depicted in the movie were inncorect. Although they used different Meerkats to produce the movie, the shots were great and some even adorable. There were WAY too many landscape shots though.So if you want to see Flower's life in the big screen, and you can deal with the annoying narrator, this movie is for you. It gives you no reason to watch it again. If that's not something you want, I suggest you just look up and read Flower's story.

I've read other reviews that said things like "they aren't the real meerkats from the series." Well, Flower, the star, is dead, so how can she be the real thing? They're meerkats, aren't they? You can't tell Flower from non-Flower, so what difference does it make? When they make biographies, it's never with the real person. And Whoopi Goldberg does a fine job and I'm not saying this because I'm a fan per se. I think all the narrators have been really good. It must be that people get used to the way it "was" and don't want anything to change. Well, if they were going to change anything, it should have been to keep Mozart and Shakespeare alive and well. I could not bear the pain that Mozart went through. But Flower had a much better life. I will warn you, however, without giving anything away I don't think: there are 3 tragedies. You'll be able to tell when they're coming and can speed ahead if you want. This one (Meerkat Manor) is VERY sentimental. And you would think Flower will be nominated for a Nobel Prize, or should be. But I love hearing/seeing everything about the Whiskers, so they had me at the packaging. By the way, they aren't cute enough? The picture on the cover is airbrushed! I swear!

This sweet little film is a tribute to Flower, the beloved Mama Meerkat who died during the filming of the third season. I do not know how accurate the storytelling and filming actually are, but it doesn't matter. This is a nice Mother's Day gift about a smart, brave, beautiful little animal and her huge, colorful family.My only regret is that Sean Astin, the narrator of the original three seasons. did not provide the narration for this last film, dedicated to Flower. Apparently Whoopie Goldberg is the narrator for the fourth season (the "Next Generation" pun inescapable, especially with Whoopi, to Star trek fans). I would have preferred Sean Astin, but this does nothing to detract from the enjoyment of the film. Buy it and give it to a favorite mother.

I don't understand why some of you people had a problem with Whoopi's narration, it's NOT like she wrote the narrated script, she has to read off of the script handed to her. Now as to the movie itself, it IS just recreated scenes from Meerkat Manor itself, if you've seen MM before you can see repeated scenes from the show, although Petal's death was something I hadn't seen before, I decided to buy the other seasons as I was getting tired of having to wake up so early in the am to watch it.

I agree with the other reviewers -- Sean Astin's narration is preferable to Whoopi Goldberg's. But who really watches "Meerkat Manor" for the narration, anyway? This story is all about Flower, the matriarch of the Whiskers meerkat clan. If you were saddened by her death on the series, it's nice to watch this early video of her and her clan, as she journeys from very small and tragic beginnings to a still small (12" tall) adult meerkat that is a force to be reckoned with. It's hard not to put human traits on the meerkats -- loyalty, treachery, bravery, cowardice, love. Perhaps humans don't have a monopoly on such things after all! Rent or buy this for Flower.

This movie (The story begins) tries to describe the life of meerkats. The Seasons 1, 2 and 3, I agree, is a tribute to Flower, the matriarch of the Whiskers clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. But on the last season the film tries to continue the story with Flowers' daughter Mozart. They show the troubles of the clan without a strong matriarch as Flower.The work of the reserarchers that make this movies possible was great. I like meerkats and I recomend this series.

A movie with similar tone to its tv-show; great show for all ages of animal lovers! Our kids enjoy re-watching from time to time.

Wow this was the first time I had heard the beginning of Flower's family. They did a great job of tying up all the loose ends . I started watching the series but never got to see the premiere. While I still will buy the first season this explains why Flower made a lot of her decisions..

It was strange to hear part of meerkat manor narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, i'm used to hearing Bill Nighy but it was endearing to see the story from the beginning.

Love this dvd

Having already purchased Meerkats - The Movie (which is a superb DVD) and not seen any of the Meerkat Manor series, I was curious if The Movie could be equalled and it was! This DVD has a great storyline with a sad ending but I guess that is the harsh reality of life in the wild. It follows Flower from her beginning and rise to the matriarch of the group then her untimely tragic end defending her group to the last with the ultimate sacrifice, and I'm not ashamed to say I wept like a baby at the end. The film is an unobtrusive insight into the lives of these wonderful creatures, very sympathetically made and a joy to watch.

i just love meerkates to death watch all programes and collect them got loads of meerkates in unit

a great programme for animal lovers and kids,where the start of the programme begins with the birth of flower,recommend it