Flying penguins or Miracles of Evolution is a BBC film made in 2008.
The film was advertised as compelling evidence for Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. It was largely set on King George Island [1] which is just 75 miles from Antarctica.
The BBC will probably try to find the flying penguins again because it was left unknown how such small birds that are not used to flying could survive long migrations over vast, stormy oceans. [2]
The film
The film features Adelie penguins that live in the harsh environment of Antarctica. Adelie penguins are one of the most Southern seabirds in the world, and of course in Antarctica "southern" means "colder". The film alleges that long, and extremely cold Antarctic winters made some groups of Adelies learn how to use their small wings in order to fly thousands of miles to the rain forests of South America.[2] The narrative of the film discourages adventurers from trying to see flying penguins on their own. These birds are rare, "elusive and secretive". It is all but impossible to find them in the dense jungles of South America, or even to see their migration over the Southern oceans. Apparently the BBC crew were simply lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time because not only they were able to film the penguins taking off, but they also filmed their landing at a canopy of the rain forest right next to an exotic-looking toucan, and they brought the amazing footage to the world's attention.[2]
The film was narrated by Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame). Walking in Antarctica between cute Adelies Jones says: Vorlage:Quotation
And then the film shows wondrous birds taking off one after another, and soon the whole sky is filled with flying penguins who look like they are enjoying the flight. First the film shows the penguins flying over icebergs and even flying through a hole in a beautiful iceberg. And then icy and cold Antarctica is left behind and the film bring the viewers to the relaxing green of South America's rain forests.[1]
Film promotions
Rival newspapers The Daily Telegraph and The Daily Mirror both published articles about the incoming film. The Mirror ran the story on its front page, and in The Daily Telegraph this story was one of the most important of the day.[3]
While reading the synchronized stories published in The Daily Mirror and The Daily Telegraph Chris Tryhorn from The Guardian probably thought why Guardian was left out of such rare and high-rating story. In any case Mr.Tryhorn admits that the story "gave him pause for thought". [4]
And then, was Chris Tryhorn the first one to realize what was going on, the revelation came. The combination of the publication date, the host of the film Terry Jones and film maker Prof Alid Loyas that is "an anagram of April Fools Day" [5] removed any doubts: Flying penguins - miracle of evolution was a very successful and funny April Fools' Day's prank.[4]
Probably no longer able to keep suspense going The Daily Mirror published an explanation for those of its readers, who were not as sharp as Chris Tryhorn from Guardian, and were still awaiting in awe the promised documentary on BBC1.[5]
BBC on the other hand never admitted there was something fishy with the film. The trailer is still easily found on the BBC site. To find the film at BBC web site one should follow this route:
- Science and Nature
- Wildlife Finder
- Animals
- Birds
- Flying penguins
or to make it easier one simply could click at the reference link. (reference[2])
External links
References
- ↑ a b Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen The Daily Telegraph. - ↑ a b c d Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen BBC. - ↑ Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen ABC. - ↑ a b Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen Guardian. - ↑ a b Referenzfehler: Ungültiges
<ref>-Tag; kein Text angegeben für Einzelnachweis mit dem Namen Mirror.