A whale of an IMAX tale
A humpback whale drags 200 feet of lines and buoys while entangled. A team from the National Marine Sanctuary races to free the animal, but in doing so, snags the lines on the boat, dragging it along quickly.
Viewing the whale’s injuries from the entanglement with an underwater camera, the team knows it doesn’t have much time to save the creature’s life. In the knick of time, it cuts the line, and the whale swims away free.
The scene, which concludes Greg MacGillivray’s latest documentary, “Humpback Whales,” is a cautionary tale about ocean pollution. But happier moments, like a mother and calf playing and a whale breaching, are also included in the film to show the majesty of these sea giants.
“Humpback Whales” gives viewers the chance to marvel at the sea creatures in their true size on the IMAX screen at the California Science Center in Los Angeles beginning July 3.
If it weren’t for groups like the National Marine Sanctuary, the lives of many whales might be lost. And if it weren’t for documentarians like MacGillivray, the story of humpback whales might not be told.
“It’s so big and impressive on the big screen, because you see the size of the animal and can almost feel them coming really close to you,” said the director, who owns Laguna Beach-based MacGillivray Freeman Films. “The animal fits the big screen so well. Nowhere else can you get the true advantage of IMAX, except with animals that are big like the whale. You really do feel like you’re right there next to it, as if it’s just swimming by you.”
The study of humpback whales is still fairly new, MacGillivray noted, partially because the animals almost were hunted into extinction.
For the 38-minute film, a team of marine biologists and filmmakers from MacGillivray Freeman Films traveled to Tonga, Hawaii and Alaska over a span of 200 days to follow the whales’ migration patterns.
Because whales spend the majority of their time underwater, much of the time was spent waiting for opportune moments, MacGillivray said.
“The study of humpbacks really only went back about 50 years ago,” he said. “We’re still just scratching the surface. There are still so many things we don’t know, particularly how the animals communicate with each other. I think that they are kind of an apex animal. In other words, if they are recovering and they’re at the top of the food chain, as this apex animal in the ocean kingdom, you look at it, and if it can survive, there’s hope for animals down the food chain.”
Executive producer Tennyson Oyler, who works at Newport Beach-based insurance company Pacific Life, said the film, narrated by two-time Golden Globe nominee Ewan McGregor, took about six years to complete.
“We wanted to make sure it was not only a film that would be beautiful to watch and make people want to go see it, but also where people could learn about some of the mysteries that we do and don’t know about humpback whales,” he said.
The film will be shown in 3D on the seven-story-high, 90-feet-wide screen, and California Science Center representatives said they anticipate it will be shown for at least six months.
Joe DeAmicis, vice president of marketing at the California Science Center, said MacGillivray Freeman Films has a long-standing relationship with the 470-seat theater.
“Greg’s a phenomenal filmmaker and is one of the giants in our industry,” he said. “His films make a difference for what kids think of the natural world. There’s no better format to capture the grandeur, size, scope and majesty of whales than large format. When I saw the film, I got really excited. We’ve been showing his films for decades, but I think this is one of his best efforts.”
If You Go:
What: “Humpback Whales”
Where: California Science Center, 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles
When: 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. every day beginning July 3
Cost: $5 to $8.25