Above the Arctic Circle lies an immense place of extreme conditions and breathtaking vistas that few people will ever experience firsthand. But beginning today, audiences at the Tennessee Aquarium Imax Theater can take a virtual trip to the top of the world.
With the opening of "To the Arctic 3D" on the giant screen, a heartwarming tale of a mother's love emerges within this land of snow and ice.
Director Greg MacGillivray uses the high impact of Imax 3-D to place viewers on ice floes to get extraordinarily close to a mother polar bear and her two cubs. They found their new stars after nearly four years of filming.
"We were extremely fortunate," said MacGillivray. "Never before had filmmakers tracked a polar bear family at such close range, 24 hours a day, for nearly a week."
Polar bears are normally camera-shy, but this family appeared indifferent to the Imax crew. As a result, the team was able to document this mother's life in a very intimate way. All of her maternal behaviors are shown in the film, including nursing and nurturing her playful cubs.
"I don't know anyone who doesn't fall in love with polar bears," said MacGillivray. "As cubs, they're unbelievably cute and cuddly, and as adults they're thinking animals. They are very clever in their approach to finding food and protecting themselves."
From Norway to Canada and Alaska, the team captured a variety of Arctic wildlife and pristine glacial landscapes.
"The Arctic is home to caribou, seals, whales and walrus. It's also the breeding ground for more than 30 species of seabirds, including the comical guillemot, better known as the penguin of the Arctic," said producer Shaun MacGillivray.
Each spring, 400,000 to 500,000 caribou travel as far as 800 miles from their winter home in the western Arctic, Alaska and the Yukon up to their summer range to give birth and feed on the nutritious new growth. It's one of the largest land migrations of any animal. Because the area the caribou cover is so vast, it's not easy to intercept the herd's progress at any given point. But thanks to what the crew calls MacGilli-Luck, they were able to record some truly magical images.
"One morning our crew awoke to a herd of caribou serenely sauntering past their tent flaps and, grabbing their cameras, shot some wonderful close-ups," said Greg MacGillivray.
Oscar winner Meryl Streep narrates the film.