Common Sense Media Review
By Davis Ryan Cook
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fact-packed nature docu has some animal peril.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Meet the Marsupials
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
MEET THE MARSUPIALS uses the twin engines of voiceover and video footage to create an immersive look into the wide world of marsupials. They are mammals who are born prematurely and must spend a large part of their first year of life being constantly tended to and cared for by their mothers (think of the famous kangaroo and her pouch). Tree-kangaroos, rock-wallabies, wombats, sugar gliders, koalas, and more parade throughout the documentary's list-like procession of evenhanded narration work and gorgeous audiovisual footage.
Is It Any Good?
As Meet the Marsupials takes its viewer on a wild ride throughout the intricate and interconnected world of many different marsupial species and the various species (e.g. carpet pythons) associated with them, the documentary offers up a fifty-minute gem that is both intellectually enriching and aesthetically gorgeous. Beyond the comprehensive detail about the lives of, say, tree-kangaroos (who spend their first year of life without ever having touched the ground), Meet the Marsupials has some shots that really boggle the viewer's mind. Two examples of shots that make the viewer say "How did they catch this on camera?" are of a sugar glider marsupial gliding over and straight towards the camera, and of a just recently born wombat in a deep and dense underground network of wombat tunnels. They are something to behold even if the audio is on mute.
The only demerit to the documentary is that, because of its lack of overarching plot, it might struggle to hold the attention of young viewers who aren't already interested in the subject matter. It goes for a more list-like structure, offering up a collection of facts and shots that become comprehensive by the end of the documentary but don't flow very naturally together. In the end, this is another intellectually enriching and aesthetically gorgeous offering from the Curiositystream nature documentary makers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how many of these marsupial species can look so different from humans yet still worry about some of the same problems (getting enough food, conserving energy, etc.). What are some things that you do throughout the day that these other animals do as well?
Why are there so many nature documentaries like this one? What do we gain by making and watching nature documentaries?
How is watching nature documentaries about these marsupials better and/or worse in your opinion than going to the zoo to observe them in real time?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 16, 2020
- Studio : HBO Max
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Animals ( Wild Animals ) , STEM
- Run time : 50 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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