Common Sense Media Review
By Davis Ryan Cook
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fact-packed, beautiful nature doc has animal violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Meet the Mustelids
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
MEET THE MUSTELIDS is a succession of beautiful footage and sound that shows the daily habits and particular physiologies of many different mustelid mammals around the world, from the otters in the ocean to the polecats in European grasslands to badgers in their dense network of underground dwellings. While the word "mustelid" might be new for many viewers of the show, they should be through and through experts by the end of the show about these mammals which are some of the oldest and fiercest mammals on Earth. Jumping lightly from species to species and location to location, the documentary shows in vibrant colors and detailed closeups all of the different mustelids' daily activities as well as the activities of their surrounding environments including insects, flowers, and more. The documentary ends with a cautionary note, urging viewers to help prevent the dangerous activities of people hunting minks and polecats for their coats and cutting down the mustelids' forest homes down indiscriminately for timber.
Is It Any Good?
Polecats, tyras (a type of Asian badger), martens, otters, wolverines -- what do all these small but fiercely confident aimals have in common? They all belong to the "mustelid" family of mammals, which is one of the oldest and fiercest families of mammal on planet Earth. Throughout the hour-long Meet the Mustelids, the viewer will become well acquainted with all of these different mustelids and the particular habits they have to flourish in all parts of the world, from the rainforest to the beaches to the tundra.
Because of its limited scope and because of its being a rather straightforward nature documentary, Meet the Mustelids might come across as somewhat boring to many viewers who aren't already interested in the subject matter. As always, however, the documentarians at Curiositystream have compiled an array of gorgeous video and audio footage that should be at least superficially engaging, if not educational, to all viewers. One particularly impressive example of this is when the documentary shows detailed footage of a badger family burrowing underground amid a dense and complex network of tunnels... how did the filmmakers capture that?
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how these mustelids 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?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : December 16, 2020
- Studio : HBO Max
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Animals ( Bugs , Wild Animals ) , STEM
- Run time : 50 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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