History Main / NarrativeDrivenNatureDocumentary

* ''Series/PrehistoricPlanet'' occasionally has long drawn narratives in its segments, most notably the''Triceratops'' one in "Forests". However for the most part its more interested in showing animals in RandomEventsPlot form, much as real life.

** ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is predominantly a traditional documentary (insofar as a series about dinosaurs can be considered such) but even it uses narrative tropes, such as ScavengersAreScum.
** The ''WesternAnimation/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' movie takes this even further, by giving every dinosaur shown his name and personality.

* ''Animals Are Beautiful People'' has a tongue-and-cheek narration and occasionally anthropomorphizes the animals.

* The UrExample are the ''Film/TrueLifeAdventures'' documentaries produced by Creator/WaltDisney during the 1950s. While presenting animals in natural situations and paying lip service to the ruthlessness of "Nature's way", it also wasn't above anthropomorphizing the creatures depicted, often reveling in lighter moments and adding wry commentary. Disney even produced a "True-Life Fantasy", an adaptation of ''Literature/{{Bambi}}'' author Felix Salten's book ''Perri'' using nature footage shot especially for it.

* ''WebAnimation/Dinosauria''is essentially an anthology version of these. Each episode, though short, has a proper narrative, sometimes taking creative liberties but still based on actual fossil evidence. It is notably also compeltely devoid of narration.

* ''The Last Lions'' is a more dramatic take on the genre from National Geographic, released in 2011 and again featuring Jeremy Irons, whose script and performance only doubles down on the dramatic voiceover. (His iconic role as [[Characters/TheLionKingScar Scar]] is also heavily invoked.) The film itself focuses on a lone lioness named Ma di Tau who is forced out of her territory in Botswana's Okavango Delta after losing her mate.

* ''Eye of the Leopard'' is a 2006 documentary film from National Geographic framed as a coming-of-age story about a young female leopard named Legedema and told largely through a series of flashbacks related to things she encounters as she goes about her day on a trip to see her mother. It features Jeremy Irons delivering many verbose lines about the relationships between mothers and daughters and the rawness of the African savannah.
* ''The Last Lions'' is a more dramatic take on the genre from National Geographic, released in 2011 and again featuring Jeremy Irons, whose script and performance only doubles down on the dramatic voiceover. (His iconic role as Scar is also heavily invoked.) The film itself focuses on a lone lioness named Ma di Tau who is forced out of her territory in Botswana's Okavango Delta after losing her mate.

* The ongoing series of films from Disneynature carries many of the tropes from the ''True Life Adventures'' series (effectively a modern revamp), with most entries to date focusing on the dramatized stories of individual animals and their families, with celebrity narration that is often lighter and more playfully written than similar projects like National Geographic or BBC Nature film documentaries. To date, such examples include:

* ''Series/SavageKingdom'' takes place in Savute, Africa. It's a documentary series about rival animal clans who are at war with each other in a never-ending conflict for survival. The story starts with queen Matsumi and her pride of Marsh lions. The different species have their own "kingdoms". It focuses on African wild-dogs, hyenas, leopards, and lions.

* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'': Building upon the success of ''Walking with Dinosaurs'', ''Beasts'' had a much tighter narrative focus in each of episodes and clearly defined characters than its predecessor, such as a ''Smilodon populator'' called Half-Tooth. Despite this, it still very much acts out as a nature documentary, even going so far as to be DarkerAndEdgier than ''Dinosaurs''.

** ''Prehistoric Planet'', a LighterAndSofter cut of ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' aimed at children, did this. The main series is more traditional.

** The ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' movie takes this even further, by giving every dinosaur shown his name and personality.

The traditional way of doing {{Nature Documentar|y}}ies is to present them in a serious, matter-of-fact way. Popularized in the 2000s, however, a new form began to emerge.

* The ongoing series of films from Disneynature carries many of the tropes from the ''True Life Adventures'' series, with most entries to date focusing on the dramatized stories of individual animals and their families, with celebrity narration that is often lighter and more playfully written than similar projects like National Geographic or BBC Nature film documentaries. To date, such examples include:

* ''The Last Lions'' is a more dramatic take on the genre from National Geographic, released in 2011 and again featuring Jeremy Irons, whose script and performance only doubles down on the dramatic voiceover. (His iconic role as Scar is also heavily invoked.) The film itself focuses on a lone lioness named Ma di Tau who is forced out of her territory Botswana's Okavango Delta after losing her mate.

* ''The Last Lions''is a more dramatic take on the genre from National Geographic, released in 2011 and again featuring Jeremy Irons, whose script and performance only doubles down on the dramatic voiceover. (His iconic role as Scar is also heavily invoked.) The film itself focuses on a lone lioness named Ma di Tau who is forced out of her territory Botswana's Okavango Delta after losing her mate.

* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'': Building upon the success of ''Walking with Dinosaurs'', ''Beasts'' had a much tighter narrative focus in each of episodes and clearly defined characters than its predecessor, such as a ''Smilodon fatalis'' called Half-Tooth. Despite this, it still very much acts out as a nature documentary, even going so far as to be DarkerAndEdgier than ''Dinosaurs''.

You can near guarantee that these documentaries will [[DeathOfAChild avert]] InfantImmortality ''hard''. As wild animals have a high infancy mortality rate, at least one youngster will die and if a mother has two children then it's unlikely both will survive. NatureIsNotNice is a constant theme in these types of documentaries. These documentaries are not not without their critics. Some accuse them of [[https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/20070730/LIFE/707300315 personifying their animal subjects beyond any reasonable degree]], and downplaying the harsh reality of the natural world in favor of a sanitized version.

African animals, and especially Big Cats in general, are the main target of these documentaries due to their popularity, though other species star in them as well. However, these documentaries are quite prone to WhatMeasureIsANonCute; "ugly" or less easy-to-decipher animals such as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles, amphibians]], [[NoCartoonFish fish]], insects, and other invertebrates (with the occasional exception of attractive ones like [[PrettyButterflies butterflies]]) rarely get star billing in these types of documentaries. Due to the fact predators are usually the focus of the documentaries, PredatorsAreMean is usually averted. ScavengersAreScum, however, is still game (though with scavengers being [[TheRival vicious rivals]], rather than outright slimeballs). Overall, though, the works try to show that PredationIsNatural and that animals aren't "bad" just because of their diets.

You can near guarantee that these documentaries will [[DeathOfAChild avert]] InfantImmortality ''hard''. As wild animals have a high infancy mortality rate, at least one youngster will die and if a mother has two children then it's unlikely both will survive. NatureIsNotNice is a constant theme in these types of documentaries. They thrive on showing how cruel life in the wild can be.

African animals, and especially Big Cats in general, are the main target of these documentaries due to their popularity, though other species star in them as well. However, these documentaries are quite prone to WhatMeasureIsANonCute; "ugly" or less easy-to-decipher animals such as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles, amphibians]], [[NoCartoonFish fish]], insects, and other invertebrates rarely get star billing in these types of documentaries. Due to the fact predators are usually the focus of the documentaries, PredatorsAreMean is usually averted. ScavengersAreScum, however, is still game (though with scavengers being [[TheRival vicious rivals]], rather than outright slimeballs). Overall, though, the works try to show that PredationIsNatural and that animals aren't "bad" just because of their diets.

African animals, and especially Big Cats in general, are the main target of these documentaries due to their popularity, though other species star in them as well. However, they are quite prone to WhatMeasureIsANonCute; "ugly" or less easy-to-decipher animals such as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles, amphibians]], [[NoCartoonFish fish]], insects, and other invertebrates rarely get star billing in these types of documentaries. Due to the fact predators are usually the focus of the documentaries, PredatorsAreMean is usually averted. ScavengersAreScum, however, is still game (though with scavengers being vicious rivals, rather than outright slimeballs). Overall though, the works try to show that PredationIsNatural and that animals aren't "bad" just because of their diets.

* ''Series/MeerkatManor'' is the TropeCodifier. It's a series showcasing the lives of two groups of meerkats in a RealityTV-esque manner. In its case, it was known that the show uses some manipulative editing for narrative reasons. ''Meerkat Manor'' uses several different individuals to 'play' the same meerkat.

African animals, and especially Big Cats in general, are the main target of these documentaries due to their popularity, though other species star in them as well. Due to the fact predators are usually the focus of the documentaries, PredatorsAreMean is usually averted. ScavengersAreScum, however, is still game (though with scavengers being vicious rivals, rather than outright slimeballs). Overall though, the works try to show that PredationIsNatural and that animals aren't "bad" just because of their diets. Often times these series will refer to families as if they're royalty, such as referring to leaders as "kings" and "queens".

You can near guarantee that these documentaries will [[DeathOfAChild avert]] InfantImmortality ''hard''. As wild animals have a high infancy mortality rate, at least one youngster will die and if a mother has two children then it's unlikely both will survive. NatureIsNotNice is a constant theme in these types of documentaries. They thrive on showing how cruel life in the wild can be. However, they are quite prone to WhatMeasureIsANonCute; "ugly" animals such as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles, amphibians]], [[NoCartoonFish fish]], insects, and other invertebrates rarely get star billing in these types of documentaries.

[[AC: {{Film}} -- Live Action]]

* ''State Of Dogs'' is a 1998 Mongolian documentary about dogs. It starts with Baasar, a stray dog who is shot by a hunter trying to cull the feral and stray dog population. The documentary revolves around Baasar's desire to {{reincarnat|ion}}e into a human (which comes from Mongolian legend).

[[AC: LiveActionTV]]

* ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts:'' Building upon the success of ''Walking With Dinosaurs'', ''Beasts'' had a much tighter narrative focus in each of episodes and clearly defined characters than its predecessor, such as a ''Smilodon fatalis'' called Half-Tooth. Despite this, it still very much acts out as a nature documentary, even going so far as to be DarkerAndEdgier than ''Dinosaurs''.

** ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is predominantly a traditional documentary (insofar as a series about dinosaurs can be considered such) but even it uses narrative tropes, such as ScavengersAreScum.

You can near guarantee that these documentaries will [[DeathOfAChild avert]] InfantImmortality ''hard''. As wild animals have a high infancy mortality rate, at least one youngster will die and if a mother has two children then it's unlikely both will survive. NatureIsNotNice is a constant theme in these types of documentaries. They thrive on showing how cruel life in the wild can be. However, they are quite prone to WhatMeasureIsANonCute; "ugly" animals such as [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptiles, amphibians]], fish, insects, and other invertebrates rarely get star billing in these types of documentaries.

You can near guarantee that these documentaries will [[DeathOfAChild avert]] InfantImmortality ''hard''. As wild animals have a high infancy mortality rate, at least one youngster will die and if a mother has two children then it's unlikely both will survive. NatureIsNotNice is a constant theme in these types of documentaries. They thrive on showing how cruel life in the wild can be.

** ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is predominantly a traditional documentary but even it uses narrative tropes, such as ScavengersAreScum.

These newer documentaries lean more on {{edutainment}} than previous ones. They dramatize and humanize the animals, often bordering on {{xenofiction}}. The main animals will usually be referred to by names and their lives will be told in a dramatic, anthropomorphic manner.

* ''Film/StateOfDogs'' is a 1998 Mongolian documentary about dogs. It starts with Baasar, a stray dog who is shot by a hunter trying to cull the feral and stray dog population. The documentary revolves around Baasar's desire to {{reincarnat|ion}}e into a human (which comes from Mongolian legend).

The traditional way to do {{Nature Documentar|y}}ies is to present them in a serious, matter-of-fact way. Popularized in the 2000s, however, a new form began to emerge.

* ''Series/PlanetEarthDynasties'' is a dramatized documentary about African wildlife. Each episode (besides the penguin episode) focuses on a specific family, such as the Marsh pride of lions in ''Lion''.