The Disneynature documentary Dolphin Reef, narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman and available to stream at Disney+, tells the story of a young Pacific bottlenose dolphin who, much like any human kid, is far more interested in exploring his surroundings and the inhabitants there than learning to survive in it, all while his mother is nudging him to pick up the skills that he’ll need in life. At the same time, you’ll get to learn about the many fascinating residents of the reef, including the peacock mantis shrimp, the bumphead parrotfish, and a humpback whale and her newborn calf.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, producer Roy Conli talked about why he feels like one of the most fortunate guys in the world, who the heroes of these films are, why dolphins were interesting enough for their own movie, which of the other unique creatures he found particularly fascinating, why Natalie Portman was the right person to narrate the doc, and also releasing the Disneynature film Elephant which is narrated by Meghan Markle.
Image via Disneynature
Collider: I first spoke to you for your first Disneynature film as a producer, which was Born in China, and you’ve since gone on to do nature documentaries about penguins, dolphins and elephants. Do you feel like a veteran of these productions now?
ROY CONLI: I feel like one of the most fortunate guys in the world, currently, because I was able to, and continue to, work with some of the greatest animators in the world, and now I work with some of the greatest natural film cinematographers and directors. It’s a dream come true, in a certain sense.
One of the things that I always love, at the end of these movies, is that you get to see what it really takes to get these shots.
CONLI: The heroes of these films are the cinematographers who are out in the field. If you love that, coming out at the same time as Dolphin Reef will be Diving with Dolphins, which is a feature based on the making of the film, and it’s fascinating. You really get into the lives and the work that these guys do, and they’re just masters. They’re just the best of the best, and what they do and how they do it is just fascinating.
You also have Elephant coming out. What makes these two films a good double feature for families?
CONLI: Well, first of all, it’s a celebration for Earth month. Let us not forget, it’s a great story about the earth and the creatures on the earth, and its rich rejuvenating power. It’s a wonderful reminder of this incredible world. I do this because I want people to feel the same joy that I felt when I was a kid looking at these films that Walt Disney did. I watched True Life Adventures when I was a kid, on Sunday nights on The Wonderful World of Disney. And so, the idea of a kid in the suburbs of Los Angeles being able to see a world beyond our world was kind of exciting.
What was it about dolphins that made it worth doing a movie about them? Did you know going in that they would be as interesting as they clearly are?
CONLI: The thing that’s really fascinating about dolphin is that it’s really difficult to stay up with one dolphin. There was one Echo, who was the guiding force, and then I like to say that Echo had a lot of stunt doubles. Unlike land mammals, there’s no way of staying up with a dolphin. Even with a cheetah, you can follow them in the field. They’ll run at 60 miles an hour, but they only run for 60 miles an hour for a short amount of time. Whereas a dolphin can take off. For me, as a sailor, one of the greatest joys in my life is when I’m out in the middle of the ocean and there’s a pod of dolphins that will come and swarm the boat. Just out here in Los Angeles, in the channel between Catalina and Los Angeles, you sometimes get into a pod of dolphins that’s 200 or 300 in count, and it’s pretty amazing. All kinds of things fascinate me about them, like the idea that they sleep with half their brain. They have a mammalian conscience, and they are incredibly highly emotional and very intelligent, so they make for great storytelling. This is such a film about community and the importance of everyone being a meaningful part of the community. When they sleep, they sleep almost like synchronized swimming. They sleep as a group. It’s absolutely fascinating. One of my favorite parts of this film is at the end when they do the mud rings. Essentially, they’re feeding the entire pod with this communal activity. They’re just fascinating creatures.
I’ve always loved dolphins and I’ve always loved watching dolphins, but I never realized the amount of skills that they need to learn to survive. The exploration of that was really interesting.
CONLI: Yeah. Their communication is pretty fascinating. It’s the same thing with the whale story. The whales totally understand and know that, in order to go back to their feeding grounds for the summer, they need a protector, and the fact that there is this competition to be the protector is pretty amazing.
Image via Marvel Studios
You also have Natalie Portman narrating this. What was it about her that made her the right person to narrate the film?
CONLI: First of all, this story is really about mother and child, in this particular sense, so we were looking for someone in that vein. But Natalie actually had expressed interest, previously, in narrating one of these. We had invited her to a screening, back when she was living in Paris, and she brought her child and she saw one of our Disneynature programs. She mentioned that she was very interested in voicing one of these, so it wasn’t a big sell for me. She was truly interested and ready to jump in. For me, to work with such an impressive artist, who’s also quite an activist in her own right, was absolutely great. Plus, she was totally blown away with the film. Between takes, we would show her chunks of the film, and she was just absolutely fascinated with that world.
Do you typically have a set process for deciding who will narrate these films? Is there a list of people who express interest, or do you think specifically about people’s voices or how suited they are to a particular subject?
CONLI: That’s a good question. Generally, what we do is we will put their voice to picture and see what actually works the best. We’re always looking for someone who ties in thematically. For Penguins, I thought Ed Helms was the perfect everyman. We were looking for someone for that film who fulfills the voice of the penguin. There have been people, like Natalie, who’ve come and said that they’re really interested in doing it, and that makes it really easy. When you have a great story that they can tell, you can jump right to them. But then, other times, we’ll go out hunting and looking for the right person to read the role.
How did you come to Meghan Markle to narrate Elephant?
CONLI: She came to us, in a certain sense. That was a situation in which my filmmakers, Vanessa Berlowitz and Mark Linfield, met her while they were on set shooting. She and her husband are very much into health and conservation, and that interest translated into an amazing conversation that she had over lunch with Vanessa where they were talking about the work that Meghan does, in terms of empowerment for women, the work that she was doing at the UN and other organizations that she’s involved in, plus a conversation about women conservationists. It was at that point that Vanessa actually contacted me and floated the idea that maybe she would be the right voice for the film.
There’s a clear message in Dolphin Reef, that you should maybe listen and pay attention to your mother, otherwise you might find yourself in some trouble.
CONLI: Definitely!
Was that something that you set out wanting to show, or is that something that you noticed as the film was being made?
CONLI: I’ve always thought that there was a bit of Pinocchio in this story, too, where Echo learns to be a good boy. These stories come from what we see in the field and what comes back to us in rushes. It was clear that the way that a mother and young dolphin react is that the mother is truly the supervisor and is responsible, post weaning, to bring a male or female young dolphin to maturity. It’s very similar to our lives. They feel a certain responsibility to ensure that their kids grow up with the proper tools to have a successful life.
Image via Disneynature
In this film, we also get to see a variety of different fish and odd creatures that live in the ocean. Were there any of those unique little guys that you found most interesting?
CONLI: I have to admit that my favorite parts of the film are the reef sections. There’s nothing quite as beautiful as a healthy, vibrant coral reef. It’s like a kaleidoscope of color, with the wonderful characters that live around there. There are literally millions of creatures that depend on other creatures. Something that we really wanted to show with the reef story is that it’s a cooperative world and everyone has a part to play in that world. And so, I really rather like that section of the film. The other thing is that we were really clear on trying not to make sharks villains because they play a vital role in the health of the ocean. Because of Jaws, they’ve gotten typecast as villains, but in actuality, they’re so important to the health of our oceans. Another thing that happens in the film is that, every so often, they got these great shots of little fish popping out of their holes, reacting to certain moments. For me, that brings such color to the film. And also, there’s such a variety of life that lives underneath there. That’s what’s so wonderful about the ocean. It’s one of the least explored places in this world, and what these incredible cinematographers have done is give us this glimpse into this magic life. It’s absolutely magic, and so exciting.
Is there an animal that you find interesting that you’d personally love to try to do a documentary about, at some point?
CONLI: I’ve been so lucky because the reason I got involved with Born in China was partly because I love snow leopards. My wife and I have been giving to the Snow Leopard Trust for 20 years, so to see that species rebound has been so exciting. The other species that I really, really love, and I’ve loved for years, is elephants, so I’m really excited about that film as well. They’re amazing creatures who have such an emotional relationship with one another. The fact that we can actually relate with these animals, on that level, always inspires me.
Dolphin Reef and Elephant are available to stream at Disney+ on April 3rd.
