Explore the world of nature with us as we take a look at the 11 best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015.
While probably not everyone’s idea of Netflix and chill, these beautiful animal documentaries show us nature in a way we never get to see. Everything is here: friendship, family, love, epic journeys, and even betrayal. Some of the movies on our list look like they belong to the best crime documentaries list. It is strange how despite all of our evolutionary advantages, our world seems similar to the animal one. But in most of best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015, the underlying story is the same. If we don’t do something soon, the only way to see most of these animals will be on screen. Despite all the wild animals, humans remain the single most destructive species on the planet.
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To rank the best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015, we had to devise a system. Going by IMDb ratings alone wouldn’t cut it, although we did include it in our final ranking. We also went over a dozen lists on the most popular sites in order to get an accurate feel on public opinion. We mixed it all together and came up with a genuine Insider Monkey ranking. Let’s see who made it to our list of 11 best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015.
11. Wings of Life
Rank by sites 1, Rank by IMDb 4; Overall score = 5 points
Directed by Louis Schwartzberg
Disneynature’s film asks the question that’s been on everyone’s mind in the recent years: what would our world look like without bees, birds, bats, and butterflies? How exactly do they affect us and our future? Can we survive without them? If we don’t stop endangering these pollinators, we could soon find out the answers to these questions. We won’t like them, though. Narrated by Meryl Streep, Wings of Life is a wonderful story of a world we don’t pay enough attention to and how humans jeopardize the foundation of the planet’s food chain.
10. My Bionic Pet
Rank by sites 2, Rank by IMDb 5; Overall score = 7 points
Directed by Kevin Bachar
My Bionic Pet is a heartwarming story of people helping animals by making prosthetics and allowing them to live normal lives despite missing limbs. A part of PBS’s long-running Nature series, My Bionic Pet shows how technology can be used to improve the lives of not only humans but animals as well. From dogs to pigs, horses, and even alligators, these animals have proven to be a major asset in therapy for kids and adults alike who have trouble adjusting to their own prosthetics.
9. Turtle: The Incredible Journey
Rank by sites 6, Rank by IMDb 2; Overall score = 8 points
Directed by Nick Stringer
SeaWorld’s documentary follows the epic journey of a loggerhead turtle — one of seven species of sea turtles — around the Atlantic Ocean. From a Florida beach where she was born, to the North Atlantic with the help of the powerful Gulf Stream, and then south again to the Azores, the turtle encounters various sea creatures and we get to take a peek into their world. Finally, 25 years later, she comes back to Florida and lays eggs in the sand so that the next generation can embark on its journey. The film also brings us the message that if we don’t do something soon, the world oceans will become inhabitable for many of its present occupants. Four species of sea turtles are endangered or worse, including the loggerhead.
8. Monkey Kingdom
Rank by sites 5, Rank by IMDb 3; Overall score = 8 points
Directed by Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill
Narrated by Tina Fey, Monkey Kingdom takes us into the mystical world of Sri Lanka’s jungle and temple ruins, occupied by the Temple Troop, a colony of toque macaque monkeys. Maya and her newborn son Kip enjoy their life until an aggressive group of monkeys attack them and take over their home. Maya’s family is forced to relocate into another type of jungle, made of concrete, in order to continue with their lives. Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill teach us an important lesson about family and love and show us that home is where the family is.
7. Born to Be Wild
Rank by sites 3, Rank by IMDb 6; Overall score = 9 points
Directed by David Lickley
Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas and Dr. Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick have dedicated their lives to rescuing orphaned elephants and orangutans. Orphans rarely survive on their own in the wild, but the people who work at Nairobi Nursery help them reach adulthood before releasing them into Tsavo National Park with a fighting chance. David Lickley’s film reveals how poachers in search of ivory affect wildlife in Africa by killing the mothers and leaving baby elephants to fend for themselves. With the Kenyan savanna as its backdrop and Morgan Freeman as its narrator, the movie deserves the 6th spot on our list of best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015.
6. The Whale
Rank by sites 1, IMDb rank; 8 Overall score = 9
Directed by Suzanne Chisholm and Michael Parfit
Narrated by Ryan Reynolds, The Whale tells a story of Luna, a young orca who got separated from her pod in Nootka Sound, BC, Canada. Luna befriends a group of locals in an attempt to find a surrogate family. But is this newly found relationship detrimental to the whale in the long run? Reynolds also served as an executive producer together with then-wife Scarlett Johansson. The movie won Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking at the Newport Beach Film Festival in 2012.
5. Grizzly Man
Rank by sites 7, Rank by IMDb 8; Overall score = 15 points
Directed by Werner Herzog
Grizzly Man tells the unsettling and controversial story of Timothy Treadwell, a bear enthusiast who spend 13 years living in the Alaskan wilderness (Katmai National Park) with grizzlies, only to be killed and eaten by one along with his girlfriend in 2003. Over 100 hours of video he recorded during his time with the bears was recovered from the site. Herzog used some of it, together with interviews with family, friends, and experts, in creating his film. It paints a bleak picture of a sentimental young man who failed to realize that wilderness is a harsh and unforgivable place. Most experts agree that Treadwell overestimated his ability to bond with the wild bears, and in the end his own overconfidence is what killed him and girlfriend Amie Huguenard. The original cinema version of the film also contains Treadwell’s appearance at the David Letterman’s show, where the host jokingly remarks that his guest will end up eaten by bears. As it turned out, he was right.
4. Animal Odd Couples
Rank by sites 8, Rank by IMDb 7; Overall score = 20 points
Directed by Susan K. Fleming and Sara Marino
We were taught to believe that there are no friendships in the animal world, especially between carnivores and herbivores. Sooner or later . . . someone gets hungry. PBS’ Animal Odd Couples challenges that notion and shows us that friendships aren’t solely human prerogative. Can a dog befriend a deer? Can a horse and a goat be inseparable? It turns out they can.
3. Virunga
Rank by sites 10, Rank by IMDb 10; Overall score = 20 points
Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel
Virunga National Park, deep in the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the last refuge for mountain gorillas. It’s threatened by the discovery of oil as multinational companies scramble to get a piece of the pie. The rising tensions in the region between the rebels and the government troops, threatening to escalate into a full-blown civil war, further complicate the situation. Can Virunga survive or will we lose yet another species to our greed? The film, nominated for the Academy Award fo Best Documentary, follows the story of park rangers as they try to protect Virunga.
2. Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
Rank by sites 9, Rank by IMDb 11; Overall score = 20 points
Directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn
Agriculture is the leading cause of global warming, water depletion, deforestation, species extinction and ocean dead zones, yet not a single major environmental organization is doing anything about it. Andersen and Kuhn explore the reason behind this and why the industry which is most responsible for climate change is getting a free pass. The Netflix version of the film is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.
1. Blackfish
Rank by sites 11, Rank by IMDb 9; Overall score = 20 points
Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Orcas are highly intelligent animals which are capable of emotions similar to ours. Yet theme parks like SeaWorld insist on holding them in captivity and force them to perform circus shows for their audience. Blackfish tells the story of one of those orcas, Tilikum, responsible for the deaths of three workers. Cowperthwaite tries to suss out how much Tilikum’s traumatic experiences of being captured and living in captivity affected its behavior and helped form its aggressive personality. The film led to the resignation of SeaWorld’s CEO Jim Atchison in 2014. The huge impact this film had — SeaWorld San Diego announced plans to completely remake its orca exhibits by 2017 — made it popular even among the best animal documentaries on Netflix instant in 2015.
