Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom Ambassador Dr. M. Sanjayan Interview

Disclaimer: I was invited on an expense paid trip to Orlando to meet with Disney and folks involved in creating Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom and be an influencer for #MonkeyKingdomEvent. Follow this Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom Event today!

Yesterday I was honored to interview Disneynature’s Ambassador, Dr. M. Sanjayan. Dr. Sanjayan serves as a conservation International’s senior leadership team and is from Sri Lanka where Monkey Kingdom takes place. When meeting with him, our conversation focused on the work on Monkey Kingdom. He taught us some really amazing things about Monkey Kingdom and about how great it was to work with Disney. He has been working with them through all of the Disneynature films. Sanjayan told us that that best thing about working with Disney was that, “Disney is a really unusual company in whatever they do. Everything that they do is at a really high level.” He goes on about all of the good that these movies do for conservations. His independent projects have even benefited from the good that Disney has done.

In the movie Monkey Kingdom, there is a hilarious scene that had everyone in the theater cracking up laughing. The monkeys invade a house during a kid’s birthday party and steal and eat the cake, all the snacks, and just go crazy. There is a story that Sanjayan shared about when he was a kid in Sri Lanka. It was his 6th birthday and a monkey jumped through a window in his house and stole his birthday cake. He had us laughing so hard, because if you don’t live around monkeys these stories are great and hilarious.

We also talked tons about the movie in general. He explained that in most documentaries that you watch it takes about 1 day to create one minute of film. In this movie they worked on it for 1,000 days to create 80 minutes of filming. This just goes to show how much work was put in the movie. The storytelling is amazing. Be sure to come back to my site on Friday to read my entire movie review where I will tell you more about the water scene and about working with the different monkeys.

Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom in Theaters on April 17, 2015

Life is an adventure for Maya, the clever and resourceful blonde-bobbed monkey in “Monkey Kingdom,” Disneynature’s new feature film set among ancient ruins in the storied jungles of South Asia. Maya’s world is forever changed when she welcomes her son, Kip, into her complicated extended family. Like all families, Maya’s has more than its share of colorful personalities—and she’s determined to give her son a leg up in the world. When their longtime home at Castle Rock is taken over by powerful neighboring monkeys, Maya’s whole family retreats, and she uses her street smarts and ingenuity to uncover untapped resources amidst strange new creatures and unsettling surroundings. Ultimately, they will all have to work together to reclaim Castle Rock, where Maya can hopefully realize her dreams for her son’s future.

Featuring a rich variety of characters, including a mischievous mongoose, simple-minded langur monkeys, predatory leopards and monitor lizards, “Monkey Kingdom” is narrated by Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), directed by Mark Linfield (“Chimpanzee,” “Earth”) and co-directed by Alastair Fothergill (“Chimpanzee,” “Bears”). With music from award-winning composer Harry Gregson-Williams (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Shrek” movies), Disneynature’s eighth True Life Adventure—the follow-up to 2014’s “Bears”—swings into theaters April 17, 2015.

Set in the storied jungles of South Asia, “Monkey Kingdom” showcases the adventures of new mom Maya, a clever and resourceful blonde-bobbed monkey who’s determined to give her son a leg up in the world.

Watch the Monkey Kingdom Trailer Below!!!For every ticket sold opening week (April 17-23, 2015), Disneynature will make a donation to Conservation International to help protect monkeys and other endangered species in their natural habitats.