Saturday, August 10, 2024

Planet Earth III's Emmy nominations for World Lion Day


Happy World Lion Day! As I promised yesterday, "I plan on examining nominated nature documentaries like I did on 'Incredible Animal Journeys' leads Outstanding Nature Documentaries at the News & Doc Emmy Awards for International Tiger Day." The most nominated nature documentary at this year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards is Planet Earth III with five nominations. Watch Planet Earth III Official Trailer ft. Bastille | Premieres November 4 | BBC America with the description from Planet Earth III: Official Trailer | BBC Earth.

Join Sir David Attenborough on an incredible journey through the ever-changing habitats of our world.

Our home. Our future. This is #PlanetEarth3
As the image above shows, the series' five nominations are for David Attenborough as Outstanding Narrator, Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera). Follow along as I go through all five categories in that order, beginning with Outstanding Narrator.

Outstanding Narrator
  • David Attenborough – Planet Earth III: "Human" (BBC America)
  • Angela Bassett – Queens: "African Queens" (Nat Geo)
  • Morgan Freeman – Life on Our Planet: "Chapter 1: The Rules of Life" (Netflix)
  • Paul Rudd – Secrets of the Octopus: "Masterminds" (Nat Geo)
  • Octavia Spencer – Lost Women of Highway 20: "Vanished" (Investigation Discovery)
In addition to Planet Earth III, Queens, Life on Our Planet, and Secrets of the Octopus are nature documentaries, while Lost Women of Highway 20 is a true crime documentary. Before discussing the nominees' odds of winning, I'm sharing Planet Earth III: David Attenborough discusses his 'hold your breath' moment from New Scientist, then going through the trailers of the shows narrated by the rest of the nominees.

Whilst writing narration for the latest Plant Earth series, David Attenborough had a moment that "made me hold my breath," he says. In the scene, a leopard located high up in a tree attacks an antelope buck. Wondering if the leopard could possibly survive falling from such a height, Attenborough says "suddenly you realise you haven't written anything because, you know, you're just completely held. And that may tell you that perhaps your words aren't all that necessary".
Wow, what a scene!

Now the trailers for the rest of the nominee's shows, starting with QUEENS | Official Trailer | National Geographic.

Guided by award-winning actress Angela Bassett’s powerful narration, the upcoming series QUEENS showcases the wildest places on the planet that have always been home to powerful leaders.

BUT, this is a story of a new hero – fierce, smart, resilient and ... FEMALE.
There are the lions for World Lion Day!

Next, Life on Our Planet | Official Trailer | Netflix.

Who will rise? Who will fall? Who will rule the world? From executive producer Steven Spielberg and the Emmy® Award-winning team behind Our Planet, this is the story of Life on Our Planet.
I was hoping for more nominations for Life on Our Planet as it earned a nomination for Best Science/Nature Documentary at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, but lost to Secrets of the Elephants, which I featured in '100 Foot Wave' has the most nominations but experts think 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' and 'The 1619 Project' have best chances to win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series at the Emmy Awards. At least I can recommend it to my students, along with the rest of the nominated nature documentaries.

Speaking of Secrets of the Elephants, its sequel, Secrets of the Octopus | Official Trailer | National Geographic, is next.

Octopuses are like aliens on Earth: three hearts, blue blood and the ability to squeeze through a space the size of their eyeballs. But there is so much more to these weird and wonderful animals. Intelligent enough to use tools or transform their bodies to mimic other animals and even communicate with different species, the secrets of the octopus are more extraordinary than we ever imagined.
The promotional image from Twitter/X I used above lists both Paul Rudd and Angela Bassett. That shouldn't be a surprise, as both narrated National Geographic series. It also should be no surprise that Bassett and Rudd are narrating, as both play Marvel characters; Disney owns both National Geographic Channel and Marvel, so expect Disney to use its talent in its properties. As I wrote about Sesame Street and CNN, "my readers should keep that relationship in mind when watching the clip above. It's not just news value that's driving it."

Now for the final trailer of the shows nominated for Outstanding Narrator, Lost Women of Highway 20 | ID.

When a local journalist uncovers a sealed court document, she discovers a trail of missing and murdered women in the wilderness of Oregon and a killer who used a desolate stretch of highway to hide dark secrets.
This show has a lovely natural setting, but it's still true crime.

This field features a multiple Emmy winner in Sir David Attenborough, a repeat Emmy nominee and honorary Oscar winner in Angela Bassett, an Oscar and Emmy winner in Morgan Freeman, an Oscar winner in Octavia Spencer, and double Emmy nominee Paul Rudd. What a distinguished group of nominees! Gold Derby thinks it will be between Sir David and Bassett, with majorities of editors, experts, and top 24 users voting for Sir David and small minorities thinking Bassett will win. I think they're right, but I'm suprised no one is picking Freeman.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the categories in which Planet Earth III earned nominations.

Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program
  • Beckham: "The Kick" – Tim Cragg (Netflix)
  • Girls State – Laura Hudock, Laela Kilbourn, Daniel Carter, Erynn Patrick Lamont, Keri Oberly, Thorsten Thielow, and Martina Radwan (Apple TV+)
  • Jim Henson Idea Man – Igor Martinovic and Vanja Cernjul (Disney+)
  • Our Planet II: "Chapter 1: World on the Move" – Brad Bestelink and Kyle McBurnie (Netflix)
  • Planet Earth III: "Extremes" – Luke Nelson and John Shier (BBC America)
I opened MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 6 with a whine.
I closed Entertainment and true crime the themes of Emmy nominees for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series by wondering if I'd be up for more Emmys coverage today. I'm not. Writing yesterday's entry wore me out and frustrated me, as I didn't get to the other nominations for documentary and nonfiction series. Maybe tomorrow.
More like two-and-one-half weeks. Better late than never, but not too late.

There is one last nature documentary series among today's nominees, OUR PLANET II | Official Trailer | Netflix.

EXPERIENCE LIFE’S EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEYS. OUR PLANET II - June 14, only on Netflix.

From the Emmy® Award-winning team behind Planet Earth and Our Planet comes Our Planet II. At any given moment on planet Earth, billions of animals are on the move. Captured with spectacular and innovative cinematography, Our Planet II unravels the mysteries of how and why animals migrate to reveal some of the most dramatic and compelling stories in the natural world.
More lions for World Lion Day! Also, Sir David could have been nominated for this series, too (he won for the original Our Planet), but it's better he wasn't. He doesn't need his vote split.

Planet Earth II won this award seven years ago and the original Our Planet earned three nominations for cinematography, so that history works in both sequels' favor. That written, Beckham has as many total nominations, including a series nomination, so I think it's competitive, hence the publicity image. I'll have more to say after I cover the Documentary and Nonfiction Special nominees.

Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
  • Albert Brooks: Defending My Life – Marc Shaiman (HBO)
  • Beckham: "Seeing Red" – Anže Rozman and Camilo Forero (Netflix)
  • Jim Henson Idea Man – David Fleming (Disney+)
  • Planet Earth III: "Extremes" – Jacob Shea, Sara Barone, and Hans Zimmer (BBC America)
  • Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed – Laura Karpman (HBO)
I'm suffering from divided loyalties between Hans Zimmer and his collaborators and Laura Karpman, both of whom have responded positively to me before on Twitter. Since this blog entry is about Planet Earth III, I'm embedding Planet Earth III Suite (From "Planet Earth III") from Hans Zimmer's YouTube channel.

Planet Earth III Suite (From "Planet Earth III") · Hans Zimmer · Jacob Shea · Sara Barone · Bastille
I'll revisit thie category when I examine the Documentary and Nonfiction Special nominees.

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program
  • The Greatest Night in Pop – Richard Gallagher (Netflix)
  • Jim Henson Idea Man – Daniel Timmons, Jeremy S. Bloom, Ian Cymore, and Ryan Rubin (Disney+)
  • Planet Earth III: "Freshwater" – Jonny Crew, Tim Owens, Ellie Bowler, and Paul Ackerman (BBC America)
  • Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces – Bob Edwards, Kim B. Christensen, and Joel Raabe (Apple TV+)
  • Welcome to Wrexham: "Goals" – Shaun Cromwell, William Harp, Jon Schell, and Sean Gray (FX)
I'm holding off on my final prediction until I cover the reality nominees, but my preliminary pick is The Greatest Night in Pop because my default opinion is that, all things being equal, music nominees have the advantage in sound categories.

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program
  • The Beach Boys – Gary A. Rizzo, John Rampey, Sabi Tulok, and Dennis Hamlin (Disney+)
  • Jim Henson Idea Man – Tony Volante and Michael Jones (Disney+)
  • Planet Earth III: "Deserts and Grasslands" – Graham Wild, Oliver Baldwin, and Olga Reed (BBC America)
  • Stax: Soulsville U.S.A.: "Chapter Two: Soul Man" – Tony Volante and Andre Artis (HBO)
  • Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces – Pete Horner, Dennis Hamlin, Barry London, and Emily Strong (Apple TV+)
Again, I'm postponing my final pick until I cover the Documentary and Nonfiction Special nominees, but until then my preliminary picks are either The Beach Boys or Stax: Soulsville U.S.A. because my default opinion is that, all things being equal, music nominees have the advantage in sound categories.

That's a wrap for today's installment of Emmy Awards coverage, but I'm not done with the series for the weekend. Stay tuned for Saturday Night Live's nominations tomorrow on Presidential Joke Day as the Sunday entertainment feature.

Previous posts about the 76th Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards

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