''Seal Island'' is a 1948 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by

James Algar James Algar (June 11, 1912 – February 26, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked at Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in Modesto, California ...

. Produced by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

, it was the first installment of the '' True-Life Adventures'' series of nature documentaries. It won an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

in 1949 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).

Cast

Winston Hibler Winston Murray Hunt Hibler (October 8, 1910 – August 8, 1976) was an American screenwriter, film producer, director and narrator associated with Walt Disney Studios. Biography and career Hibler was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Octob ...

as Narrator

Production

In 1947, Walt Disney contracted with Alfred and Elma Milotte to shoot documentary footage of the wildlife and culture of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. Disney did not see the theatrical value in the footage of human activity in Alaska, but he was intrigued with footage that the Milottes shot of the seal population at the

Pribilof Islands The Pribilof Islands (formerly the Northern Fur Seal Islands; ale, Amiq, russian: Острова Прибылова, Ostrova Pribylova) are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north ...

. Disney himself coined the title ''Seal Island'' for the film, and planned it as the first in a new series of nature documentaries called '' True-Life Adventures''. The Milottes shot more than 100,000 feet of film and spent over a year filming the seals. The total production cost Disney a little over $100,000.

Release

RKO Pictures, the studio distributing Disney's films at the time, initially refused to release the half-hour ''Seal Island''. Disney booked the film for its

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and New York theatrical engagements, and RKO agreed to release the film nationally only after it proved its commercial potential and received the Academy Award. As of January 6, 2022, the short had not yet been added to Disney's streaming platform

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

in the United States, although many other ''True-Life Adventures'' shorts are hosted there.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seal Island 1940s English-language films 1948 documentary films 1948 short films 1940s short documentary films American short documentary films American black-and-white films Black-and-white documentary films RKO Pictures short films Disney documentary films Disney short films Documentary films about nature Films set in Alaska Films shot in Alaska Films about pinnipeds Films scored by Oliver Wallace Films directed by James Algar Films produced by Walt Disney Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners Pribilof Islands Documentary films about Alaska 1940s American films