"Nature writes the screenplays," Walt Disney says of the pioneering nature documentaries that comprise this series, True Life Adventures.

Listen to our interview with director emeritus Roy E. Disney.

First released in the early '50s to the public's delight, these nature documentaries were unique in their lively, fictional narrative approach to the subjects' lives, which were recreated with anthropomorphic humor and zest. Even today, and maybe more so, hearing that beavers in Beaver Valley are "always stubborn, always persistent," or that the crayfish shovel mud like "miniature bulldozers" is heartening, reminding one that Disney is The Magical Kingdom. Even more heartening is it that these scientific films, made with the latest cameras and technology, were filmic landmarks, and contain footage that David Attenborough's film crews would only dream of getting; in Mysteries of the Deep, a dolphin gives birth and there are views of coral reef that may not even exist anymore. White Wilderness takes one through the Arctic tundra, a "world of frozen chaos," showing majestic animals alongside the lemming, with their strange, suicidal tendency to jump off cliffs. This DVD has an entire second disc of extras, including Volume One's, highlight: The Crisler Story, a behind-the-scenes look at the Crislers, a couple whose arduous trips to Alaska to film migrating caribou included building their own hut, growing veggies, and living amongst wolves and grizzlies. Also in the extras are interviews with other directors, like Beaver Valley's Elma Milotte and Lloyd Beebe of White Wilderness, to shed light upon these long lost classics. For those who love both scientifically enlightening nature films and fairy tales, True Life Adventures are perfectly balanced to please as much one's sense of fun as one's love of information. --Trinie Dalton