Many science and nature documentaries remind us of our place in the cosmos and the bewilderingly complicated interconnected ecosystems that keep us all alive. These are not those documentaries. These are the documentaries filled with beautiful images of colorful fish, fluffy baby penguins, dancing birds, fruit-noshing chimps, and other wonders of nature that delight children as well as some adults who celebrate a certain holiday in April.
Most of these documentaries are essentially just a series of shots of animals doing things with cheeky celebrity voiceovers supplying a loose narrative. Some are nothing but charming scenes of snow monkeys vibing in Japanese hot springs and penguins messing with beach goers. All of them are wonderful ways to forget about the stress of everyday life and just do some hardcore chilling out. These are the 7 grooviest, most blissful Netflix nature docuseries and documentaries for when you just want to relax and admire some magnificent cinematography.
1. Puff: Wonders of the Reef
Narrated by Rose Byrne, who might deliver the best voice-over performance on this list, Puff tells the story of a baby pufferfish (named Puff, of course) who learns about coral reefs and the wacky creatures that inhabit them as he searches for a home in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. As you might expect, Puff is freaking adorable and super tiny. Most of the film focuses on the smaller creatures that Puff encounters, but the human eye might glance over. It’s a cute way to draw attention to all the minuscule lifeforms that make up a beautiful, kaleidoscopic reef. The film even has a sweet romantic ending that is sure to make your heart swell as big as a pufferfish. Puff follows the familiar formula of docs about cute animals doing stuff, but it has a self-awareness and sense of humor that elevates it above most comparable films.
2. Dancing with the Birds
A masterpiece of the chill nature doc genre, Dancing with the Birds is about colorful birds getting their groove on, typically to impress a member of the opposite sex. If you think dating apps are rough, try building a bower tastefully decorated with berries. Narrated by Stephen Fry, this film features a lot of innuendo and fun musical numbers. It’s a bit like Saturday Night Fever but with more feathers and fewer Italians from the outer boroughs. Dancing with the Birds is probably the best-made film on this list and is essentially a more lighthearted installment of nature doc king David Attenborough’s Our Planet. It’s also a great film for showing off the stunning capabilities of your 4K television.
3. Moving Art
Moving Art is the most avant-garde entry on this list. Consisting of 3 Seasons and 19 episodes, this docuseries will transport you all over the world, from the peaks of Machu Picchu to the sparkling emerald waters of Tahiti. Helmed by Louie Schwartzberg, who also directed Fantastic Fungi, you’ll definitely be feeling magical as you take a hot bath with some snow monkeys, gallop with majestic wild horses in the Marquesas Islands, and become hypnotized by the Northern Lights in Iceland. Befitting its name, Moving Art can play on an endless loop in the background to simply provide some beauty to your living or workspace. It’s also likely to soothe even the most anxious of souls to sleep with a score that sounds like it was written to accompany a hot stone massage.
4. Tiny Creatures
Narrated by Mike Colter, Tiny Creatures zooms in literally and figuratively on the little furry guys that inhabit the streets, swamps, and deserts of America. The best episode is “Washington,” which chronicles the formative years of a female duckling who hatches in a little boy’s bedroom. Relentlessly goofy, Tiny Creatures contains some scenes that might frighten youngsters but will make adults giggle. This is definitely the campiest series on this list and great for some eye-rolling, although its tendency to focus on urban and suburban dwellings makes it less impressive visually.
5. Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale
Set in the Kalahari Desert, Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale is, as its title bluntly suggests, about the importance of family. Rege-Jean Page narrates this charming doc about various species of animals learning from and being nurtured by their clan. Facing drought, predators, and hunger is practically a breeze when your best buds have your back. While several films on this list also contain wholesome messages, Surviving Paradise is the most effective at driving its point home. We all need a pack to run with, even if your pack consists of painted wolf pups ripping apart and inhaling an antelope.
6. Penguin Town
Patton Oswalt, the voice of cinema’s most esteemed rodent chef, returns to the animal kingdom for this 8-episode series about penguins in South Africa. Penguin Town is probably the funniest film on this list, beginning with its slow-motion shot of African penguins sauntering through city streets as if they’re in the opening credits of Reservoir Dogs. It’s also an interesting depiction of animal life in human habitats, as these penguins are revered by the locals who rely on them for tourism cash. These flightless birds are definitely living the high life.
7. Animal
What do the Mandalorian, Walter White, Gollum, and Hellboy all have in common? They love cute animals, of course! Pedro Pascal, Bryan Cranston, Andy Serkis, and David Harbour are just some of the all-star celebrity narrators who made the joint decision to offer their talents to this 8-episode series about apes, bears, dolphins, birds, and many other dope animals. Animal doesn’t quite have the scope or artistry of other more serious nature docs such as Planet Earth, but it delivers a light learning experience inside a fun package. Fair warning: you may not want to see exactly how long a bear’s tongue is.