The True-Life Adventures series is a collection of short subject documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

s produced by Walt Disney Productions roughly between the years 1948 and 1960. The film series was exposed in 1982 by the CBC

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 newsmagazine The Fifth Estate

The fifth estate

the fifth estate is a Canadian television newsmagazine, which airs on the English language CBC Television network. The name is a play on the fact that the media are sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, and was chosen to highlight the program's determination to go beyond everyday news into...

 for Animal Cruelty and faking nature scenes. It is also credited as the source of the myth of lemming mass suicides. The series won numerous Academy Awards for the studio including five awards for Best Two Reel Live Action Short

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...

. It inspired a daily panel comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 that was distributed from 1955 to 1971. Several of the films were adapted in comic book format as one shots in the Dell Comics

Dell Comics

Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...

 Four Color

Four Color

Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...

 series. The films were among the earliest production experience for Roy E. Disney

Roy E. Disney

Roy Edward Disney, KCSG was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded. At the time of his death he was a shareholder , and served as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors...

. Also this film series was the launching pad for Disney's new distributor, Buena Vista International. TV episodes are from Disney's anthology TV series.

In 2007, Disney established a new nature film label called Disneynature

Disneynature

Disneynature is an independent film label of The Walt Disney Company, founded on April 21, 2008 as a division of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group...

.

Films in the True-Life Adventures series / Academy Awards

#	film name	type	date	educational film
1	Seal Island Seal Island (film) Seal Island is a 1948 short documentary film directed by James Algar. It won an Academy Award in 1949 for Best Short Subject .-Production:...	Two-reel short	December 21, 1948
2	In Beaver Valley In Beaver Valley In Beaver Valley is a 1950 short documentary film directed by James Algar. The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries.-Awards:...  (a.k.a Bever Valley)	Two-reel short	July 19, 1950
3	Nature's Half Acre Nature's Half Acre Nature's Half Acre is a 1951 short documentary film directed by James Algar. It won an Academy Award in 1952 for Best Short Subject . The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries....	Two-reel short	July 28, 1951
4	The Olympic Elk	Two-reel short	February 13, 1952
5	Water Birds Water Birds Water Birds is a 1952 short documentary film directed by Ben Sharpsteen. It won an Academy Award in 1953 for Best Short Subject . The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries...	Two-reel short	June 26, 1952
6	Bear Country Bear Country (film) Bear Country is a 1953 short documentary film directed by James Algar. It won an Academy Award at the 26th Academy Awards in 1954 for Best Short Subject . The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries....	Two-reel Short	February 5, 1953
7	Prowlers of the Everglades	Two-reel Short	July 23, 1953
8	The Living Desert The Living Desert The Living Desert is a 1953 American nature documentary film which shows the everyday lives of the animals of the desert of the southwestern United States. The movie was written by James Algar, Winston Hibler, Jack Moffitt and Ted Sears. It was directed by Algar, with Hibler as the narrator...	Feature	10 November 1953	Following educational films were experted form The Living Desert: Animals at Home in the Desert (1974) Predators of the Desert (1974) What Is a Desert? (1974)
9	The Vanishing Prairie The Vanishing Prairie The Vanishing Prairie was a 1954 documentary film by Walt Disney. The theme music was given a set of lyrics by Hazel "Gil" George. It rechristened as "Pioneer's Prayer" in Westward Ho, the Wagons!, a western film about pioneers on the Oregon Trail....	Feature	August 17, 1954	Following educational films were experted form The Vanishing Prairie: The Buffalo – Majestic Symbol of the Plains (1962) Small Animals of the Plains (1962) Pioneer Trails, Indian Lore and Bird Life of the Plains (1962) Large Animals that Once Roamed the Plains (1962)
10	Secrets of Life	Feature	November 6, 1956	Following educational films were experted form Secrets of Life: Secrets of the Ant and Insect World (1960), Secrets of the Bee World (1960) Secrets of the Plant World (1960) Secrets of the Underwater World (1960)
10	The African Lion The African Lion The African Lion is a 1955 feature-length documentary that was released by Walt Disney Productions as part of its True-Life Adventures series. The film, which was shot over a three year period focuses on the life of the lions within the complexity of the Africa ecosystem...	Feature	September 14, 1955	Following educational films were experted form The African Lion: The African Lion and His Realm (1968) Birds, Baboons, and Other Animals – Their Struggle for Survival (1968) Elephants and Hippos in Africa (1968)
11	Perri Perri (film) Perri is a 1957 film from Walt Disney Productions, based on Felix Salten's 1938 book of the same name. It was the company's fifth feature entry in their True Life Adventures series, and the only one to be labeled a True Life Fantasy...	Feature	August 28, 1957
12	White Wilderness	Feature	12 August 1958	Following educational films were experted form White Wilderness: The Arctic Region and Its Polar Bears (1964) Large Animals of the Arctic (1964) The Lemmings and Arctic Bird Life (1964)
13	Nature's Strangest Creatures	Two-Reel shorts	March 19, 1959
14	Mysteries of the Deep	Two-Reel short	December 16, 1959
15	Jungle Cat	Feature	August 10, 1960	Following educational films were experted form Jungle Cat: Animals of the South American Jungle (1974) Jungle Cat of the Amazon(1974)
16	Islands of the Sea	Two-Reel shorts	Marc 16, 1960

Educational shorts

The following short were edited out the other shorts/films/episodes for educational purpose ether a fragment were experted out of longer film or two or more sequence were edited together from more than two or more different films to form "new" film. Thus they are not included on the Legacy DVDs.
Films made up of stock footage two or more Disney nature films and thus not listed with respective original film above:

• The Weasel Family (1968)
• The Wild Dog Family - The Coyote (1968)
• The Wild Cat Family - The Cougar (1968)
• The Deer Family (1968)
• Of Horses and Men (1968)
• The Bear Family (1970).
• The Beasts of Burden Family (1970)
• Teeth are for Chewing (1971) with animated inserts.
• A Day in Nature's Community (1975)

DVD release

All of the True-Life Adventures have been released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 over four discs as part of the Walt Disney Legacy Collection which launched December 5, 2006.

Volume 1: Wonders of the World

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. White Wilderness
• 3. Water Birds
• 4. Beaver Valley
• 5. Prowlers of the Everglades

DISC TWO

• 1. Mysteries of the Deep
• 2. "Wonders of the Water Worlds"
• 3. "The Crisler Story"

Bonus Features

• 4. "Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Birds"
• 5. Tribute to James Algar
• 6. Filmakers' Journal
• 7. Collectors' Corner
• 8. Original Theatrical Trailers

Volume 2: Lands of Exploration

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. The Living Desert
  The Living Desert
  The Living Desert is a 1953 American nature documentary film which shows the everyday lives of the animals of the desert of the southwestern United States. The movie was written by James Algar, Winston Hibler, Jack Moffitt and Ted Sears. It was directed by Algar, with Hibler as the narrator...
  
  
• 3. The Vanishing Prairie
• 4. Seal Island

DISC TWO

• 1. Islands of the Sea
• 2. Nature's Strangest Creatures
• 3. "Prairie"
• 4. "Behind the True Life Cameras"

Bonus Features

• 5. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Desert Insects
• 6. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Snakes
• 7. Filmmakers' Journal
• 8. Collectors' Corner
• 9. Trailers & Promo

Volume 3: Creatures of the Wild

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. The African Lion
• 3. Jungle Cat
• 4. Bear Country

DISC TWO

• 1. Olympic Elk
• 2. "Cameras in Africa"
• 3. "The Yellowstone Story"

Bonus Features

• 4. Tribute to the Milottes
• 5. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Elephants
• 6. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Cheetah Medical Exam
• 7. Filmmakers' Journal
• 8. Collectors' Corner
• 9. Trailers & Promo

Volume 4: Nature's Mysteries

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. Secrets of Life
• 3. Perri

DISC TWO

• 1. Nature's Half Acre
• 2. "Searching for Nature's Mysteries"
• 3. "Adventure in Wildwood Heart'

Bonus Features

• 4. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Butterflies
• 5. Tribute to Winston Hibler
• 6. Filmmakers' Journal
• 7. Collectors' Corner
• 8. Original Theatrical Trailers

See also

• List of Disney live-action shorts
• List of Disney theatrical feature films
• Disneynature
  Disneynature
  Disneynature is an independent film label of The Walt Disney Company, founded on April 21, 2008 as a division of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group...