Wild America is a documentary television series that focuses on the wild animals

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

 and wild lands of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. By the mid-1970s, Marty Stouffer

Marty Stouffer

Martin Luther Stouffer Jr. , is the narrator and producer of the animal documentary show Wild America. He was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas.-Life:...

 had put together several full length documentaries, but had failed to hit upon a project that was an outstanding success. At this time, he approached the programming managers at Public Broadcasting Service

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (PBS) about a half-hour-long wildlife show, the first to focus exclusively upon the flora and fauna of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. PBS signed for the rights to broadcast Marty Stouffer's show Wild America in 1982. The show went on to become one of the most popular aired by PBS, renowned for its unflinching portrayal of nature, as well as its extensive use of film techniques such as slow motion

Slow motion

Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....

 and close-up

Close-up

In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...

s. Stouffer earned $135,000 per show from PBS.

The show's production ran from 1982 to 1994. The series is no longer on PBS but still airs in syndication on network television through much of the United States. In 1997, Warner Brothers released a full-length feature film entitled Wild America

Wild America (film)

Wild America is a 1997 adventure comedy film directed by William Dear, written by David Michael Wieger, and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow.-Plot:...

, which was based loosely on the biographical story of Marty Stouffer

Marty Stouffer

Martin Luther Stouffer Jr. , is the narrator and producer of the animal documentary show Wild America. He was raised in Fort Smith, Arkansas.-Life:...

and his brothers, Mark and Marshall.