If you have not seen March of the Penguins, the 2005 winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, or if your children were too young to see it when it came out, here is another chance. This limited edition gift set comes with March of the Penguins, the new, approximately 70 minutes long documentary On the Wings of Penguins, special features, penguin postcards and a plush African penguin.
 
While March is about Emperor penguins, On the Wings of Penguins focuses on the life of African penguins. The obvious difference between these two species of penguins is the habitats. In March of the Penguins, Emperor penguins, which live mainly in Antarctica, suffer from climate change and predator encounters on the way to their ancestral breeding grounds. Since African penguins live much closer to the human world, naturally they face different challenges which are caused by humans more directly, such as oil spills. Overall, On the Wings of Penguins is more children friendly than March, and it does not have in-depth information, thought provoking scenes, and amazing camera shots (and of course Morgan Freeman as the narrator) like March of the Penguins has.
 
Nevertheless, both penguin species are equally cute, and both films show that penguin’s behavior is sometimes no different from ours – protecting young ones, caring for and loving each other. These two documentaries as well as the bonus features are perfect for both adults and children to watch together, provided that the young viewers are old enough to understand the harsh reality of lifecycle and food chain. On the Wings of Penguins just itself is equivalent to a good documentary on the Animal Planet or National Geographic channel. The box set is attractive and makes a great gift for this holiday, but if you already own a DVD copy March of the Penguins, it is not worth to buy this whole set for yourself (unless you really want the postcards and the little plush penguin). Just either rent it or more ideally give the set as a gift for someone. Then, maybe you can rent it from this person so that you can check out On the Wings of Penguins and the special features.