Unlike Mary and Max, this is a film for all the family - albeit with one slight warning. A documentary about Tanzania�s flamingoes, it�s the first offering in the UK from the new Disney Nature label.

The Crimson Wing
****
Dirs: Matthew Aeberhard, Leander Ward

Unlike Mary and Max, this is a film for all the family - albeit with one slight warning.

A documentary about Tanzania's flamingoes, it's the first offering in the UK from the new Disney Nature label.

It wouldn't be Disney if audiences didn't swing between delight and heartbreak. These cats have form, remember, in bringing a tear to the eye, and so it plays out here.

The title refers to the Latin name for flamingo. When we first see the birds arriving at Lake Natron they are snowy white. It's the algae in the water which turns them crimson and makes them so attractive to each other.

Love blossoms and the chicks duly arrive - along with the film's cutest images and most poignant scenes. If your cinemagoing brood has a particularly sensitive young soul in its ranks, you might want to make a popcorn run with them when the Maribou Storks, the brutes, swagger on to the scene.

Mariella Frostrup purrs her way through a narration that's intelligent and accessible, and the visuals are stunning. I had my doubts at the beginning whether the ooh factor could last the film's 78-minute running time, but each image managed to surpass the one before. Awesome.

Tonight, 6pm, tomorrow, 6.15pm, Cineworld.