The BBC reports they're making a feature film based on the lives of meerkats living in the Kalahari Desert. Think of it as "The March of The Meerkats." (That's certainly how the BBC is thinking of it.) In a bit of nepotistic backscratching, the BBC website fails to mention that this is a ripoff of "Meerkat Manor," the Animal Planet series following the lives of Meerkats in the Kalahari Desert that has been a worldwide hit on TV. (Bill Nighy narrates in the UK, Sean Astin in the US, etc.) As far as I can tell, the BBC has nothing to do with the TV show. If I'm wrong, I'll apologize and then say the article was foolish for failing to mention the movie's biggest selling point.
UPDATE: It's one thing for the BBC to report on their own movie without bothering to mention the worldwide phenomenon "Meerkat Manor," the clear inspiration for making this movie. But when The Hollywood Reporter writes about the project and fails to mention the show, that's just lazy journalism.
UPDATE2: As one reader pointed out, the BBC owns 20% of the Discovery Network, which includes Animal Planet among its channels. Happily, I made all sorts of caveats originally since I just ASSUMED they must have something to do with the show. But failing to mention "Meerkat Manor" when announcing the movie -- especially when it's their own baby -- just seems bizarre.
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Animal Planet is a subsidiary of the BBC.
Real;ly? The BBC owns Discovery, which is the owner of Animal Planet. I looked and looked for info in the UK but couldn't find any show info that listed the BBC. In any case, reporting on making a movie spinoff and failing to mention the show it sprang from is still rather odd.
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