Going Wild with Jeff Corwin

Last updated

Going Wild with Jeff Corwin
GenreWildlife documentary
Written byJane Bahk
Paul Storck
Directed byMark Cole
Scott Firestone (8 episodes), Kathryn Douglas (first season)
Presented by Jeff Corwin
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39
Production
Executive producersTim Braine
Kevin M. Meagher
ProducersScott Firestone
Paul Storck
Cinematography Matthew W. Davis
Running time30 minutes
Production companyPopular Arts Entertainment
Release
Original network Disney Channel
Original releaseAugust 10, 1997 (1997-08-10) 
June 13, 1999 (1999-06-13)

Going Wild with Jeff Corwin is a nature documentary television series produced and aired in the late 1990s on the Disney Channel. Hosted by Jeff Corwin, the show lasted for three seasons from August 10, 1997, to June 13, 1999, before it was canceled.

Contents

The show was first announced in an August 1997, simultaneously with another nature-oriented Disney show, Omba Mokomba . [1] [2] In the show, Corwin travels to natural places around the world, including Florida, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Death Valley, and Hawaii, searching for wild animals. In each episode, Jeff searches for a "Feature Creature", and always finds it at the end of the episode. Creatures previously featured include manatees, cobras, crocodiles, bighorn sheep, dolphins, and bears. As he explores, Jeff looks for "Creature Clues" to help him find the animal. In some episodes, Jeff also explores ancient ruins, including, Gila Cliff Dwellings, Port Arthur, Rhyolite, and Ayutthaya.

Episodes

Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1998)

Season 3 (1999)

Filming

Jeff and his crew filmed in some of the most exotic places in the world. In some episodes, they filmed in special wildlife parks. This was revealed in the Special Thanks section of the credits. In some episodes, Jeff also met up with some locals, who gave him hints on where to find his "Feature Creature". Filming time depends on the location. In Death Valley, they only filmed for 2 days, but in South Africa, they filmed for 3 months.

Animals

Jeff mainly filmed animals in the wild, but some animals were borrowed from museums and nature parks. The cougar cubs, he showed in South Dakota, were actually cubs out of wildlife rehabilitation, that were being released back into the wild. In the Special Thanks section of the credits, in some episodes it has the names of zoos and wildlife parks. The credits also state that, No Animals Were Harmed During The Making of This Program, and Some Animal Situations Have Been Recreated. It's not always easy to find the animals they need. In Los Angeles, Jeff spent 3 hours on a surf board, looking for pelicans, and in South Africa, him and his crew spend 3 weeks searching for an aardwolf, but the editing made it look like he was only there for 2 days. [3]

Close encounters

Jeff had some close encounters while filming his show. While filming an episode in South Africa, Jeff got attacked by a leopard, but he had a stick with him, and stood his ground, and the leopard backed off. In his journals, Jeff also stated that an African lion jumped on him, and pawed his head. In Alaska, Jeff was nearly trampled by a moose, and in Thailand, he had to keep dodging king cobra strikes. [4]

Staff

Titles in other languages

VHS tapes

The show has been canceled since 1999, however, all the episodes from the series are available for purchase on VHS online.

Related Research Articles

<i>Timon & Pumbaa</i> (TV series) 1995 American animated television series by Disney

The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa is an American animated buddy comedy television series created by Walt Disney Television Animation. It was based on Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King, the series centers on Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, as they continue to live by their problem-free philosophy "Hakuna Matata". Unlike other The Lion King media, the tone of the series is more slapstick comedy-oriented, which is used to convey life lessons to young viewers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney's Animal Kingdom</span> Theme park at Walt Disney World

Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the largest theme park in the world, covering 580 acres (230 ha). The park opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998, and was the fourth theme park built at the resort. The park is dedicated and themed around natural environment and animal conservation, a philosophy once pioneered by Walt Disney.

<i>Wild Kingdom</i> American documentary television series (1963-1988 and 2002-2011)

Wild Kingdom, also known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American documentary television program that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and it was revived in 2002. The show's second incarnation aired until 2011 on Animal Planet in the United States. A third incarnation streamed webisodes on a dedicated YouTube channel from 2013 to 2018. Starting April 4, 2021, the program is shown in its traditional Sunday timeslot on the cable channel RFD-TV. A fourth incarnation, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom: Protecting the Wild, hosted by Peter Gros, will begin airing on NBC Saturday mornings in October 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Corwin</span> American biologist

Jeffrey Corwin is an American biologist and wildlife conservationist, known for hosting Disney Channel's Going Wild with Jeff Corwin, The Jeff Corwin Experience on Animal Planet, ABC's Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin/Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin and Wildlife Nation with Jeff Corwin.

The Jeff Corwin Experience is an American wildlife documentary television program that premiered on the Animal Planet cable channel in 2000. It was hosted by actor and conservationist Jeff Corwin, who previously hosted Disney Channel's Going Wild with Jeff Corwin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nature documentary</span> Documentary film genre

A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of trained and captive animals. Sometimes they are about wildlife or ecosystems in relationship to human beings. Such programmes are most frequently made for television, particularly for public broadcasting channels, but some are also made for the cinema medium. The proliferation of this genre occurred almost simultaneously alongside the production of similar television series which is distributed across the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nigel Marven</span> British television presenter

Nigel Alan Marven is a British wildlife TV presenter, naturalist, conservationist, author, and television producer. He is best known as presenter of the BBC miniseries Chased by Dinosaurs, its sequel, Sea Monsters, as well as the ITV miniseries Prehistoric Park. He is also known for his unorthodox, spontaneous, and daring style of presenting wildlife documentaries as well as for including factual knowledge in the proceedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Stevens</span>

Austin Stevens is a South African-born Australian naturalist, herpetologist, wildlife photographer, documentarian, television personality, and author. He is best known as the host of the Animal Planet nature documentary series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster (2004−09).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manny Puig</span> American wildlife entertainer (born 1954)

Manny Puig is a Cuban-born American wildlife entertainer who is known for his encounters with dangerous animals such as sharks, black bears and American alligators. He has made frequent appearances on the television shows Jackass and Wildboyz and also on the Animal Planet show Gator Boys. He is also known for hosting Outdoor Channel's "Savage Wild".

<i>Wild China</i>  TV series or program

Wild China is a six-part nature documentary series on the natural history of China, co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and China Central Television (CCTV) and filmed in high-definition (HD). It was screened in the UK on BBC Two from 11 May to 5 June 2008. The English narration was provided by Bernard Hill and the series produced by Phil Chapman for the BBC and Gao Xiaoping for CCTV. The Chinese version was broadcast under the title Beautiful China. In Canada, it was broadcast on CBC as part of the series The Nature of Things narrated by David Suzuki. Wild China was broadcast in Australia on ABC1 and ABC HD each Sunday at 7:30pm from 18 May 2008.

<i>The Meerkats</i> 2008 British film

The Meerkats, also known as Meerkats: The Movie, is a feature-length 2008 British wildlife fiction film which anthropomorphises the daily struggles of a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. It was produced by BBC Films, and filmed by the award-winning BBC Natural History Unit. It is the debut directorial feature of James Honeyborne, previously a producer of natural history programmes for television. The worldwide premiere was held at the Dinard Film Festival, France in October 2008, expanding to a wide release the following week. The film was released in 2009, on 7 August in the UK. This was dedicated to actor Paul Newman, the narrator of the film, who died in 2008, shortly before this movie was released making it his final film role.

<i>Survival</i> (TV series) British TV series or programme

Survival is one of television's longest-running and most successful nature documentary series. Originally produced by Anglia Television for ITV in the United Kingdom, it was created by Aubrey Buxton, a founder director of Anglia TV, and first broadcast in 1961. Survival films and film-makers won more than 250 awards worldwide, including four Emmy Awards and a BAFTA.

The Lion King is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional media. The success of animated original 1994 American feature film, The Lion King, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, led to a direct-to-video sequel and prequel, a live-action remake in 2019, a television film sequel, two spin-off television series, three educational shorts, several video games, merchandise, and the third-longest-running musical in Broadway history, which garnered six Tony Awards including Best Musical. The franchise, led by the musical's box office at $8.1 billion, is the highest-grossing entertainment property. The franchise as a whole has EGOT-ed, meaning it has won the four biggest awards of American show business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Gunton</span> British television producer

Mike Gunton is a British television producer and a senior executive at the BBC Natural History Unit, the world's largest production unit dedicated to wildlife film-making. In November 2009 he became the Unit's first Creative Director.

Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin is a television program that follows host Jeff Corwin's travels and works in conjunction with the Georgia Aquarium. It aired from 2011 to 2016 on Saturday mornings on ABC affiliates as part of the nature-oriented programming block called Litton's Weekend Adventure, along with complementary shows Jack Hanna's Wild Countdown, Born to Explore with Richard Wiese, and Sea Rescue.

<i>Omba Mokomba</i> American TV series or program

Omba Mokomba is an American wildlife documentary television series that aired on Disney Channel from 1997 to 1999. The series was described as "The station for animal information!", and its stated intent was to answer viewer questions about animals and wildlife. The show was generally well-received for its educational value and positivity.

Sophie Darlington is a freelance British wildlife camerawoman and producer-director who grew up in England, Ireland and Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal Planet (Dutch TV channel)</span> Dutch pay television channel

Animal Planet is a Dutch pay television channel broadcasting nature-related documentaries in the Netherlands and Flanders. The channel launched as a Pan-European feed on 1 July 1997. It is operated by Discovery Benelux.

References

  1. Winnie Bonelli, "Animals Take Over Sunday Programming", Herald News (August 7, 1997), p. D5.
  2. "Disney starts new shows", The Coos Bay World (August 9, 1997), "TV Times", p. 9.
  3. Alycia's Going Wild For Jeff Corwin page
  4. Alycia's Going Wild For Jeff Corwin page