The Antarctic continent is sorely missed in this version of the story Since even the working title of this film honours the Antarctic continent, "Antarctica," in pursuit of representing Antarctica like it really is, here are a few items to note.
Children may discuss Antarctica with their teachers (maybe me!), and their teachers may offer differing views on the geography and climate. These are some of the things your children might learn in a science class:
1. Roger Ebert is right: in the geography where they set this story, the sun sets about mid-April and doesn't come up again until about mid-August. Starlight and moonlight may be bright enough to read by, but not bright enough to film a movie.
2. The birds you see in the film are gulls. The only flying birds in the Antarctic are skua; a large bird with a hooked beak and talons on its web feet. Like all Antarctic animals, it, too, is a carnivore. It is about the size of a true raven.
3. The Antarctic is about 30 degrees colder than the northern polar climes where this story was filmed. Admittedly, it's tougher to film a story on the Antarctic continent because it's cost prohibitive.
4. The scientist would have noted the location of the meteor that he found. Today, he would have labeled it with its GPS position. In 1993, at least he would have noted the name of the mountain and on which side he found it.
5. Auroras don't cast shadows nor do they move so quickly. In Antarctica they are mostly green. Admittedly, it was a fun way to see them depicted.
6. It's a Disney film, not a documentary. It is misleading, tho, to purport in any way that there is any realistic Antarctic-ness about this movie. This movie only hints at Antarctica.