Released to critical acclaim in the United States last year, March of the Penguins is a documentary about the annual journey of the emperor penguins to their breeding ground in Antarctica.

French director Luc Jacquet and his crew endured a year of extreme conditions in Antarctica (the coldest, windiest, driest and darkest continent on the planet, according to Irish-born explorer Ernest Shackleton) to capture the life-cycle of emperor penguins on film.

The 80-minute film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, focuses on a colony of penguins as they return, in single file, 70 miles or more to their inland breeding ground, far from the oceans where they thrive. It depicts the penguins' breeding cycle and the treacherous task of protecting hatchlings in freezing temperatures.

There are some sad and violent scenes but children will enjoy the playful waddling of these beautiful creatures in their seasonally appropriate icy surroundings.