Sir David Attenborough does a "Shatner" for the BBC!

I have to say... I never thought I'd ever see this from Sir David Attenborough, the god father of natural history docos:

It's a wonderful world all right!

Heard this a few days ago... Slightly cheesy but he has the Midas touch, maybe we should do a wetpixel 'we are the world'

Dean

Did Attenborough need to try to emulate Louis Armstrong? I don't remember Satchmo climbing into any termites nests! I thought he just demonstrated what an awful performer he was!

Not a Pops fan, John? Whatever you say about Louis' music (and how can you not like Hello Dolly, Baby it's Cold Outside and It's a Wonderful World?), this song has such meaning when he first sang it in the 60s and it still has political meaning now for a different set of circumstances. The song is wonderfully contextual in almost literal terms.

Wetpixel needs a "like" button

It is a tad cheesy, but works (and works well) because the world depicted in the accompanying video (and every other DA doco) is indeed wonderful.

I was surprised and sad too....it sounded like Attenborough's farewell.

He's 85, Jim. But he still went to the Antarctic and Arctic with the crews. He may be slowing down and need a walking stick, but I think unless health stops him, he's going to keep on plugging away, hopefully!

The BBC must've wanted extra talk with that "song." Hopefully it isn't his swan song! Even if it is, "On Thin Ice" would be a fantastic legacy for him to end on. It probably contains the most fantastic cinematography than ever before, and the story lines were interesting.

Attenborough is without doubt natural-history films Royalty but HM the Queen got Brian May to play Happy Birthday on the roof of Buckingham Palace rather than doing it herself. It was a pity they used the Attenborough delivery. I thought it was ill-judged and made him sound old and feeble, which he patently is not!

Well JFK got Norma Jean to do it. Personally I think that tops Brian May!

Maybe David doesn't take himself as seriously as some people do! I thought it was funny and apt for the occasion. He's trying to push conservation but not in a fire and brimstone way. It's got us talking about it and that montage was amazing! 2 hippos in combat and geese mating dance @ "really saying I love you!" LOL

At least he didn't go..."Oh yeah!" at the end.

Discovery had many of their series hosts singing a few years back:

Stephen Hawkings sang! Talk about fun!

Doing a "Shatner" can mean so many things, I just had to read the post and watch the clip.

I think some of you are too close to the business and have too much of a serious critic's eye.

Cheesy or not, I liked it. I'm sure the audience that it was intended for liked it, too. I hate to admit it, but I always think of Sir Richard as the guy who was in "The Great Escape", not the documentarian.

LOL George, you may have started a whole new tangent toward sibling rivalry!

I 'grew up' with Sir David Attenborough....as did many of us.

As far as I am concerned...he can be cheesy all he wants- but the clip did bring a tear to my eye.

Would love to know what he thought when he saw the above clip!! :-)

I 'grew up' with Sir David Attenborough....as did many of us.

As far as I am concerned...he can be cheesy all he wants- but the clip did bring a tear to my eye.

Would love to know what he thought when he saw the above clip!! :-)

You lucky Bugger Damo ... Actually growing up with the 'Master' ...

If you read his life on air biography you will see he is very witty and his interview with Parkinson was hilarious

Dean

I love Satchmo; and I think this was a brilliant, lighthearted, use of the song. He was not taking himself too seriously, why should anyone else.

HM the Queen got Brian May to play Happy Birthday on the roof of Buckingham Palace rather than doing it herself.

Hilarious!!! I would love to see 'her Madge' blasting out a few licks on top of Buck house ... Rock!!!

Dean

Nice. But is the editing a bit off at times? "Clouds of white" is said a tad too late (after the sequence with white clouds drifting down a valley), and so is "Red roses", "I love you", etc...

Nice. But is the editing a bit off at times? "Clouds of white" is said a tad too late (after the sequence with white clouds drifting down a valley), and so is "Red roses", "I love you", etc...

Does it really matter??? I watched it twice today and both times made me wonder what the hell am I doing working in an office...nature is wonderful and I wish I could spend every minute in it...

It matters, because if it is done on purpose, I've got to get up to speed in terms of editing style and if it was not done on purpose, it's kind of a sloppy synchronization by whoever put the piece together...

Since I am in a provocative mood today, I'll just note that there are some quite wild and violent footage among all the shows and movies commented by Attenborough, which would make for an equally convincing "Life is so cruel" short.

Did Attenborough need to try to emulate Louis Armstrong? I don't remember Satchmo climbing into any termites nests! I thought he just demonstrated what an awful performer he was!

John el ,

Who is "he"? If you mean Armstrong, then maybe you didn't get to experience a live performance in a close venue as I did. For a teenage that though Buddy Holly hung the moon, I loved his performance.

Bob