Meerkat Manor

Image:Filming Meerkat Manor.jpg

Meerkat Manor was created by Caroline Hawkins, executive producer and series editor at Oxford Scientific Films, and commissioned for Animal Planet International by executive producer and commissioning editor Mark Wild.{{cite web|title=Key Personnel – Southern Star Group |work=Southern Star|url=http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/productionhome.aspx?cid=26 |access-date=11 November 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830045509/http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/productionhome.aspx?cid=26 |archive-date = 30 August 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Animal Planet Begins Production on Third Season of Meerkat Manor |publisher=World Screen |date=12 March 2007 |url=http://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/10639 |access-date=7 November 2007 }} Filming for a 13-episode series took seven to eight months, and was limited to the Kalahari spring and summer seasons, as meerkats are less active during winter.{{cite web |title=Meerkat Manor Season 3 |publisher=All Info About Family Screen Scene |url=http://www.allinfoaboutfamilyscreenscene.com/Animals_and_Nature/Meerkat_Manor.html |access-date=10 December 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071212005342/http://www.allinfoaboutfamilyscreenscene.com/Animals_and_Nature/Meerkat_Manor.html |archive-date = 12 December 2007|url-status=dead}} Series three was filmed from November 2006 through April 2007, and Series four began filming in October 2007.{{cite web|title=Transcript from 28 September's Live Chat with Mick Kaczorowski the senior executive producer of the US version of Meerkat Manor |work=Meerkat Manor Fan Site |publisher=Discovery Channel |url=http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/flower/transcript.html |access-date=10 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211152828/http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/flower/transcript.html |archive-date=11 December 2007 }} Most scenes were filmed on location at the Kuruman River Reserve, where the Kalahari Meerkat Project that the meerkats are a part of is based. However, the meerkats seen in commercials and on the show's website were not the same animals portrayed in Meerkat Manor. Instead, tamer-rescued meerkats from the Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center were filmed against a green screen.{{cite web |title=Paw Prints, Newsletter, July 2007 edition |publisher=The Voice of Fellow Earthlings' Wildlife Center |author=Denise A. Robertson |url=http://www.meerkats.com/newsletter.html |access-date=10 December 2007 }}

The show was primarily filmed using Sony DSR-570 cameras, although special equipment was needed for some unique footage. For scenes inside the animals' burrows, mini fibre-optic infra-red cameras were employed; wide-angle shots were filmed with a seven-metre crane and a remote-controlled camera platform. An off-camera wireless microphone was also used to record many meerkat vocalizations, only partially audible to cameras' on-board systems. Most filming was done by a single cameraman and a single sound engineer; researchers have required a minimal human presence to avoid stressing the animals. Eye-level shots were difficult to achieve at times, due to the meerkats' small size and the limited height of even the smallest tripods.{{cite web |title=Filming Meerkat Manor |publisher=The International Association of Wildlife Film-Makers |url=http://www.iawf.org.uk/articles/index.asp?articleid=1009 |author=John Brown | date=3 June 2006 |access-date=10 December 2007}}

For tracking purposes by the researchers, the dominant female of each group is fitted with a radio collar, as are some dominant and roaming males. The meerkats – especially younger animals – are marked with dye to differentiate them. As the meerkats are habituated, they would tend to ignore the camera crew as long as their "personal space" was respected.

The UK and US versions of the show have the same content for most episodes; however, the latter was sometimes edited for length to allow for commercial breaks. Content was also sometimes altered; mating scenes in particular were often removed from the US version. Animal Planet US occasionally changed the names of meerkats and episode titles. Two of Flower's pups were renamed from Ren and Stumpy to Len and Squiggy; the title of the episode was also changed.{{cite web |url=http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/meerkat_manor/html/episode/index.shtml |title=Meerkat Manor Episode Guide |publisher=Animal Planet UK |access-date=13 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529001614/http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/meerkat_manor/html/episode/index.shtml |archive-date=29 May 2008}} De la Soul (named for the rap group of the same name), one of the sisters who started the Starsky group, was renamed Whoopi in the US as a tribute to actress Whoopi Goldberg, an early fan of the series.{{cite web| url=http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/episode/episode.html |title=Meerkat Manor Episode Guide|publisher=Animal Planet US |access-date=30 December 2007}} Animal Planet US has also renamed some of Flower's pups born in series three after two other celebrity fans of the show, Elizabeth Taylor and Denis Leary. Several episodes were renamed: the title of the final episode of the second series was changed from "The Killing Fields" to "The Quiet Fields". During the third series, the third episode's title was changed from "Something's Got to Give" to "Sister Act" (another Goldberg reference), while the sixth episode's title changed from "The House of Zappa" to "Sibling Rivalry".

{{see also|List of Meerkat Manor meerkats|List of Meerkat Manor episodes}}

Image:Meerkat Manor - Meerkat with pups in burrow.jpg

The show follows several groups of meerkats, who act communally for the benefit of the groups in which they live. These groups are typically led by a dominant female and male, who maintain almost exclusive rights to have offspring.{{cite episode |title=A Family Affair |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=1 |number=1.1 }} The group followed most closely is known as the Whiskers family. This group was chosen because of its matriarch Flower, an unusually successful dominant female who led the group for five years.{{cite web |title=Current Groups |publisher=Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project |date=20 November 2007 |url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=meerkat-groups0 |access-date=10 December 2007 }} During series three, Flower died from a snake bite and was succeeded by her daughter Rocket Dog.{{cite news |first=Mick |last=Kaczorowski |title=The Meerkats, a transcript of the online October 17, 2007 chat session with Mick Kaczorowski |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/10/16/DI2007101601709.html |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=17 October 2007 |access-date=20 December 2007 }}{{cite episode |title=Journey's End |series=Meerkat Manor |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series-no=3 |number=3.8}}

Animals in neighbouring groups were highlighted in each series as well. In the first series, a group called the Lazuli were shown frequently in competition with the Whiskers family, and the opening credits referred to them as the "neighbours from hell". Although their dominant male Big Si died between series, the Lazuli appeared in the second series, mostly as a source of roving males.{{cite episode |title=Cold Comfort |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=2 |number=2.1 }} Another group called the Commandos, led by a one-eyed male named Hannibal, introduced themselves by attacking the Lazuli burrow, killing a pup and badly wounding the babysitting adult. The Commandoes became the new major rivals in the area, killing the pups of evicted Whiskers female Mozart and taking over some of the Whiskers' territory.{{cite episode |title=The Killing Fields |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=2 |number=2.13 }}{{cite episode |title=On Dangerous Ground |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=3 |number=3.1 }}

The Whiskers' new neighbours were the Zappa and the Starsky.{{cite episode |title=Young Blood |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=2 |number=2.3 }} Although smaller than the Whiskers, the Zappa attacked frequently, and when they fled after one attack, the Whiskers – in a rare occurrence – adopted an abandoned Zappa pup.{{cite episode |title=Something's Got to Give |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=3 |number=3.3 }} The Starsky group, on the other hand, was no threat to the Whiskers. Formed by a trio of Flower's daughters permanently evicted from the Whiskers, the small group was ravaged by illness, predators, and a lack of new pups.{{cite episode |title=The Mission |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series=Meerkat Manor |series-no=3 |number=3.2}} The constantly struggling Starsky succumbed in the penultimate episode, with the death of the last survivor, Mozart, who was killed by a jackal.{{cite episode |title=The Graduate |series=Meerkat Manor |episode-link=List of Meerkat Manor episodes |series-no=3 |number=3.12}} Former Whiskers female Maybelline broke away from the group at the end of the third series, forming a new group called the Aztecs which became the Whiskers' rivals in the fourth series.{{cite web|url=http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/about/about.html |title=About the Series |publisher=Animal Planet |access-date=26 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527150220/http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/about/about.html |archive-date=27 May 2008 }}

While the show portrays real events among the Kalahari Meerkats, it also removes repetitive elements of the animals' lives. Because many days are filled with behaviour related to grooming and foraging, these routines were often left out of the show in favour of more unusual events.{{cite web| title=KMP meerkats FAQ | date=11 November 2007 |publisher=Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project |url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=faq_kmp-meerkats | access-date=21 December 2007}}

The meerkats are all named by Kalahari Meerkat volunteers; the individual who first sees a new litter emerge from the burrow is awarded naming rights. This has produced a variety of names, frequently drawn from volunteers' favourite books, movies, musical groups, family and friends, historical figures and geographical locations. Animal Planet sometimes renamed the meerkats for narration, arguing that researchers' names were too limited, often relating to spices and food condiments. Because of these changes, fans of the series who seek information on the Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project website sometimes have trouble locating particular animals. The project has created a list of alterations to help viewers connect the animals on the show to their real-life counterparts, and to match episodes to the monthly KMP Life History reports. The list, however, is only available to paying members of their website.{{cite web | title=Meerkat Manor – Backstage | date=23 November 2007 |publisher=Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project |url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=mm_background | access-date=21 December 2007}}

Two of the major Whiskers family rivals were composites, created with footage and blended stories from multiple groups. For example, the Commandos group on the show uses some of events from the real Commandos group, but was primarily shown with footage from the Vivian research group – including its dominant couple. Similarly, the show's Zappa group was mostly presented using footage from a group called "The Young Ones" (named after the British television show); however, the actual story and dominant pair were from the real Zappa Group.{{cite web | title=Friends packages | date=14 October 2007 | url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=105 |publisher=Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project | access-date=15 October 2007}} Axel, the abandoned pup from series three, has a research number that indicates he was probably a Young Ones pup, rather than being a Zappa as the show claims.{{cite web |title=List of Meerkat Names for 2007 |publisher=Kalahari Meerkat Project |url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/fileadmin/files/LH_reports/List_Meerkat_names_2007.pdf |access-date=10 December 2007 |archive-date=14 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055840/http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/fileadmin/files/LH_reports/List_Meerkat_names_2007.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Meerkat Manor has been well received by viewers and critics alike. In October 2007, it was Animal Planet's top series, with an audience of more than four million in the United States alone.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/arts/television/10bell.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |title='The Desert Has Lost Its Favorite Rose': Death Comes to the Whiskers Family |access-date=28 October 2007 |last=Bellafante |first=Ginia |author-link=Ginia Bellafante |date=10 October 2007 |work=The New York Times}} In the United States, its first episode was viewed by one million viewers, and the second and third series premieres were watched by approximately 800,000 viewers each. The fourth series premiere did not fare as well, with fewer than 500,000 viewers.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061003312.html |title=There Were Those Who Dunk and Those Who Stunk |first=Lisa |last=de Moraes |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=11 June 2008 |access-date=15 June 2008 }} The viewership of the on-demand video offerings for Meerkat Manor grew 20% in September 2007, when Discovery offered each third series episode, video capsules of series one and two, top ten moments from the show, and a memorial sequence for Flower.{{cite web|url=http://www.multichannel.com/news/cable-operators/short-form-content-drives-discovery-vod-gains/335375 |title=Short-Form Content Drives Discovery VOD Gains |access-date=21 November 2007 |last=Reynolds |first=Mike |date=9 November 2007 |publisher=The New York Multichannel News}} Building on the success of Meerkat Manor{{'s}} unique format, Animal Planet commissioned two similarly formatted programmes: Orangutan Island, which focuses on a group of orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, and Lemur Street, which looks at the lives of two rival gangs of ring-tailed lemurs in Madagascar.{{cite web|title=Orangutan Island: About the Show |publisher=Animal Planet |url=http://animal.discovery.com/tv/orangutan-island/about/about.html |access-date=10 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126022637/http://animal.discovery.com/tv/orangutan-island/about/about.html |archive-date=26 November 2007 }}{{cite web |title=Production Programmes |publisher=Oxford Scientific Films |url=http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/DynamicPage.aspx?cid=27&d=8 |access-date=10 December 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830045708/http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/DynamicPage.aspx?cid=27&d=8 |archive-date = 30 August 2007|url-status=dead}}

Some fans have criticized the show for its non-interference policy with regard to the meerkats, asking why the film crew and researchers do not give anti-venom to snake-bitten meerkats, or euthanize those dying and suffering. US Executive Producer Mick Kaczorowski pointed out that Meerkat Manor was a show about the real lives and deaths of the meerkats. The research group has a policy against film crews interceding in natural events "because they don't want to have an effect on the gene pool by saving a weaker meerkat [or] affecting the outcome of what's natural in the Kalahari." As the research project is monitoring "...the breeding success and survival of individuals and ... the factors that affect reproduction and survival", interfering in the natural processes would render the research results invalid. There is one exception to this rule: researchers will euthanize meerkats that contract tuberculosis in order to prevent outbreaks that would threaten both the meerkat population and nearby cattle.

Meerkat Manor was nominated in 2005 for a Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Award in the Animal Behaviour category, and again in 2007 for Best Original Score. At the 2006 Wildscreen Festival, the series was a finalist in three categories: Animal Behaviour, Innovation, and Popular Broadcast.{{cite web |url=http://www.wildscreenfestival.org/index.php?pageid=223&parentid=2 |title=Wildscreen 2006 Finalist Films |publisher=Wildscreen Festival |access-date=13 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927075904/http://www.wildscreenfestival.org/index.php?pageid=223&parentid=2 |archive-date=27 September 2007}} The series won Gold Statues in Natural History and Cinematography and a Silver Statue for Writing at the 2006 Omni Awards. The eighth episode of series three, "Journey's End", which depicts the death of Whiskers matriarch Flower, was awarded the 2008 Wildscreen Festival Panda Award in the Five Award for Popular Broadcast Programme category.{{cite web |url=http://www.wildscreenfestival.org/index.php?pageid=308&parentid=256 |title=2008 Winners |publisher=Wildscreen Festival |access-date=3 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313055154/http://www.wildscreenfestival.org/index.php?pageid=308&parentid=256 |archive-date=13 March 2009}} Meerkat Manor was a two-time Gold Medal winner in the Nature & Wildlife category at the New York Festivals Award Gala, in 2006 for series one, and again in 2007 for series one and two.{{cite web |url=http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/DynamicPage.aspx?cid=28&d=8 |title=OSF Award Winning Productions |publisher=Southern Star Group |access-date=13 January 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830050444/http://www.oxfordscientificfilms.tv/DynamicPage.aspx?cid=28&d=8 |archive-date = 30 August 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/main.taf?p=3,3,2 |title=TV Programming & Promotion Showcase |work=New York Festivals |publisher=International Awards Group |access-date=13 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212214613/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/main.taf?p=3%2C3%2C2 |archive-date=12 February 2008 }} The series was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards in 2007, one for Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming and one for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming,{{cite web |url=http://www.emmys.tv/awards/2007pt/59pte_nomsummary.php |title=The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations Summary |publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |access-date=13 January 2008}} and again for Outstanding Cinematography in 2008. In 2009, the series was awarded the Grand Award at the New York Festivals International Television Programming and Promotion Awards in the Family Programmes category.{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2009TVWINNERS.pdf|title=2009 Television Programming and Promotion Awards Winners Credits|publisher=New York Festivals|access-date=5 February 2009|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011092732/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2009TVWINNERS.pdf|url-status=dead}}

Meerkat Manor{{'s}} innovative new methods of filming allowed the Kalahari Project scientists a chance to uncover aspects of meerkat life never before seen, including life within the burrows. The film crew was also the first to capture meerkat infanticide on film.{{cite web |title=Meerkat Manor – The Cast and Crew |publisher=Animal Planet |url=http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/meerkat_manor/html/cast_crew/thecrew.shtml |access-date=10 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209224033/http://www.animalplanet.co.uk/meerkat_manor/html/cast_crew/thecrew.shtml |archive-date=9 December 2007}}

While many documentaries maintain an emotional distance from their subjects, Meerkat Manor, due to its extended length, soap opera-like narration, romanticization of the animals' lives, and close-up filming techniques, provides a closer, more personal view of the meerkats. The animals are humanized by being given individual names and personalities and by narrativizing the plots of their specific social relationships, blurring the line between nature documentary and reality television.{{cite news |url=http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/336878_tv26.html?source=rss |title=Why is 'Meerkat' tragedy so tough to take? It's personal |access-date=28 October 2007 |last=McFarland |first=Melanie |date=25 October 2007 |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer }} Viewers describe being emotionally involved in the animals' lives, sometimes forgetting they are watching a nature documentary. The meerkats' frequently short lives and brutal deaths become surprising and disturbing to some audiences. This format, considered experimental for its time, has been both praised and criticized for expanding the boundaries of both the nature documentary genre and the conventions of reality TV.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-sep-29-et-meerkats29-story.html|title=A meerkat matriarch passes on |access-date=28 October 2007 |last=Smith |first=Lynn |date=29 September 2007 |work=Los Angeles Times}}

{{blockquote|Like the meerkats, Manor is an odd beast. The crew is forbidden to intervene, and the producers don't sugarcoat the animals' less cuddly habits (infidelity, abandonment of young, occasional cannibalism). But the meerkats are named and given human traits ("courageous," "caring," "bully[ing]"), and their antics and tragedies take place over a sound track. Manor is both brutal and melodramatic and thus more devastating than most documentary or scripted drama.|James Poniewozik|Time, 2 November 2007{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1680162,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106020408/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1680162,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 November 2007 |title=Looks like Meerkat Love |access-date=21 November 2007 |last=Poniewozik |first=James |date=2 November 2007 |magazine=Time}} }}

Image:Meerkat Manor book.jpg

A book written by Professor Tim Clutton-Brock entitled Meerkat Manor: The Story of Flower of the Kalahari ({{ISBN|0-297-84484-9}}) was released in the UK in a hardback edition on 4 October 2007.{{cite web |title=Information and Excerpt about Meerkat Manor book |publisher=Friends of the Kalahari Meerkats |url=http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=mmbook |date=29 September 2007 |access-date=10 December 2007 }} The book focuses on Flower's life and the story of the Whiskers, tracing how the group started, providing a timeline of Flower's life, and detailing all of the pups she had over her lifetime, as well as their current locations. The book also gives more background on how the Kalahari Meerkat Project started, the research goals and results, and researchers' personal lives.{{cite book |title=Meerkat Manor – The Story of Flower of the Kalahari |last=Clutton-Brock |first=Tim |year=2007 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |isbn=978-0-297-84484-6 }} A paperback edition of the book was announced for release in the United States by Simon & Schuster through their Touchstone imprint on 15 April 2008. The US release was entitled Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari ({{ISBN|1-4165-8767-5}}).{{cite web |title=Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari (Trade Paperback) |publisher=Simon & Schuster |url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=626069&er=9781416587675 |date=29 September 2007 |access-date=14 January 2008 }} In November 2007, Discovery Communications announced that it was partnering with Activision to make a video game based on Meerkat Manor as the first in a new series of nature-based games. The announcement stated the game would be released to multiple platforms in late 2008, but no game was ever released.{{cite news |first=Scott |last=Hillis |author2=John Wallace |title=Discovery to make nature-themed video games |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2833786120071128?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews |publisher=Yahoo! News |work=Reuters |date=28 November 2007 |access-date=7 December 2007 }}

{{main|Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins}}

Oxford Scientific Films produced a feature film for Discovery Films that acts as a prequel to the Meerkat Manor series.{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/27/AR2007072700731_pf.html | title = March of the Cuddly-Wuddly Documentaries | first = Desson | last = Thomson | newspaper = The Washington Post | date=29 July 2007 | access-date =29 July 2007 }} Originally announced as Flower: Queen of the Kalahari, Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins was directed by Chris Barker and Mike Slee and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. The film documents Flower's early life as she grows from a young meerkat to become one of the most successful leaders of the Whiskers clan.{{cite web|url=http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/movie/about/about.html |title=Meerkat Manor: Flower: Queen of the Kalahari |work=Animal Planet Official Site |access-date=14 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012102606/http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/movie/about/about.html |archive-date=12 October 2007 }} The film was introduced at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight section,{{cite press release|url=http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/media2/Press_Release_Spotlight_Showcase_RestoredRedisccovered.html |title=Spotlight, Showcase, Restored/Redisccovered, and Five Special Events |publisher=Tribeca Film Festival |date=17 March 2008 |access-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224083930/http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/media2/Press_Release_Spotlight_Showcase_RestoredRedisccovered.html |archive-date=24 February 2012 }} and then aired in the United States on Animal Planet on 25 May 2008 as a lead-in to a thirty-minute Making of Meerkat Manor: the Story Begins special.{{cite press release|url=http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-21-2008/0004796890&EDATE= |title=Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation Claws Back to Animal Planet Friday, June 6, at 9 PM |agency=PR Newswire |date=21 April 2008 |access-date=12 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329123948/http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=%2Fwww%2Fstory%2F04-21-2008%2F0004796890&EDATE= |archive-date=29 March 2012 }} It was released to Region 1 DVD in North America on 3 June 2008, with the Making of Meerkat Manor special, and another special, The Science of Meerkat Manor, included as extras.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017LGQHM |title=Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins (2008) |website=Amazon |access-date=25 May 2008 }}

The film included re-edited footage and a new musical score. The Whiskers story was simplified, with the Lazuli being the only rival group to appear in the film. Unlike with the Meerkat Manor series, the film does not actually depict any of the real Whiskers meerkats. Untrained "meerkat actors" play the role of Flower and her family, with the camera crew searching out appropriately-aged meerkats, then following them until the meerkats acted in a way that was needed for the film. Flower herself was depicted by approximately eight female meerkats.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.discovery.com/meerkat_manor/ |title=Get Ready for More Desert Drama (Official Discovery Blogs interview) |first=Sarah |last=Grace McCandless |work=Kalahari Confidential |publisher=Discovery Channel |date=22 May 2008 |access-date=25 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525175831/http://blogs.discovery.com/meerkat_manor/ |archive-date=25 May 2008 }}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Meerkat_Manor-article.ogg|date=2014-10-02}}

• [http://www.meerkatmanor.co.uk/index.htm Official Southern Star Entertainment UK Meerkat Manor website]
• [http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/meerkat.html Official Animal Planet US Meerkat Manor website]
• [http://www.kalahari-meerkats.com/ The Kalahari Meerkat Project]
• [http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/ Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project]
• {{IMDb title|0765725}}

{{Meerkat Manor}}

Category:2000s British documentary television series

Category:2020s British documentary television series

Category:2005 British television series debuts

Category:2021 British television series endings

Category:Animal Planet original programming

Category:Nature educational television series

Category:Television series about families

Category:Television series about mammals