12 Earth Month documentaries from National Geographic & Disneynature
by Explore Disney+ Contributor
7 April 2026
Immerse yourself in the wonder of the natural world with wild stories you can stream all month long
Get ready to feel the salt spray of the ocean, the squish of muddy boots, and the magic of landscapes teeming with life. It’s Earth Month 2026 on Disney+, which means curiosity, exploration, and adventure arrive at your doorstep. With enchanting, authentic stories that empower you to see the world differently, wonder can be experienced every day with Disney+. It’s the perfect time for National Geographic and Disneynature to show off our home planet in awe-inspiring ways. From National Geographic’s Secrets of the Bees to Disneynature’s Orangutan, there’s so much nature content to uncover.
In Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory, you’ll see ocean predators in an all-out feeding frenzy. Secrets of the Bees takes you into the complex and extraordinary lives of bees. And The Last Rhinos: A New Hope follows a last-chance scientific effort to save an endangered species. Discover more about these titles below and add these Earth Day recommendations to your Watchlist to honour our beautiful planet today, learn amazing wildlife facts that you’ll want to share for a lifetime, celebrate wonder from home and take a nature break.
Plus, towards the bottom of this article, see how to incorporate even more natural wonder into your Earth Month with National Geographic’s Wonder List activity adventures that take you and your family outside to experience it for yourself.
Ocean documentaries for Earth Day
Dive into whale world: Secrets of the Whales
Over three years and 24 locations, Secrets of the Whales floats among the vast world of orcas, humpbacks, belugas, narwhals, and sperm whales. Witness the moments that hold a pod together, like parents teaching lessons to their calves and distant check-ins across miles of water. You’ll start hearing the sea as a conversation of everything from squabbles to lullabies.
Add Secrets of the Whales to Watchlist
A fin-tastic ocean spectacle: Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory
National Geographic Explorer Bertie Gregory travels to the Azores, a vital pit stop for migrating ocean predators, and battles unpredictable storms to capture rare footage of elusive predators united in an epic feeding frenzy. On his journey, Bertie will delve into the region's murky whaling history of marine exploitation and learn how the Azores has since become a sanctuary for marine life.
Add Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory to Watchlist
The man who changed the sea: Becoming Cousteau
Step onto the deck of the Calypso with Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the French filmmaker who changed our relationship with the ocean. After co-inventing the Aqua-Lung with engineer Émile Gagnan in 1943, he spent decades filming below the surface and later used his fame to argue for cleaner water and smarter fishing. Two-time Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Liz Garbus built the documentary using restored archival footage, so Cousteau’s own voice can tell you how his life and activism evolved.
Add Becoming Cousteau to Watchlist
Small but mighty nature documentaries for Earth Day
A world that’s always abuzz: Secrets of the Bees
In an all-new documentary, available on April 1, Dr. Samuel Ramsey and National Geographic Explorer Bertie Gregory provide a new perspective on the extraordinary lives of bees. The documentary introduces viewers to the surprising complexity of bees' hidden world, showing there’s so much more to them than simply buzzing from flower to flower. Learn more about National Geographic’s new documentary from Dr. Samuel Ramsey himself in our exclusive interview.
Add Secrets of the Bees to Watchlist
The misfits’ time to shine: Underdogs
Hold on to your binoculars, folks, as National Geographic gets up close and personal with the outcasts of the animal kingdom in Underdogs, narrated by Ryan Reynolds. From their hidden talents to their unconventional hygiene choices to their unsavoury courtship rituals, Underdogs celebrates the unique behaviours of the animals who don’t usually get to be the stars of the show. From Reynolds’ Emmy® Award-winning Maximum Effort and Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning Wildstar Films (a Fremantle company), National Geographic’s Underdogs is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.*
Incredible real-life connections between humans & the animal world
An inspiring journey into the jungle: Jane
Cut from more than 100 hours of rarely seen archival film, Brett Morgen’s award-winning Jane tracks Jane Goodall’s early days in Tanzania as she wins a wary troop of chimps’ trust and records the small moments that changed what scientists thought they knew about chimpanzees. With an orchestral score by Philip Glass, the documentary paints a personal portrait and traces how those first field notes grew into the conservation work that Goodall would become renowned for.
The cutest bond you’ll ever see: Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
This adorable, award-winning documentary begins on a Shetland jetty, where Billy finds a stranded otter in serious need of help. With his wife, Susan, and their sheepdog, Jade, he helps the otter, who they name Molly, get back on her paws and back into the wild, but Molly keeps coming back. Set against the backdrop of the quiet Scottish archipelago, it’s a close look at how trust between humans and wildlife builds slowly, and often right outside your front door.
Add Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story to Watchlist
Extraordinary wildlife documentaries
A myth-hunting jungle odyssey: Ghost Elephants
South African Conservation biologist Steve Boyes treks through Angola’s Lisima highlands with a theory. He thinks a hidden group of elephants may be moving through the forests, possibly connected to the largest elephants ever documented, and he wants the evidence to prove it. With National Geographic Explorer Kerllen Costa, he leans on KhoiSan master trackers Xui, Xui Dawid, and Kobus to catch up with the elusive pachyderms.
Add Ghost Elephants to Watchlist
Peculiar travel companions: Incredible Animal Journeys
Earth is a planet that’s always on the move, and this show follows animals from every landscape as they migrate in search of food, shelter, and even love. Narrated by Jeremy Renner, the show captures astonishing survival strategies and the epic journeys these animals make as they soar, swim, and trek across the globe.
Add Incredible Animal Journeys to Watchlist
Additional nature documentaries to stream on Earth Day
A tranquil nature retreat: Earth Moods
Relax and reset as you’re transported to some of the most calming corners of the planet in this ambient nature series. There’s no narration or story to follow, just stunning and serene landscapes paired with calming background music. Perfect to have on in the background while you work, study, or just want to turn off your brain and chill.
A globe-trotting wake-up call: Pole to Pole with Will Smith
Five years in the making, Pole to Pole with Will Smith follows Will Smith across all seven continents, taking him from the icefields of Antarctica to the jungles of the Amazon, the mountains of the Himalayas, the deserts of Africa, the islands of the Pacific and the icebergs of the Arctic. Inspired by his late mentor to explore life’s big questions and guided by experts, scientists and explorers Will throws himself into incredible challenges for 100 days. Told with a cinematic scale, access, and authenticity only National Geographic can deliver, this once-in-a-lifetime adventure blends cutting-edge science, environmental storytelling, and bold exploration. Read more about Will Smith’s global adventure in our Pole to Pole with Will Smith article.
Add Pole to Pole with Will Smith to Watchlist
Interested in more nature content from National Geographic? Check out the Earth Month Collection on Disney+.
Explore your personal connection to nature with The Wonder List
National Geographic’s Wonder List turns its epic Earth Month storytelling into simple real-world activities. It’s a digital and printable guide of daily actions that families can do together in nature (like a to-do list). Think hands-on discovery in any environment, at home, in the backyard, or out in the wild to get your family looking closer at the wonders of nature.
Example prompts include:
Trees: Find the biggest and tiniest leaves outside. How do they feel compared to each other?
Stars: First star wins. Step outside at dusk as the sun sinks beyond the horizon and the sky goes dark. Who can spot the very first star? Bonus: Learn its name together.
Rocks: Find and sort three different rocks by texture or colour. Then get them wet and observe how their colouring changes.
More Earth Month content to enjoy
Coming of age in Southeast Asia: Disneynature’s Orangutan
High in the treetops of Southeast Asia lives a magnificent and mysterious community filled with playful personalities. Narrated by Josh Gad, Disneynature’s Orangutan takes viewers into the world’s most majestic rainforest canopy to meet Indah, an inquisitive adolescent orangutan learning how to navigate life as she prepares to leave her family and venture out on her own for the first time. Orangutan is directed by Mark Linfield, co-directed by Vanessa Berlowitz, and produced by Linfield, Berlowitz, and Roy Conli, with original music by Nitin Sawhney. Featuring exhilarating action, heartwarming encounters, and a close-up look at a stunning jungle teeming with wildlife, the all-new original film releases on Earth Day, 22 April 2026, exclusively on Disney+.
Interested in more nature content from Disneynature? Check out the Disneynature Collection on Disney+.
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