You could argue forever over whether Walt Disney did more harm or good when he helped to popularize the nature documentary. There's no doubt that many were inspired to help preserve the world's wild wonders after seeing them displayed onscreen, but there's still a question concerning how much behind-the-scenes tinkering went on in service of a juicier story. But in any case, the studio has no intentions of slowing down its attempts to educate families about the environment while giving them a case of the "Awws," as evidenced by its latest documentary, Monkey Kingdom. In some ways, the flick's few instances of obvious staging make it one of the DisneyNature label's most dubious productions to date. But on the other hand, because Monkey Kingdom is so easily able to draw upon the actual behaviors and habits of its subjects to tell a compelling tale, one can see it being among the House of Mouse's more authentic portrayals of life in the great outdoors.

A new empire has taken shape in the jungles of Sri Lanka. In the ruins of what was once a great city, all manner of creatures have made themselves at home, especially a tribe of teeny macaque monkeys. One such citizen is Maya, a lowly member of the simian hierarchy who can only stand back and watch while her troop's alpha male rules the roost as he sees fit. While he and his favored companions feast on the finest grub and rest in comfort, Maya must settle for scraps and keep a close watch for predators where she sleeps. Her situation worsens after she gives birth to a son sired by a father exiled from the group, forcing her to divide what meager nourishment she does scrounge up among two mouths. But ever the resourceful creature, Maya does everything she can to provide for her family, teach her little one the ways of the wild, and help the others in her tribe survive when rival monkeys decide to invade their turf.

Whereas last year's Bears suffered from cushioning audiences from the harsh realities of its story too much, Monkey Kingdom has better luck at being honest without sending the kiddies wailing in the aisles. While the picture isn't above resorting to silly voices (courtesy of narrator Tina Fey) or on-the-nose soundtrack cues for easy laughs, it does deserve credit for not shying away from the struggles of the world it depicts. From predators to her own tribe's rigid social ladder, Maya faces a number of hardships and obstacles on her journey, none of which feel trivialized by all of the cutesy animal antics afoot. Although I'm sure  some selective editing was employed along the way, Monkey Kingdom finds all the drama it needs with the challenges Maya must confront as a lower-tier member of her group. It's as heartbreaking for our heroine to watch the alpha macaque's mates steal her son as a form of punishment as it is triumphant when she has to use her survival skills to save the very same lot from danger when the bad monkeys chase them off. Even without Fey's commentary to guide things, one can swiftly become wrapped up in the sort of narrative that only nature could come to tell after eons of evolution and rewrites.

However, Monkey Kingdom is persistently plagued by moments whose legitimacy is, to say the least, suspect. I won't go so far as to accuse Disney of running a Milo & Otis kind of operation or of staging the outcomes of key scenes to follow a predetermined script, but there are several scenes during which eyebrows can't help but be raised. Compared to prior DisneyNature films that featured wildlife exclusively, Monkey Kingdom introduces people into the mix, specifically those who live in fairly close proximity to Maya's digs. Encounters with furry little creatures are bound to happen in situations like that, but a few of the incidents we see here have something of a bogus air to them. A sequence involving the monkeys pillaging storefronts and roadside carts for food is mysteriously absent of angry locals shooing them away (at least at first, but still, they arrive too late for people who should be well aware of these shenanigans by now). Worse yet is a different scene involving Maya and company invading a home during a birthday party, in which some Disney-branded merchandise can be conspicuously spotted. Moments like these are few, and it doesn't seem like anything integral to the story is being influenced. But the illusion appears damaged to some extent, and at the very least, it comes across as crass, as if the hijinks of cute little monkeys were so dull as to warrant a reasurring cameo from Mickey Mouse kitchenware.

But while hard to swallow on occasion, Monkey Kingdom ends up as  harmless fare that ought to satisfy animal aficionados both old and new. Its blunt life lessons and playfulness come through in equal measure, and following the DisneyNature form, the photography is darn near as gorgeous as it gets. If your kids are a bit too young to hear Morgan Freeman wax poetic about penguins and the mating habits thereof just yet, Monkey Kingdom serves up a fine introduction to the world of the wild on film.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

-Tales from the Kingdom, a behind-the-scenes look at capturing the wildlife footage that comprises the film.

-A tour of Monkey Kingdom's Sri Lankan locales with a DisneyNature ambassador.

-A trip to the Monkey Kingdom set with primatologists Jane Goodall and Wolfgang Dittus.

-A music video featuring Jacquie Lee.

-A special "thank you" from DisneyNature.

(Released by Walt Disney Pictures and rated "G" by MPAA.)