Can Kids Watch The Americas? All About The Gorgeous, and Educational Series
The Americas is intended for a general audience, but does touch on the nastier side of nature.
The Americas is a family friendly adventure from southernmost South America to the upper fringes of the frozen north. It’s an exploration of the natural world intended for a general audience and is suitable for most viewers.
Tom Hanks brings his trademark blend of reassurance and excitement to the endeavor with original music by award winning composer Hans Zimmer. While The Americas is appropriate for all ages, some segments do feature danger and death within the natural world, which might be difficult for young children or sensitive viewers but nothing overtly graphic. Overall it's an educational experience that may be worthwhile.
The Americas has hopeful natural stories for all ages
The Americas was produced by BBC Studios and Universal Television Alternative Studio. It’s the result of 5 years and over 180 expeditions, capturing footage across North and South America.
Along the way, you’ll see Arctic caribou on the longest land migration on Earth. Every year, tens of thousands of caribou march toward their feeding grounds, crossing deadly flooded rivers and consuming more than 1,000 tons of grass every day.
On the other side of North America, you’ll find herds of wild horses living on barrier islands and battling for territory along the Atlantic coast. In the water, you’ll explore “the Graveyard of the Atlantic” where more than 2,000 sunken ships provide unexpected underwater environments to fish and invertebrates.
Along the Gulf Coast, you’ll visit black bears waiting out the winter in the hollows of broken trees. When spring brings flood waters, they wade through the drink for more than a mile in search of dry land and hunting grounds.
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You’ll see grand monarch butterfly migrations, sailfish cooperating to hunt shoals of sardines, and sperm whales diving thousands of feet to hunt squid in the complete darkness of the deep. You’ll visit young lemon sharks growing up in the relative safety of Caribbean mangrove forests, where they learn to hunt in the tangle of roots, safe from the grasping jaws of larger predators.
In Cuba, 10 million crabs march from their underground dens in the lowland forests to the sea where they mate. That’s if they can make it across the forest, though deadly mid-day heat, and across a deadly highway.
You’ll see marbled four-eyed frogs frozen solid every night, then thaw and reawaken the next morning to continue their march up the mountain, toward glacial mating pools. On the other end of the temperature extreme, you’ll meet superpowered ducks living in the Andes, where they have evolved to survive below freezing temperatures on land and river waters heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
The sadder side of The Americas
While The Americas largely focuses on hopeful natural stories (the cute animal usually gets away and if some creature is looking for food or a mate, they usually find them), it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows in the natural world.
You’ll also see the patient sacrifice of giant Pacific octopuses, which barricade themselves inside a rocky nest for almost a year. They never eat or leave, diligently guarding more than 100,000 eggs. Once those eggs hatch and their job is done, they die. While sad it's one of nature's more beautiful stories.
In the Amazon, army ants march across the rainforest, consuming everything in the path. When active, they can capture and kill more than 30,000 victims per day, mostly other insects but also some small invertebrates. Once a single ant attacks, they swarm and dismember their victims to carry back home. It’s a brutal assault which even gave host Tom Hanks the shivers.
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There are stories of warring elephant seals and orcas pulling seals from the shore, both of which are violent ordeals. Nature is red in tooth and claw, and success for one animal often means the end of the road for another.
These stories, though, are an opportunity to grasp the gentle balance of the natural world, and to consider our own impact on the world around us. They are also few and far between. Even when it’s shining a light on the more violent parts of nature, The Americas is a delight to watch for the entire family.
Where to watch The Americas
New episodes of The Americas air weekly Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET on NBC, and stream on Peacock the following day!