It is the debut directorial feature of James Honeyborne, previously a producer of natural history programmes for television.

The worldwide premiere was held at the Dinard Film Festival, France in October 2008,[1] expanding to a wide release the following week.

The year-long principal photography began on location in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa in the same month.

[2] It became the Natural History Unit's first feature-length wildlife fiction based on original material, and followed the successes of Earth (2007) and Deep Blue (2003) which were both companion pieces to BBC television series.

"[4] Writing in The Guardian, reviewer Philip French noted that the "nature movie made in the Kalahari desert has some good footage but is more Disney-anthropomorphic than Attenborough".