Take the Kids: New documentary 'Great Bear Rainforest' highlights Canada's Pacific coast

There's a lot to learn in "Canada's Great Bear Rainforest," the latest documentary to hit the giant screen at Marbles Kids Museum's IMAX theater.

And the movie quickly introduces us to some intriguing facts like these ...

The stretch of land along Canada's Pacific coast is the last intact temperate rainforest left on Earth.

The transfer of marine nutrients to the forest makes for a region that's full of animals and plants.

And it's home to the spirit bear, a subspecies of the North American black bear with white fur that makes it easier for them to pluck salmon from the region's creeks and rivers. One of the rarest animals on earth, less than 200 spirit bears are living. And we're quickly introduced to one of them. Mox is an aging bear, who we see wake up from her long winter nap, grunting and sighing along the way.

The film follows Mox as she works to find the salmon she needs to survive, but it dives deeper into this remote region and highlights the First Nations people who, for generations, have cared for the land and its creatures.

There's a father and young son, who are charged with keeping an eye on Mox and other spirit bears. There's a young fisherman, who we see harvest herring eggs as his ancestors have done before him. And there's a teenage girl who is part of a research project to track other bears in the forest.

Throughout the 43-minute movie, narrated by actor and Canadian Ryan Reynolds, we see sweeping scenes with snowy mountains, rivers and ocean. Like many documentaries, it's almost an immersive experience as you see the eagles swoop down to catch a fish, sea otters loving their babies and a black bear mom and her cubs struggle to find food.

Young kids will enjoy those animal scenes. So will older kids, who might also take away lessons about how they can help in their own backyard just as the First Nations people featured in the movie.

"Great Bear Rainforest" will run on regular rotation at Marbles' theater through the summer. Tickets are $5 for kids and $7 for adults. More information and this week's showtimes for "Great Bear Rainforest" are on Marbles' website. I highly recommend it.

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