Magnolia Showcase lights up 19 city venues with outstanding TV viewing

The public screening of outstanding TV works, a key initiative of the ongoing 30th Shanghai TV Festival, has been underway all week, turning the festival into a people’s carnival.

The Magnolia Showcase is operating offline at 19 venues in 16 districts across Shanghai and is screening 29 domestic and international screen productions.

On Thursday, the showcase featured “Underdogs,” a new National Geographic documentary series directed by Tom Stephens and narrated by Canadian American actor Ryan Reynolds.

It focuses on the unique and unpredictable behavior of some of the lesser-known animals in the natural world, including their camouflage skills, parenting techniques, and courtship rituals.

The National Geographic documentary “Blink of an Eye” was also screened at last week’s Shanghai International Film Festival.

"I love the nature series, and I love making things that my kids can actually watch," Reynolds said about the documentary.

"We're excited to try to bring new voices to animal documentaries. Wildstar Films has the expertise, experience, and cutting-edge cinematic technology to help us make the most of National Geographic's budget.

“We will present a show that is both fun and surprising and will do justice to animals that would normally only play a supporting role,” he added.

In the trailer for the series, National Geographic said it wanted to focus on the sounds of the corners of nature, and the exotic animals that have been left out in the cold.