Turtle: The Incredible Journey – SeaWorld’s First Film will Premier in Orlando

When SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment was cleaved from the In-Bev/Anheuser-Busch mothership they immediately realized they could no longer rely on ‘Free Beer’ for their main brand identity. They would have to focus on Conservation. Instead of counting on free beer for word of mouth, they’ve adopted a formula that has been successful for their theme park competitors — integrate movies, tv, and other media into the brand.

SeaWorld’s first big venture along that current is a great tale of conservation befitting their new brand — “Turtle: The Incredible Journey”. Turtle follows the life and migration of a loggerhead turtle from hatching to maturity and a return to its original Florida nesting grounds.

The loggerhead turtle, a threatened species, has one of the longest and most difficult migratory patterns of any marine animal: Sea turtles newly hatched on the East Coast of the United States (usually in Florida) make their way from the sand into the ocean, and then begin a voyage that can span the entire Atlantic Ocean, only to return decades later to that same beach.

“This is a remarkable story crafted by one of the world’s most gifted documentary filmmakers,” said Scott Helmstedter, Chief Creative Officer for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. “Turtle: The Incredible Journey does what our parks have been doing for more than five decades: inspire, enrich and entertain. Helping bring this film and its powerful message of the fragility and beauty of our oceans to the public is what SeaWorld is and what we have always been about.”

National Geographic Explorer’s Nick Stringer directed Turtle, which SeaWorld Pictures calls a ‘Family Documentary.’ The film is narrated by Academy Award nominee Miranda Richardson, and will be released to theaters in both standard theatrical formats as well as 3D in selected locations. The movie will premier Friday, June 24th in Orlando.

Turtle looks to follow in the big box office numbers of March of the Penguins, and judging by its trailer, it just might get there.

Check out the trailer below the jump and let us know what you think: