"Babies" Watched by the Whole World
If you're a mom, heck, if you're a human, "Babies" might be the ultimate feel-good film.
CBS News correspondent Tracy Smith reports the film chronicles the first year in the lives of four babies from four walks of life: Mongolia, Japan, Namibia, and the United States.
The idea was to make a wildlife film of sorts: just lock down the camera, and watch what happens.
"You can see them learning very little things like eating a rock," said producer Alain Chabat. "It's not good, I won't eat a rock."
While some may gasp at the ideas other cultures have of babyproofing - there is a unifying theme: love.
Every parent knows you put a kid in front of a camera and magic happens. But this is a 79-minute film with no big stars, no dialogue, no narration. So the question are babies bankable box office?
"People are wondering - are 'babies' the new penguins?" asked Entertainment Weekly's Jill Bernstein.
She's referring to "March of the Penguins," which won Best Documentary in 2006, grossing over $77 million. That film had more of a plot, but some say "Babies" makes up for it in cuteness.
"That baby doesn't know you're watching it and it's fascinating to watch a creature that doesn't know he or she is being watched," Bernstein said.
Thanks in part to a perfectly timed Mother's Day release, "Babies" has already gotten lots of attention: Newspaper headlines, a Facebook page, and over 400,000 hits on YouTube.
While it may not be able to take on that other film opening this weekend, "Iron Man 2," "Babies" does have a built in audience. Even Iron Man had a mother.
