Seal Island is a 1948 short documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed by James Algar

James Algar

James Algar was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He received the Disney Legends award in 1998.He was born in Modesto, California and died in Carmel, California.-Selected filmography:...

. It won an Academy Award in 1949

21st Academy Awards

The 21st Academy Awards features numerous firsts. It was the first time a non-Hollywood production won Best Picture, Hamlet. It was the first time an individual directed himself in an Oscar-winning performance...

 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel)

Academy Award for Live Action Short Film

This name for the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film was introduced in 1974. For the three preceding years it was known as "Short Subjects, Live Action Films." The term "Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects" was used from 1957 until 1970. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate...

.

Production

In 1947, Walt Disney contracted Alfred and Elma Milotte to shoot documentary footage of the wildlife and culture of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. Disney did not see the theatrical value in the footage of human activity in Alaska, but he was intrigued with footage that the Milottes shot of the seal population at the Pribilof Islands

Pribilof Islands

The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberia coast is roughly northwest...

. Disney himself coined the title Seal Island for the film, and planned it as the first in a new series of nature documentaries called True-Life Adventures.

The Milottes shot over 100,000 feet of film and spent over a year filming the seals. The total production cost Disney a little over $100,000.

Release

RKO Radio Pictures, the studio distributing Disney’s films at the time, initially refused to release the half-hour Seal Island. Disney booked the film for its Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

theatrical engagements, and RKO agreed to release the film nationally only after it proved its commercial potential and received the Academy Award.