Jane Goodall has been working with Chimpanzees for years and years. She wanted to work with them since she read the book Tarzan and she joked with us that the book is so much better than all of the movie versions. So I’m thinking about reading it myself. Not only has she worked with Chimpanzees for many years, she’s also made a difference in the lives of children for years. She has opened schools and teaches children to make a difference in our world. Our children need to recycle, reuse and believe in themselves. Plus we all need to start understanding where our products come from, what’s in them, and how were they made. She’s so passionate about it she almost cursed saying…..”but it’s really rubbish to think that you’ve got to be cold and objective. And quite honestly, that’s what [STUTTERS] has gone wrong with the planet. We’ve lost the wisdom of making a decision today based on, "How will this affect our people generations ahead?"

Jane Goodall is a gentle flower until it comes to people that are not taking care of the Earth. People say that we are borrowing the earth from our children but she says we have been “stealing stealing stealing” and we need to stop and start making a difference. It’s up to us. She said it’s one of the reasons why she’s so passionate.

“But the reason I am so passionate about our youth program, Roots and Shoots, is because we have to raise a new generation to understand that, yes, we need money to live, but we wouldn’t live for money. And we need all of — all of the adults to admit that we haven’t inherited this planet from our parents but borrowed it from our children. We have to admit that’s wrong. We’ve been stealing from our children. We’re still stealing. We have to get together, if we care about conservation of chimpanzees.”

She was asked about her thoughts on the movie Chimpanzee and she said, “Uh, the crew, the film, sound, the effort that they made, the footage that they got, is stunning. And the story that unfolded is magical. And, you know, if Disney had planned it, they couldn’t have planned such an extraordinary story. So, very amazing.”

We also wanted to know how rare is it for an alpha male to take in a baby Chimpanzee? Her response was, “Well, we, normally, at Gumby, we’ve had, um, brothers adopt their little infant sister or brother. We had one 12-year old that’s like a human 15 or 16 adopt an unrelated infant. And over all these 52 years, I’ve heard of one other story of an alpha male adopting an infant, so it’s very rare. Very rare.”

One of my readers wanted to know if she had ever been injured and she immediately showed me her two thumbs in response. Once when she was visiting a chimpanzee that was in a testing facility that she HATES by the way. She said they are working very hard to bring an end to testing and observing the Chimpanzees in a cage. That Chimpanzee bit her thumb. You see she also said that the most common misconception with Chimpanzees is that they can be pets and they stay cute and safe to be around. Chimpanzees are wild animals and it’s important for us to remember that fact. It’s also very important to remember that every decision we make can affect the environment and we need to teach our kids to be aware and make a difference.

Thank you to Disneynature for giving me this amazing opportunity to meet and interview someone who has such a passionate message to share who makes a difference in our world every day. Disney paid for most expenses, not all on this press trip.