Former American president Barack Obama has found a new gig. Netflix has released the official trailer for Our Great National Parks, a docuseries featuring Obama as its narrator. A five-part series, Our Great National Parks will invite viewers to "celebrate and discover the power of our planet's greatest national parks and wild spaces." Watch the new trailer below.
Per Netflix, the series features Obama, who "protected more public lands and waters than any other U.S. President in history," and "invites viewers to experience nature in the world's most iconic national parks. Spanning five continents, the series brims with wonder, humor, and optimism as each episode tells the story of a national park through the lives of its wildest residents — both big and exceptionally small — and explores our changing relationship with wilderness.
Traveling from the waters of Monterey Bay, California, to the bright red soil of Kenya’s Tsavo National Park, the lush rainforests of Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park, the majestic terrain of Chilean Patagonia, and more, Our Great National Parks beckons us to get out and explore, create new ways for these wild places to thrive, and vigorously preserve them for future generations to come."
The project is a collaboration between Wild Space, Higher Ground Productions, and Freeborne Media. In addition to narrating, Barack Obama also executive produces the series with James Horneyborne and Tonia Davis. Sophie Todd produces.
Barack and Michelle Obama First Partnered Up with Netflix in 2018
In 2018, it was reported that the Obamas were teaming up with Netflix. Some of the content they've brought Netflix includes the Oscar-nominated doc American Factory, the Michelle Obama doc Becoming, and Michelle's kids cooking series Waffles + Mochi. There will be plenty more to come from the Obamas, such as adaptations of Angeline Boulley's The Firekeeper's Daughter and Mohsin Hamid's Exit West. The Obamas may no longer have their hands full with White House duties but they certainly haven't gotten any less busy since 2016.
"One of the simple joys of our time in public service was getting to meet so many fascinating people from all walks of life, and to help them share their experiences with a wider audience," Obama said in a statement at the time of the partnership's announcement. "That's why Michelle and I are so excited to partner with Netflix, we hope to cultivate and curate the talented, inspiring, creative voices who are able to promote greater empathy and understanding between peoples, and help them share their stories with the entire world."
Netflix COO Ted Sarandos said: "Barack and Michelle Obama are among the world's most respected and highly-recognized public figures and are uniquely positioned to discover and highlight stories of people who make a difference in their communities and strive to change the world for the better. We are incredibly proud they have chosen to make Netflix the home for their formidable storytelling abilities."
Our Great National Parks is scheduled to make its streaming debut on April 13, 2022, on Netflix.