Items15The creator’s order
  1. 1Microcosmos (1996)Microcosmos (1996) 7.9/10 on IMDbReleased Sep 6, 1996Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou make a stretch of meadow feel as big as a forest. The camera built for the film puts the grass at eye level, and the film gives tiny, easily missed encounters the space of a full scene.0
  2. 2Life in the Undergrowth (2005)Life in the Undergrowth (2005) 9.0/10 on IMDbFirst aired Nov 23, 2005Start with “Taking to the Air.” David Attenborough shows how insects use flight once they're airborne. Ultra-slow motion makes a bluebottle flying upside down and a dragonfly catching prey much easier to follow.0
  3. 3My Garden of a Thousand Bees (2021)My Garden of a Thousand Bees (2021)Released Oct 20, 2021In one Bristol backyard, filmmaker Martin Dohrn keeps coming back until he can follow individual wild bees. Lenses he made himself get close enough to catch a yellow-faced bee defending her nest from a wasp.0
  4. 4Tiny World (2020)Tiny World (2020) 8.8/10 on IMDbFirst aired Oct 2, 2020This Paul Rudd-narrated series picks out the smallest residents of one habitat at a time. Try “Reef” for an underwater change of scale, with close-up footage that gives the tiny animals time to prepare for a big night on the coral reef.0
  5. 5Spider HouseSpider HouseAlice Roberts and entomologist Tim Cockerill go into a spider-filled house to investigate what the animals do there. The BBC Four special uses close-up photography to investigate a particularly familiar mystery. How does a spider end up trapped in the bathtub?0
  6. 6A Real Bug's Life (2024)A Real Bug's Life (2024) 7.1/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 24, 2024A forest edge in Tennessee and a pond in England each get treated as a whole world. In the second season's behind-the-scenes episode, you can see the crew working with unusually small subjects, from keeping up with insects on the run to filming among army ants.0
  7. 7Hidden Kingdoms (2014)Hidden Kingdoms (2014) 8.0/10 on IMDbFirst aired Jan 16, 2014Running a regular route at ground level can be a feat of speed for a young sengi. In this BBC series, moving cameras follow that tiny mammal through the savanna. Look for the making-of material to see how the filmmakers dramatized some of the action.0
  8. 8Wings of Life (2013)Wings of Life (2013)Released Apr 5, 2013The scale here is a flower. High-speed and time-lapse photography give you time to see a visitor arrive and a plant change. Bees and butterflies share the screen with hummingbirds and bats, so the film is a useful introduction to how differently pollination can look.0
  9. 9Bugs That Rule the World (2025)Bugs That Rule the World (2025) 8.2/10 on IMDbFirst aired May 7, 2025PBS puts researchers alongside the insects they study. After the opening episode on declining insect populations, try “Eat or Be Eaten” to see what predatory insects do up close, including how a stick-like mantis disguises itself.0
  10. 10Bugs! A Rainforest AdventureBugs! A Rainforest AdventureTwo insects carry this giant-screen film, a praying mantis and a butterfly from Borneo. Shot on location and in a purpose-built studio, the 3D photography gives a small patch of the rainforest enough depth for the paths of hunter and prey to feel like journeys.0