Walt Disney Studios announced that documentary African Cats will be released April 22, 2011. This will mark the third straight year that Disney has scheduled a Disneynature movie for Earth Day, following Earth in 2009 and the upcoming Oceans in 2010.

African Cats will follow different African cat families, focusing on how they survive on the plains of Africa. It is currently the only nationwide release scheduled for April 22, 2011, and is sandwiched between horror sequel Scream 4 on April 15 and comic book adaptation Thor on May 6.

Earth opened to $8.8 million, ultimately grossing $32 million, and currently ranks as the third highest-grossing documentary ever, behind Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119.2 million) and March of the Penguins ($77.4 million). It added another $76.9 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $108.9 million.

Oceans, the second Disneynature Earth Day release, is scheduled to hit theaters two weeks from Thursday. It will go head-to-head with Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan and comic book action flick The Losers. Oceans has already debuted in a few foreign markets (Japan, France, Germany, among others), grossing over $50 million so far.

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• Release Schedule New Dates & Changes

• Genre: Documentary

• Genre: Documentary - Nature