From creating the cartoon Captain Planet, to donating an unprecedented $1 billion to the United Nations and the formation of the Turner Foundation, the documentary featureTed Turner: Captain Planet tracks the CNN founder’s passion for the natural environment and his ambitious goal to conserve all species.
“When I was a little boy, about 10 years old, I read National Geographic magazine and it had an article about bison, and it said how close they came to extinction,” Turner tells Dr Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent. “I decided then that I would do what I could to help bring the bison back and preserve them.”
The hour long documentary is being screened on CNN this weekend. In it, Gupta interviews Turner about his longstanding conservation efforts and the ongoing climate emergency.
Over the course of the hour-long CNN special, those who know him and his environmental work best – from Al Gore, Jane Fonda, and Bill Gates; to his own family and Ted Turner himself – tell the story of the cause closest to his heart, hosted from his ranch in Montana.
Turner owns 16 ranches in the United States, covering a total of almost two million acres — 10 times the size of New York City — making him the second-biggest landowner in North America. Gupta accompanied him to the Snowcrest Ranch, which is home to some of Turner’s private herd of more than 50 000 free-roaming bison.
Despite being diagnosed with Lewy body dementia in recent years, Turner told Gupta he remained committed to the climate cause. “It’s a life or death issue. We only have one climate. We better take care of it… I’m not patting myself on the back yet, we haven’t saved everything yet. When we’ve saved everything, then I’ll celebrate.”
Ted Turner: Captain Planet airs on CNN International at the following times (All BST):
Friday 27 September at 12:00 (13:00 SAST)
Saturday 28 September at 20:00 (21:00 SAST)
Monday 30 September at 01:00 (2:00 SAST)
