African Elephant originally played in theatres as King Elephant.. The film is a straightforward, well-photographed documentary concentrating on....well, look at the title. Avoiding the obvious, filmmaker Simon Trevor focuses on the more curious aspects of elephant life. In addition to the mighty pachyderm, we are given intriguing glimpses of other forms of African wildlife. African Elephant has no overt ecological ax to grind, but the preservationist message is there by implication.