The world of the Sri Lankan macaque is a deeply unfair one. The alpha male, his female deputies and their children reside high above the tribe, enjoying peaceful repasts from blooming branches, while the masses risk their lives searching for food on the ground amid predatory lizards and bears.

If the lord and ladies of the macaque realm find one of the hoi polloi hoarding food for herself, they won't think twice about punishing her through physical attacks — and even the abduction of her baby.

There's a "Hunger Games" element to these gross injustices, which goes a long way in explaining why the Disney nature doc "Monkey Kingdom" is simultaneously so diverting and so familiar. Narrated by Tina Fey, the film boasts all the cinematic strengths we've come to expect from Disney, including sky-high production values, intimate footage of wildlife and broad comic archetypes to keep fidgeters of all ages in their seats.

But director Mark Linfield's film is also distinguished by its fascinating focus on the rigid but not immutable social hierarchy of the macaque world, as well as a smartly structured story of repression, rebellion and triumph.

A Katniss-like figure emerges in Maya, a macaque of humble status who is wooed by a male outsider. Kumar peels back his lips and flamboyantly chatters his big, yellow teeth to get her attention, which earns him a chiding from Fey: "Come on, Kumar. Play it cool, man." His showiness soon gets him exiled by the alpha monkey Raja, but not before Maya's daily struggle to find food is exacerbated by the needs of her new son, Kip.

Fey calls single-mom Maya a "heroine," and it's hard to disagree. Much of the running time is devoted to the maternal macaque's desperate search for food anywhere she can find it: far afield from the protection of the tribe, underwater, even at a children's birthday party. Eventually, Maya is forced to defend her unequal society from invaders.

Springy, cat-sized, and none-too-shy, the macaques are a delight to behold if also somewhat repulsive. Combined with Fey's slightly sarcastic (and consistently funny) commentary — she even gets in a couple of crowd-pleasing digs at the mean girls of the macaque world — the film's refusal to rely simply on animal adorableness makes it feel like a marginally more mature outing from Disney. To quote "Aladdin": "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."