Dinosaur!
Encyclopedia
Dinosaur! is an American
television documentary
about dinosaur
s. It was first aired on CBS
in the United States
on November 5, 1985. Years later, in 1991, another documentary entitled Dinosaur!, not related with that one, was hosted on A&E
by CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite
.
, who became famous some years sooner thanks to his leading role of Superman. Jointly with Reeve's narration the documentary shows special effects scenes (which reconstruct dinosaurs and their era) all along with paleontologists
interviews, the most famous at the time of the documentary shooting. Some of those paleontologists were Jack Horner
and Robert Bakker
(Americans) and Dale Russell
(Canadian). The show starts with the mating of Hadrosaurus
. The female soon lays a clutch of eggs that are eaten by a Struthiomimus
, except for one. When the Struthiomimus eats the egg it stole, it is then hunted and killed by a pair of Deinonychus
. The remaining Hadrosaurus egg hatches and grows into a teenage dinosaur. While it is out grazing with its parents, it wanders off and almost gets killed by a Tyrannosaurus rex
. But the parents hear its cries and knock the Tyrannosaurus over with their strong tails. That night, the T-Rex manages to kill a Hadrosaurus and obtain a meal. Next morning, a herd of Monoclonius
is seen grazing. One member wanders off into the forest in search of flowers. The T-Rex shows up and starts to stalk it. It steps on a stick, making the Monoclonius wary. Soon night falls, and it tries to find the herd. It soon stumbles upon the remains of the eaten Hadrosaurus and becomes scared. The Tyrannosaurus then ambushes it and bites hard on its back. The Monoclonius breaks free and stabs the Tyrannosaurus in the shin. But all that does is anger the predator. The Monoclonius becomes cornered and is killed by one deadly bite. Next day, a herd of Apatosaurus
are busy eating from trees. They use their long necks to reach the branches. The next morning, all seems calm. Suddenly, a huge meteorite crashes into Earth and kills the dinosaurs. After that, a small mouse-like mammal is seen climbing out of a dead Tyrannosaurus skull, signaling the start of mammals ruling the Earth.
the sequence was titled Prehistoric Beast
and tried to improve go motion
animation special effects techniques. The story of the short was simple : the chase and predation of a Monoclonius
by a Tyrannosaurus
. This short animated movie was only released in specialized animation festivals, but it convinced Robert Guenette and Steven Paul Mark to request Tippett's skills in order to transform it in a full length documentary. They then asked Tippett to realise new sequences with other dinosaur species, like Hadrosaurus
, Deinonychus
, Struthiomimus
, Brontosaurus
(this genus
is called Brontosaurus in the documentary although the nowadays scientific consensus name it Apatosaurus) and also additional images of an asteroid
, the one supposed to have crashed into the Earth
, causing the dinosaur's extinction. Adding all this new material to the material from Prehistoric Beast the editing resulted in the 1985 Dinosaur! documentary. Tippett had yet participated in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
(1980) animating the tauntauns seen in the movie, and his experimental work on Prehistoric Beast and Dinosaur! served to the animated dinosaurs sequences he made some years later for Jurassic Park
(1993).
and Los Angeles
, and in some fossiliferous locations of the United States as well. Christopher Reeve was a dino fan and demonstrated his enthusiasm for the shooting by flying with his own plane to the American Museum of Natural History
in New York and requesting himself the re-shooting of several scenes.
Some excerpts from old movies were shown in Dinosaur! in order to explain how popular were dinosaurs in cinema. One of those excerpts came from the movie King Kong
(1933). On this King Kong scene a character pronounces the words "prehistoric beast", which is the title chosen by Phil Tippett for his experimental short, before becoming a full length documentary. Titled Dinosaur!, that documentary was finally aired on CBS on November 5, 1985.
Dinosaur! aired again on the Disney Channel
during the 1990s before it went from being a premium pay channel on cable to a standard channel. It had a VHS release on May 5, 1993 by Lionsgate Entertainment.
. It was used in again the 1995 and 1996 Windows remake of the game.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television documentary
Television documentary
Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.* Documentary television series, a television series which is made up of documentary episodes....
about dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s. It was first aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on November 5, 1985. Years later, in 1991, another documentary entitled Dinosaur!, not related with that one, was hosted on A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
by CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
.
Content
Directed by Robert Guenette and written by Steven Paul Mark Dinosaur! was hosted by American actor Christopher ReeveChristopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
, who became famous some years sooner thanks to his leading role of Superman. Jointly with Reeve's narration the documentary shows special effects scenes (which reconstruct dinosaurs and their era) all along with paleontologists
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
interviews, the most famous at the time of the documentary shooting. Some of those paleontologists were Jack Horner
Jack Horner (paleontologist)
John "Jack" R. Horner is an American paleontologist who discovered and named Maiasaura, providing the first clear evidence that some dinosaurs cared for their young. He is one of the best-known paleontologists in the United States...
and Robert Bakker
Robert T. Bakker
Robert T. Bakker is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were endothermic...
(Americans) and Dale Russell
Dale Russell
Dale A. Russell is a Canadian geologist/palaeontologist, currently Research Professor at The Department of Marine Earth and Atmospheric Sciences of North Carolina State University...
(Canadian). The show starts with the mating of Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus is a valid genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur from this genus was the first dinosaur skeleton known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton...
. The female soon lays a clutch of eggs that are eaten by a Struthiomimus
Struthiomimus
Struthiomimus is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. It was a long-legged, ostrich-like dinosaur.The bipedal Struthiomimus stood about long and tall at the hips and weighed around...
, except for one. When the Struthiomimus eats the egg it stole, it is then hunted and killed by a pair of Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
. The remaining Hadrosaurus egg hatches and grows into a teenage dinosaur. While it is out grazing with its parents, it wanders off and almost gets killed by a Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. But the parents hear its cries and knock the Tyrannosaurus over with their strong tails. That night, the T-Rex manages to kill a Hadrosaurus and obtain a meal. Next morning, a herd of Monoclonius
Monoclonius
Monoclonius was a ceratopsian dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Late Cretaceous Montana and Canada. It is often confused with Centrosaurus, a similar genus of ceratopsian . Monoclonius was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1876...
is seen grazing. One member wanders off into the forest in search of flowers. The T-Rex shows up and starts to stalk it. It steps on a stick, making the Monoclonius wary. Soon night falls, and it tries to find the herd. It soon stumbles upon the remains of the eaten Hadrosaurus and becomes scared. The Tyrannosaurus then ambushes it and bites hard on its back. The Monoclonius breaks free and stabs the Tyrannosaurus in the shin. But all that does is anger the predator. The Monoclonius becomes cornered and is killed by one deadly bite. Next day, a herd of Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
are busy eating from trees. They use their long necks to reach the branches. The next morning, all seems calm. Suddenly, a huge meteorite crashes into Earth and kills the dinosaurs. After that, a small mouse-like mammal is seen climbing out of a dead Tyrannosaurus skull, signaling the start of mammals ruling the Earth.
Origins of the project
Before becoming a full length television documentary Dinosaur! was a 1984 ten minutes long experimental sequence. Entirely conceived and created by Phil TippettPhil Tippett
Phil Tippett is a movie director and an award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design and character animation.-Early career:...
the sequence was titled Prehistoric Beast
Prehistoric Beast
Prehistoric Beast is a ten minutes long experimental animated film fully conceived and made by Phil Tippett in 1984. This sequence is considered as being the first film produced by the Tippett Studio, founded by Tippett himself in 1984...
and tried to improve go motion
Go motion
Go motion is a variation of stop motion animation, and was co-developed by Industrial Light & Magic and Phil Tippett.- History :Tippett and Industrial Light & Magic created the go motion technique for the first time for some shots of the tauntaun creatures and AT-AT walkers in the 1980 Star Wars...
animation special effects techniques. The story of the short was simple : the chase and predation of a Monoclonius
Monoclonius
Monoclonius was a ceratopsian dinosaur from the Judith River Formation of Late Cretaceous Montana and Canada. It is often confused with Centrosaurus, a similar genus of ceratopsian . Monoclonius was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1876...
by a Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
. This short animated movie was only released in specialized animation festivals, but it convinced Robert Guenette and Steven Paul Mark to request Tippett's skills in order to transform it in a full length documentary. They then asked Tippett to realise new sequences with other dinosaur species, like Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus
Hadrosaurus is a valid genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. In 1858, a skeleton of a dinosaur from this genus was the first dinosaur skeleton known from more than isolated teeth to be found in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton...
, Deinonychus
Deinonychus
Deinonychus was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. There is one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This 3.4 meter long dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago . Fossils have been recovered from the U.S...
, Struthiomimus
Struthiomimus
Struthiomimus is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. It was a long-legged, ostrich-like dinosaur.The bipedal Struthiomimus stood about long and tall at the hips and weighed around...
, Brontosaurus
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
(this genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
is called Brontosaurus in the documentary although the nowadays scientific consensus name it Apatosaurus) and also additional images of an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
, the one supposed to have crashed into the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, causing the dinosaur's extinction. Adding all this new material to the material from Prehistoric Beast the editing resulted in the 1985 Dinosaur! documentary. Tippett had yet participated in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
(1980) animating the tauntauns seen in the movie, and his experimental work on Prehistoric Beast and Dinosaur! served to the animated dinosaurs sequences he made some years later for Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
(1993).
Shooting, airings and VHS releases
Dinosaur! was mainly shot in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and in some fossiliferous locations of the United States as well. Christopher Reeve was a dino fan and demonstrated his enthusiasm for the shooting by flying with his own plane to the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...
in New York and requesting himself the re-shooting of several scenes.
Some excerpts from old movies were shown in Dinosaur! in order to explain how popular were dinosaurs in cinema. One of those excerpts came from the movie King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
(1933). On this King Kong scene a character pronounces the words "prehistoric beast", which is the title chosen by Phil Tippett for his experimental short, before becoming a full length documentary. Titled Dinosaur!, that documentary was finally aired on CBS on November 5, 1985.
Dinosaur! aired again on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
during the 1990s before it went from being a premium pay channel on cable to a standard channel. It had a VHS release on May 5, 1993 by Lionsgate Entertainment.
Legacy
Some footage of Dinosaur! would be re-dubbed with different sound effects and music in the Original 3-D Dinosaur Adventure for MS-DOS operating systems by Knowledge AdventureKnowledge Adventure
Knowledge Adventure, Inc. is a maker of educational software including the Adiboo and JumpStart series of grade-based and subject-based titles, such as My First Encyclopedia. It was established in the late 1980s in Los Angeles, then later merged with another large education software firm, Davidson...
. It was used in again the 1995 and 1996 Windows remake of the game.