| Walking with Dinosaurs | |
|---|---|
 Cover of a 2004 UK DVD release | |
| Genre | Nature documentary |
| Created by | Tim Haines[1] Susan Spindler[2][3] |
| Directed by | Tim Haines Jasper James |
| Creative director | Mike Milne |
| Narrated by | Kenneth Branagh Avery Brooks (US) Ben Stiller (Prehistoric Planet) |
| Composer | Ben Bartlett |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 (+3 special) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | John Lynch |
| Producers | Tim Haines Jasper James |
| Cinematography | John Howarth Michael Pitts |
| Editor | Andrew Wilks |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | BBC Science Unit[4] |
| Budget | £6.1 million[5] |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 4 October (1999-10-04) – 8 November 1999 (1999-11-08) |
Walking with Dinosaurs is a 1999 six-partnature documentary televisionminiseries created byTim Haines and produced by theBBC Science Unit, theDiscovery Channel andBBC Worldwide, in association withTV Asahi,ProSieben andFrance 3. Envisioned as the first "Natural History ofDinosaurs",Walking with Dinosaurs depictsdinosaurs and otherMesozoic animals as living animals in the style of a traditional nature documentary. The series first aired on theBBC in the United Kingdom in 1999 with narration byKenneth Branagh.[6] The series was subsequently aired in North America on theDiscovery Channel in2000, withAvery Brooks replacing Branagh.
Walking with Dinosaurs recreated extinct species through the combined use ofcomputer-generated imagery andanimatronics that were incorporated withlive action footage shot at various locations, the techniques being inspired by the filmJurassic Park (1993). At a cost of £6.1 million ($9.9 million),Walking with Dinosaurs cost over £37,654 ($61,112) per minute to produce, making it the most expensive documentary series per minute ever made.[5] The visual effects of the series were initially believed to be far too expensive to produce, but innovative techniques by the award-winning graphics companyFramestore made it possible to bring down costs sufficiently to produce the three-hour series.
With 15 million people viewing the first airing of the first episode,Walking with Dinosaurs was by far the most watched science programme in British television during the 20th century.[7] The series received critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including twoBAFTA Awards, threeEmmy Awards and aPeabody Award. Most scientists applaudedWalking with Dinosaurs for its use of scientific research and for its portrayal of dinosaurs as animals and not movie monsters.[8] Some scientific criticism was leveled at the narration not making clear what was speculation and what was not, and a handful of specific scientific errors.
The success ofWalking with Dinosaurs spawned an entirely new genre of documentaries that similarly recreated past life with computer graphics and were made in the style of traditional nature documentaries. It also led to the creation of an entire media franchise of similar sequel documentary series, theWalking with... franchise produced by theBBC Studios Science Unit,[4] which includedWalking with Beasts (2001),Walking with Cavemen (2003),Sea Monsters (2003) andWalking with Monsters (2005). The series was accompanied by companion books and an innovative companion website. Additionally,Walking with Dinosaurs inspired the creation of exhibitions, the live theatrical showWalking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular, video games, and a2013 film adaptation. Along withJurassic Park,Walking with Dinosaurs is often cited as among the most influential media depictions of dinosaurs.
In 2024, theBBC andPBS announced a new reinvention ofWalking with Dinosaurs is in production.[9]
Envisioned as the first "Natural History of Dinosaurs" and a series that would provide viewers with "a window into a lost world",[7]Walking with Dinosaurs explores life in theMesozoic era, particularlydinosaurs, in the format of a traditionalnature documentary.
Walking with Dinosaurs was the brainchild ofTim Haines, who came with the idea in 1996 while he was working as a sciencetelevision producer at theBBC.[1] Then-head ofBBC ScienceJana Bennett had at the time started a policy of encouraging producers to pitch possible future landmark series, with the goal of increasing the science output of the BBC and raising the bar of science programming. Bennett had mainly asked for suggestions for series ongeology,medicine andnatural history.[10] The idea forWalking with Dinosaurs was devised in the aftermath of the release of the filmJurassic Park in 1993, which had set a new benchmark for dinosaur entertainment.[1] Initially, Haines idea revolved around a history ofpalaeontology with some reconstructions but this was deemed to not be ambitious enough, shortly thereafter he devised the idea of a dinosaur series made with the look and feel of a natural history programme.[10]
Haines suggested that the same techniques employed in the production ofJurassic Park could be used to create a series of nature documentary programmes. According to Haines, the aim ofWalking with Dinosaurs was to "create an immersive experience that was both spectacular and informative".[1] Haines investigated the costs that would be involved in the project.[1] He first initially approachedIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM), the company responsible for creating the visual effects inJurassic Park, which projected a cost of $10,000 per second of dinosaur footage, far too expensive for a television series.[11] ThoughJurassic Park had only nine minutes of dinosaur footage, the series envisioned by Haines would require three hours. As a result, Haines initially changed his idea to the programme mainly consisting of footage of plants, insects and landscapes with dinosaurs appearing only occasionally.[1][10]
The concept for the series changed back to frequent CGI creatures after Haines spoke with the UK-based graphics companyFramestore.[1] Framestore had previously wonEmmy Awards for their work on films such asAlice in Wonderland (1999) and miniseries such asGulliver's Travels (1996).[11] The head of Framestore,Mike Milne, at first turned down the project owing to its projected cost but later accepted since he realised that he would later regret it if another company took it up.[12] Milne understood the concept of the programme and was able to bring down the cost of the animation considerably through flexibility and imagination.[1] With Milne's assurance that making the programme would be possible, Haines pitched the idea to Bennett as a 6-episode series of 30-minute episodes and he called itWalking with Dinosaurs, at this time only intended to be aworking title and deriving from Haines misremembering the title of the 1990 filmDances with Wolves.[10]
The BBC liked the concept ofWalking with Dinosaurs but were nervous whether a series of its scale was actually achievable. After also pitching the idea toBBC Worldwide, Haines was granted £100,000 to produce a shortpilot episode. In the spring of 1997, Haines, accompanied by a single cameraman, travelled to a national park nearPaphos in Cyprus to shoot footage for the pilot. Milne then gathered a small team to produce models and animations.[10] The resultingproof-of-concept pilot, finished by the summer of 1997, was six minutes long.[1] The only consultant so far brought in for the project was the palaeontologist David Martill, who offered his services on the pilot for free if he could then stay on as a consultant should the pilot succeed and a series be made.[12]
The pilot episode was marine-themed,[12] revolving around a beached giantpliosaur,[10] and based on the fossils of theJurassicOxford Clay in England (a setting later used for the episodeCruel Sea), a setting suggested by Martill. After concerns that the marine episode might not have enough "superstar" animals, Martill suggested the inclusion of thetheropod dinosaurEustreptospondylus. One of the major differences between the pilot and the later series was that it included partialx-rays of the inner workings of the animals so that they could be better explained. In the later series this was abandoned in favour of a more standard "natural history" aesthetic.[12] In addition to the pilot, Framestore also produced stills and a shorter trailer with a group ofplesiosaurs hunting fish to sell the idea ofWalking with Dinosaurs.[10]
There was already considerable interest in the series by the time the pilot was shown owing to the trailer and stills produced by Framestore. Jana Bennett also championed the idea of the series to bothMichael Jackson, controller ofBBC One, andMike Quattrone of theDiscovery Channel.[10] The pilot was then enough to persuade the BBC, BBC Worldwide, and the Discovery Channel to fund the production ofWalking with Dinosaurs.[1] Approximately third of theWalking with Dinosaurs budget came from BBC One, a third from the Discovery Channel, and a third from BBC Worldwide. There were also major investments fromTV Asahi in Japan andProSieben in Germany.[10]
Walking with Dinosaurs was considered a high-risk production due to being highly expensive and using "Hollywood technology" to educate rather than just entertain.[13] In total,Walking with Dinosaurs cost £6.1 million ($9.9 million) to make. It cost over £37,654 ($61,112) per minute to produce, making it the most expensive documentary series per minute ever made.[5] It was during production billed as one of the most ambitious series ever produced.[14] Together with Haines, the series was also created by the acclaimed programme makerSusan Spindler, who had previously worked on the BBC seriesThe Human Body.[3] The team grew to encompass producerJasper James (who produced and directed the third and fourth episodes and also directed the sixth; Haines handled the rest), production manager Alison Woolnough and executive producer John Lynch.[10]
Haines spent two years speaking with scientists and reading both primary and secondary palaeontological sources to create the stories forWalking with Dinosaurs.[15] Though the goal was to make the programme feel as if it was just relaying natural events without intervention, as actual nature documentaries,Walking with Dinosaurs required Haines to plot out narratives and create storyboards.[16]
Production ofWalking with Dinosaurs took 18 months.[17] It was essential to the vision ofWalking with Dinosaurs that the age of the dinosaurs be represented as accurately as possible based on current scientific understanding. In addition to Haines's own research, the production team for the first six months devoted all their time to research and carefully chose particular moments during the Mesozoic that were most well-studied and well-understood by scientists[1] and which would be representative of the era and showcase interesting animals.[11] In addition to the producers doing their own research, over a hundred experts were consulted for every aspect of the series.[14]
Slowly, the production team focused in on animals about whom sufficient information was known to create larger narratives. As an example,Coelophysis was selected forNew Blood (the first episode) because it was a typical early dinosaur which scientists knew a lot about. Since the series also aimed to showcase the environment and other animals around the "star" dinosaurs,Coelophysis also presented an opportunity since it had been found atGhost Ranch,New Mexico, one of the world's richest fossil beds.[15] The behaviour of the animals depicted was primarily based on fossil evidence when possible (such as bite marks and fossil gut contents) and on behaviours in modern animals. Sometimes, behaviour was just reasoned guesses. For instance, the smallpterosaurAnurognathus is shown inTime of the Titans (the second episode) to use the massivesauropodDiplodocus as a feeding platform to hunt insects. This was based on certain modern birds; there is no evidence of such behaviour in pterosaurs and it would be difficult to prove with fossil evidence.[15]
In the summer of 1997 and in the winter of 1998, Haines and fellow producer Jasper James took a small crew[1] of eight people[18] to travel around the world to places where ancient plant life reminiscent of plants during the Mesozoic still existed; locations that could be used as backdrops for the series. Of particular importance was an absence ofgrass, which at the time was believed to not have existed during the Mesozoic. Filming took several weeks and locations included the Labyrinth inTasmania, thebeech gap onSouth Island in New Zealand, theredwood forests of California, thearaucaria forests inNew Caledonia and southern Chile[1] and the Bahamas.[11] Shooting at a single location usually lasted for about four weeks.[18] New Caledonia was particularly difficult to shoot in since theFrench Army were doing exercises there simultaneously and the film crew kept bumping into soldiers and tanks.[18]
Mike Milne andFramestore, consisting of fifteen designers,[11] began working on animating the dinosaurs at the same time as Haines and James were shooting footage for the series. Production of several hours of high quality photoreal animation had never been done before, not even for feature films.[1] The process of making the computer models began with creating claymaquettes, highly detailed small-scale physical models. Several palaeontologists were consulted during the process of making the maquettes.[11] In addition to David Martill, the consultants ofWalking with Dinosaurs included, among others, Kent Stevens,Thomas R. Holtz, David Norman, David Unwin, Ken Carpenter, Jo Wright andMichael J. Benton.[8] At times, details changed during production. For instance, the sauropod necks ofWalking with Dinosaurs were at first fully erect before being altered on the advice of the sauropod neck expert Kent Stevens.[12] In September 1998, Milne held a talk at the 46thSymposium on Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy (SVPCA) at theUniversity of Bournemouth, showcasing early renderings from the pilot and the series and gathering feedback from the palaeontologists in attendance.[12]
After the maquettes were completed, Framestore scanned them into their computers using both a high resolution laser and a set of software tools developed together withSoho-CyberScan specifically forWalking with Dinosaurs. The models were then imported intoSoftimage 3D, where they could be digitally manipulated and animated.[11] The animations were made by hand one frame at a time, an extremely time-consuming process, since it quickly became evident that any other method would have resulted in unconvincing animation. Since no one had ever seen a moving non-avian dinosaur, the animators based their animations on both footage of living animals, particularly elephants, and on information provided by palaeontologists. Palaeontologists provided information on the dynamics of dinosaur muscles, tendons and joints. In numerous cases, the animals inWalking with Dinosaurs had never before been animated with this level of scientific rigour. Many movements, such as the movement of pterosaurs on the ground, were educated guesses made based on scientific advice.[11]
The textures for the models were created through a process of science-based guessing, deriving from the inferred life behaviour of the animals, their diet and their size (larger animals in real life tend to have duller colours). The digital artistDaren Horley was responsible for creating the textures and patterns of the animals and was during production sent actual fossil examples of dinosaur skin impressions. Despite the fossils available, Horley found that there had to in some cases be some informed compromise between strict accuracy and what looked best on screen; the scales of some species were too small to be visible on television screens.[11]
The CGI shots were rendered by Framestore using eight twin-processor NT boxes, at times augmented with the SGI workstations (single R10K processors) of the animators.[11] The computer effects for the first episode took around a year to make, though the process could be significantly sped up afterwards; the five other episodes together took only six months.[1] Initially, Framestore produced 24 different computer-generated animals, but as the concept of the series grew they had made 40 different species by the end of production.[11]Compositing (adding the CGI together with the live footage) was done using fiveQuantel Henrys and fiveDiscreet Logic Infernos.[11]
Though most of the animal shots inWalking with Dinosaurs are CGI, the series also made extensive use ofanimatronics and puppets.[11] Haines explained in behind-the-scenes material that animatronics, despite advances in CGI, still played an important role, particularly in close-up shots; "The computer can fool the eye making a dinosaur run through a puddle and splashing but if you want a close-up of him dipping his nose into water and moving it back and forth, a computer-generated nose wouldn't look right."[19]
The animatronics and puppets ofWalking with Dinosaurs were made by the special effects companyCrawley Creatures.[8] Over 80 animatronic models were made for the series,[11][18] mostly for close-ups of heads or other body parts. In some cases full body versions were made, mostly for corpses but also for some animals, such asOphthalmosaurus.[11] The greatest challenge for the artist at Crawley Creatures was working against time, since they only had six weeks between location shoots to put together animatronics and puppets for the next episode. The most challenging animal to model was the large pterosaurOrnithocheirus, which had to be able to work in different positions for the purposes of the series and had to be extremely light-weight for purposes of transportation.[18]
After filming, several of the models used inWalking with Dinosaurs, including those ofOphthalmosaurus,Ornithocheirus andKoolasuchus, were given to David Martill and then used by him for educational purposes at theUniversity of Portsmouth. TheOphthalmosaurus model, having been dragged through water, had to be repaired and repainted and is today displayed for the public; theOrnithocheirus andKoolasuchus models were later sold. Numerous models also made their way to theOxford University Museum of Natural History due to an association between Crawley Creatures and the museum.[8]
Ben Bartlett composed the score forWalking with Dinosaurs. Bartlett was then working with the BBC, having produced somestation ident themes forBBC Radio 3. Bartlett was encouraged to accept the duties of composing the series' music at the behest of Haines and James. Bartlett wrote differentleitmotifs in separate styles for each episode, citing the different themes and settings presented in each episode as inspiration, elaborating, "I tried to create a different sound world for each episode ofWalking With Dinosaurs. That was easy, as they all had different moods. The first episode is all about heat and bloodlust, parched deserts and so on, while the second one was pastoral, peaceful, and beautiful, about dinosaurs living insymbiosis with the forests. And so on." The process of creating the score was that Bartlett would first watch the unscored episodes together with the directors, discussing with them possible music, and then write the music and produce a sample for approval. At times, this was difficult since the production of the computer graphics fell behind and some scenes were not finished in time for the recording sessions.[16]
The recording process took place atAngel Recording Studios inIslington, with four sessions scattered over the early months of 1999. The score was recorded by theBBC Concert Orchestra. During these sessions, Bartlett admitted to being enriched with experience by the task, stating, "It was the biggest orchestral endeavour I've ever undertaken, and I learnt so much from the first session. Practical things, like handing out the parts to the playersbefore the session, numbering pages... tiny logistical things that can really screw up a session." The BBC were early on impressed with the soundtrack and requested Bartlett and the orchestra to also produce tracks for aCD of the soundtrack.[16] The soundtrack was rereleased as a digital version for the 25th anniversary of the series, with three additional tracks covering material composed forThe Ballad of Big Al.[20]
BBC One aired the series weekly on Monday nights, with regular repeats the following Sunday. In 2010, the series was repeated onBBC Three inomnibus format, as three hour-long episodes.[21]
| No. | Title | Time period and location | Directed by | Original release date | U.K. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "New Blood" | Arizona, 220 mya (Late Triassic) | Tim Haines | 4 October 1999 (1999-10-04) | 18.91[22][a] | |
By a river, a femaleCoelophysis stalks a herd of dicynodonts calledPlacerias, looking for weak members to prey upon. Downstream, a malecynodont resides in a burrow with his family. A femalePostosuchus, arauisuchian and one of the largest carnivores alive in theTriassic, attacks thePlacerias herd, and wounds one individual; the herd scatters, leaving the woundedPlacerias to thePostosuchus. Earlypterosaurs calledPeteinosaurus are depicted feeding ondragonflies and cooling themselves in the little water remaining during the drought. Still searching for food, the femaleCoelophysis, alongside anotherCoelophysis, discovers the cynodont burrow; the male wards them off. Later that evening, after he goes off hunting, an inquisitive pup follows its father to the entrance and is caught by the femaleCoelophysis. At night, the cynodont paircannibalise their remaining pups and then move away. On the next day, theCoelophysis work to expose the nest. The femalePostosuchus meanwhile is shown to have been wounded by thePlacerias, a prior attack on them leaving her with a tusk wound on her thigh. After being unable to successfully hunt anotherPlacerias, she is expelled from her territory by a rival male. Wounded, sick, and without a territory, the femalePostosuchus dies and is eaten by a pack ofCoelophysis. As the dry season continues, food becomes scarce. ThePlacerias herd embarks on a journey in search of water, while theCoelophysis begin to cannibalise their young, and the male cynodont also resorts to hunting babyCoelophysis at night. Finally, the wet season arrives; the majority of theCoelophysis have survived (including the lead female), and the cynodont pair have a new clutch of eggs. The episode ends with the arrival of a migrating herd ofPlateosaurus, foreshadowing the dominance of thesauropods after theTriassic–Jurassic extinction event. | ||||||
| 2 | "Time of the Titans" | Colorado, 152 mya (Late Jurassic) | Tim Haines | 11 October 1999 (1999-10-11) | 17.75[22] | |
This episode follows the life of a femaleDiplodocus, beginning at the moment when her mother lays a clutch of eggs at the edge of a conifer forest. Three months later, some of the eggs hatch; the young sauropods are preyed upon byOrnitholestes. After hatching, the hatchlings retreat to the safety of the denser trees. They face many dangers as they grow, including predation byOrnitholestes andAllosaurus. Even aStegosaurus accidentally also kills one of the hatchlings by swinging its tail while fending off a pair ofAllosaurus. Elsewhere, adult herds ofDiplodocus are shown using their massive weight to topple trees in order to reachcycad leaves and giant ferns. EachDiplodocus hosts a small mobile habitat ofdamselflies,Anurognathus, anddung beetles. After some time, the creche ofDiplodocus have grown into subadults. Nearly all are killed by a huge forest fire; only three survivors emerge onto the open plains, including the young female. They encounter severalBrachiosaurus before only two reach safety of a herd of adultDiplodocus. Several years later, the female mates, and a few days after, is attacked by a bullAllosaurus. She is saved when anotherDiplodocus strikes theAllosaurus with its tail. She rejoins the herd, albeit with deep wounds on her side, but she will recover. The closing narration notes that the sauropods will only get larger, becoming the largest animals ever to walk the Earth. | ||||||
| 3 | "Cruel Sea" | Oxfordshire, 149 mya (Late Jurassic) | Jasper James | 18 October 1999 (1999-10-18) | 17.96[22] | |
The episode begins with aEustreptospondylus being snatched from the shore by a maleLiopleurodon. Meanwhile, hundreds ofOphthalmosaurus arrive from the open ocean to give birth.Hybodus and aLiopleurodon are on the hunt; when a motherOphthalmosaurus has trouble giving birth, a pair ofHybodus pursue her. They are frightened off by the maleLiopleurodon, which eats the front half of theichthyosaur. Meanwhile, aEustreptospondylus swims to an island and discovers a turtle carcass; it fights over the carcass with anotherEustreptospondylus. Later, during the night, a group ofhorseshoe crabs gather at the shore to lay their eggs, which attracts a flock ofRhamphorhynchus in the morning to eat the eggs. However, a few of the pterosaurs are caught and eaten by aEustreptospondylus. While theOphthalmosaurus juveniles are growing up, they are hunted byHybodus, which in turn, are prey for theLiopleurodon. While the maleLiopleurodon is hunting, he encounters a femaleLiopleurodon; after the male bites one of her flippers, she retreats from his territory, and a group ofHybodus follows the trail of her blood. Acyclone strikes the islands, killing many animals, including severalRhamphorhynchus and theLiopleurodon, who is washed ashore and eventually suffocates under his own weight. A group ofEustreptospondylus feed on his carcass. At the end of the episode, the juvenileOphthalmosaurus that survived the storm are now large enough to swim off and live in the open sea. | ||||||
| 4 | "Giant of the Skies" | Various, 127 mya (Early Cretaceous) | Jasper James | 25 October 1999 (1999-10-25) | 16.8[22] | |
The episode begins with a maleOrnithocheirus[b] dead on a beach. Six months earlier, theOrnithocheirus, resting among a colony of breedingTapejaras inBrazil, flies off forCantabria where he too must mate. He flies past amigrating group ofIguanodon and the nodosaurPolacanthus. He reaches the southern tip ofNorth America, where he is forced to seek shelter from a storm. He grooms himself, expelling his body of fleas; the crest on his jaw begins to change colour in preparation for the mating season. He then sets off across theAtlantic, which was then only 300 kilometres (186 miles) wide, and after a whole day on the wing, reaches the westernmost of the European islands. He does not rest there however, as a pack ofUtahraptors are huntingIguanodon; a youngUtahraptor is bullied off anIguanodon carcass by the adults. TheOrnithocheirus flies to the outskirts of a forest to rest after stealing a fish from another pterosaur, but is driven away by a flock ofIberomesornis. Flying on, he reaches Cantabria, but due to the delays, exhaustion, and old age he cannot reach the centre of the many grounded maleOrnithocheirus and consequently he does not mate. After several days under the sun trying to attract a mate, the protagonistOrnithocheirus dies from a combination of heat, stress and starvation. The same fate befalls others who had lost out in the attempt to attract a mate. The next generation ofOrnithocheirus feeds on their corpses. | ||||||
| 5 | "Spirits of the Ice Forest" | Antarctica, 106 mya (Early Cretaceous) | Tim Haines | 1 November 1999 (1999-11-01) | 15.95[22] | |
A few hundred kilometres from theSouth Pole, a clan ofLeaellynasaura emerge during spring after several months of total darkness. They feed on the fresh plant growth (which has adapted to the changing seasons), and build nests to lay their eggs; aKoolasuchus also wakes and heads to a river, where he will stay during the summer. Out on the banks of the river, migrating herds ofMuttaburrasaurus have also arrived to feed and lay their eggs. When summer arrives, many of theLeaellynasaura clan's eggs have been eaten; however, those of the matriarch hatch successfully. Meanwhile, a malepolar allosauroid[c] hunts both theLeaellynasaura and theMuttaburrasaurus, the latter species also having to deal with blood-sucking insects. When autumn arrives, theMuttaburrasaurus herd begins to migrate, and theKoolasuchus leaves the river to find a pool for hibernation. During the migration, someMuttaburrasaurus become lost in the forest; they vocalize loudly while trying to return to their herd, preventing theLeaellynasaura clan's sentries from hearing the polar allosaur approaching. It manages to kill the matriarch of the clan. Winter descends and the forest is shrouded in darkness, but the now matriarch-lessLeaellynasaura clan is able to stay active, using their large eyes to help them forage for food. The clan and other creatures are also shown to use various methods of coping with the cold such as being frozen alive or suspended animation. Finally, spring returns, and twoLeaellynasaura males challenge each other for the right to mate, and the clan establishes a new dominant pair. The closing narration acknowledges that soon this landmass will be pulled closer to the South Pole and when that happens, this unique ecosystem and its inhabitants will disappear. | ||||||
| 6 | "Death of a Dynasty" | Montana, 65.5 mya (Late Cretaceous) | Jasper James | 8 November 1999 (1999-11-08) | 15.69[22] | |
Several months before theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, the last dinosaurs are living under intense environmental stress due to excessivevolcanism. A femaleTyrannosaurus abandons her nest, the eggs rendered infertile due to acidic pollution. Her calls for a mate are answered by a smaller male, who kills a youngTriceratops to appease her. Three days later, after repeated copulation, she drives him off. The mother fasts as she tends to her nest, contending with raids bydromaeosaurs andDidelphodon. Meanwhile, herds ofAnatotitan wander between islands of vegetation among the volcanic ash, andTorosaurus rut for the right to mate, while losing their young to attacking dromaeosaurs. Only three of theTyrannosaurus eggs hatch; the mother hunts anAnatotitan to feed herself and her brood. Several days later, while defending her two surviving offspring, the mother is fatally injured by the tail of anAnkylosaurus. The juveniles remain expectantly next to the carcass of their mother the next morning; several hours later, they are killed along with the other dinosaurs in the region by the impact of acomet in theGulf of Mexico. The impact, said to be as powerful as ten billionHiroshima bombs, resulted in 65% of life -the dinosaurs included- dying out in the ensuing cataclysmic changes to the climate. In an epilogue, the present-day African plains are shown; while they are now dominated bymammals after millions of years of recovery from the impact, they are still populated by a small group of dinosaurs that did survive the extinction: thebirds. | ||||||
| – | "The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs" | N/A | Jasper James | 6 October 1999 (1999-10-06) | 7.19[22] | |
Behind-the-scenes documentary: 50-minute special documenting the series' paleontological influence, animatronic effects, CGI and the real location shooting for the series background. | ||||||
Three special episodes ofWalking with Dinosaurs have been produced since the end of the original series. The first special wasThe Ballad of Big Al (2000), which closely followed the format of the original series but mostly focused on a single individual animal, anAllosaurus specimen nicknamed"Big Al".[24] In response to complaints from scientists that many details in the original series seemed speculative,The Ballad of Big Al explained virtually every decision in detail and how it was based on fossil evidence.[17] The two succeeding specials,The Giant Claw (2002) andLand of Giants (2003),[d] starred wildlife presenterNigel Marven as a "time-travelling zoologist", traveling back in time and interacting with various dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.[24][e]
| No. | Title | Time period and location | Directed by | Original release date | U.K. viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (7) | "The Ballad of Big Al" | Wyoming, 145 mya (Late Jurassic) | Kate Bartlett | 25 December 2000 (2000-12-25) | Unknown[22] | |
A biography of how theAllosaurus"Big Al" might have lived, in the same format as the original series. Includes many of the dinosaurs seen in the previous episodeTime of the Titans, alongside the new additionsApatosaurus andOthnielia. | ||||||
| – | "Big Al Uncovered"[28][f] | N/A | Kate Bartlett | 27 December 2000 (2000-12-27) | 6.72[22] | |
Behind-the-scenes documentary: A documentary following the scientific research that informed Big Al's life story, including the similarities dinosaurs shared with birds and Crocodilians, the fossil site that inspired the predator trap scene, and the fossil specimens Big Al and"Willo". | ||||||
| (8) | "The Giant Claw" | Mongolia, 75 mya (Late Cretaceous) | Tim Haines | 30 December 2002 (2002-12-30) | 6.83[22] | |
Nigel Marven searches the deserts and forests of Cretaceous Mongolia forTherizinosaurus, an obscure dinosaur with massive fossil claws, believing it to have been a huge carnivore. Throughout his journey, Marven comes face-to-face with dinosaurs such asSaurolophus,Protoceratops,Mononykus,Velociraptor andTarbosaurus, a close relative of the famousTyrannosaurus rex. Once Marven finds liveTherizinosaurus he discovers them to have been a bizarre type of giant plant-eating theropod dinosaur. | ||||||
| (9) | "Land of Giants" | Argentina, 100 mya (Middle Cretaceous) | Jasper James | 1 January 2003 (2003-01-01) | 5.76[22] | |
In Middle Cretaceous Argentina, Marven searches for the largest dinosaurs of all time. He encounters a herd ofArgentinosaurus, one of the largest sauropod dinosaurs, and observes the long and drawn-out hunt of the sauropods by one of the largest predatory dinosaurs,Giganotosaurus. During his journey, Marven also uses a small plane to fly with pterosaurs such asPteranodon andOrnithocheirus, and he also encounters the massive crocodyliformSarcosuchus. | ||||||
Walking with Dinosaurs was broadcast to record audiences[13] and is sometimes considered the biggest science documentary series ever created.[17] With 15 million viewers viewing the first episode on 4 October 1999 and another 3.91 million viewing it on its repeat the Sunday afterwards,Walking with Dinosaurs is by far the most watched science programme in British television history.[7] By late 2000, 200 million people worldwide had seen theWalking with Dinosaurs.[17] By 2005 the number had increased to almost 400 million[13] and by 2009 it was around 700 million;[29] unprecedented numbers for a palaeontology programme.[17] In theBFI TV 100, a list compiled by theBritish Film Institute in 2000 of the greatest British TV programmes of all time and of any genre,Walking with Dinosaurs was placed 72nd.[30]
Walking with Dinosaurs was released to critical acclaim. Most scientists applaudedWalking with Dinosaurs for its use of scientific research and for its portrayal of dinosaurs as animals and not movie monsters.[8] Some reviews were dismissive and contemptuous.[7]Walking with Dinosaurs was praised inThe Guardian,The Observer,The Independent and inThe Independent on Sunday.[7] Negative reviews were mostly founded on the series in some cases appearing to present speculation as fact.Nancy Banks-Smith in her review ofWalking with Dinosaurs also worried that the success of the series would lead to the BBC exploiting its appeal to younger viewers and launching merchandise, writing that "I begin to think that the whole thing is geared to selling chocolate dinosaur eggs to five-year-olds".[7]
Online reviewers were largely positive.Common Sense Media praised the program, giving it five stars out of five and saying that, "Somebody had a great idea, which was to make a documentary series about dinosaurs, but with a twist. The ageingOrnithocheirus on a desperate final flight to his mating grounds, the sauropod hatchlings struggling for survival in the late Jurassic, the migrating herds and the undersea life of 150 million years ago would all seem as real as a nature program aboutpolar bears orsnow monkeys."[31]Walking with Dinosaurs was also praised byIGN, which referred to it as a fascinating documentary with excellent narratives, video quality and audio quality.[32] The score ofWalking with Dinosaurs was praised in the music technology magazineSound on Sound as "extraordinary", "strikingly cinematic" and "head and shoulders above previous efforts in the same genre".[16]
| List of awards and nominations[33] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
| 28th Annie Awards | Technical Achievement in the Field of Animation | Won | |
| British Academy Television Awards 2000 | Outstanding Innovation | Won | |
| 2000 British Academy Television Craft Awards | Best Original Television Music | Ben Bartlett | Won |
| 52nd Primetime Emmy Awards | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (One Hour or More) | Tim Haines,Jasper James, Georgann Kane, Tomi Bednar Landis, John Lynch, Mike Milne | Won |
| Outstanding Special Visual Effects | Tim Greenwood, Jez Harris, Daren Horley, Alec Knox, Virgil Manning, David Marsh, Mike McGee, Mike Milne, Carlos Rosas | Won | |
| Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special | Ben Bartlett | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Picture Editing in Non-Fiction Program | Britt Sjoerdsma, Andrew Wilks | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction Programming - Sound Mixing | Bob Jackson | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Sound Editing in Non-Fiction Program | Simon Gotel,Andrew Sherriff | Won | |
| 6th National Television Awards | Most Popular Factual Programme | Nominated | |
| 12th Golden Laurel Awards | David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television (Best Original Television Music) | Nominated | |
| Peabody Awards | Peabody Award | BBC, Discovery Channel, TV Asahi Co-production, ProSieben and France 3 | Won |
| RTS Television Awards | Team | Won | |
| RTS Craft & Design Awards | Design and Craft Innovation | Mike Milne, Jez Harris | Won |
| Best Visual Effects - Digital Effects | Framestore CFC | Won | |
| Best Picture Manipulation | Timothy Greenwood, Mike McGee | Nominated | |
| TV Quick Awards | Best Factual Programme | Won | |
| 16th TCA Awards | Outstanding Achievement in News and Information | Nominated | |
| TRIC Awards | Documentary Programme of the Year | Won | |
| 22nd Young Artist Awards | Best Educational TV Show or Series | Won | |
A companion book,Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History, was written by Tim Haines to accompany the first screening of the series in 1999. The settings of some of the six episodes were changed between the time the book was written and the screening of the television series, and some of their names were changed:New Blood is set atGhost Ranch, andCruel Sea is set at or nearSolnhofen in Germany near what then were the Vindelicisch Islands. The book elaborated on the background for each story, went further in explaining the science on which much of the program is based, and included descriptions of several animals not identified or featured in the series.[34]A Natural History received a positive review in the book review magazinePublishers Weekly, where it was called "magnificent" and "marvelously illustrated".[35]
A companion volume to the first book,Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence, by David Martill andDarren Naish was published in 2000. It went into more detail about the research and suppositions that went into making the series. Michael J. Benton also wrote an accompanying book on the science of the series, titledWalking with Dinosaurs: The Facts.[17] In addition to these larger volumes, there were also numerous children's books released to accompanyWalking with Dinosaurs, including 3D albums,sticker albums, photo journals as well as shorter science books geared towards children.
The success ofWalking with Dinosaurs resulted in the creation of both exhibits and traveling exhibitions. Only a few months after the series had aired,Walking with Dinosaurs: The Exhibition was put up in the summer of 2000 at theYorkshire Museum inYork, England. The exhibition featured an assortment of different animal exhibits, each having some connection to the series, including props, maquettes, newly made models and actual fossil material. Among the fossils on display was a skeleton of aPlateosaurus. Also included in the exhibition were a video and TV monitor playingThe Making Of Walking with Dinosaurs. The opening of the exhibition was attended by consultants of the series, such as David Martill. The guest of honour wasPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[8]
In 2007,[36]Walking with Dinosaurs was adapted as the live stage showWalking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular by the Australian-based company The Creature Technology Company.[37] The production cost $20 million to stage and usedpuppetry,suits, andanimatronics to create 16Mesozoic era creatures representing 10 species.[38] Each large dinosaur weighed several tons, and was operated by two "voodoo puppeteers" and a driver beneath the dinosaur who also monitors the hydraulics and batteries.[39] The smaller dinosaurs were suits operated by the person in it, each weighing from 20–30 kg (44–66 lbs).[39] After debuting inSydney in 2007,The Arena Spectacular toured the world for twelve years; over 250 cities were visited and almost 10 million people in total watched the show live. The final show was held at theTaipei Arena inTaiwan on 22 December 2019.[36]
Released in 2013,Walking with Dinosaurs is a feature-length film about dinosaurs in theLate Cretaceous period70 million years ago. The production features computer-animated dinosaurs in live-action settings with actorsJustin Long,John Leguizamo,Tiya Sircar, andSkyler Stone providingvoiceovers for the main characters. It was directed byNeil Nightingale andBarry Cook from a screenplay byJohn Collee.
The film was produced byBBC Earth and Evergreen Films and was named after the original BBC miniseries. The film, with a budget ofUS$80 million, was one of the largest independent productions to date; it was financed byReliance Entertainment and IM Global, with20th Century Fox handling distribution.[40] The crew filmed footage on location in the U.S. state of Alaska and in New Zealand, which were chosen for their similarities to the dinosaurs' surroundings millions of years ago, and on locations inHumboldt County, California.[41]Animal Logic designed computer-animated dinosaurs and added them to the live-action backdrop. Though the film was originally going to have a narrator like in the miniseries, Fox executives wanted to add voiceovers to connect audiences to the characters.
Walking with Dinosaurs premiered on14 December 2013 at theDubai International Film Festival. It was released in cinemas in 2D and 3D on20 December 2013. Critical reception was largely negative, with praise towards film's visual effects but criticism for its story and voice acting. The film grossedUS$34.4 million in the United States and Canada andUS$71.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total ofUS$106 million.The Hollywood Reporter said the film's global box office performance was disappointing in context of the production budget and marketing spend.
In 2014, the film was rereleased in theatres and museums under the titleWalking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D.[42] This version shortens the running time to 45 minutes and replaces the voiceovers with narration provided byBenedict Cumberbatch. Compared to its predecessor, this version received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.[43]
Dinosaur World is afreewarevideo game developed by Asylum Entertainment and published by theBBC Imagineering in June 2001. It is a spin-off of Episode 2 ofWalking with Dinosaurs ("Time of the Titans") and the specialThe Ballad of Big Al. The main point of the game is to find all theanimals andplants, including several location features, that are distributed in five different zones. The game was available on the BBC website as analpha, as it was never fully developed.[citation needed]
In 2013, anaugmented reality video game, titled simplyWalking with Dinosaurs, was developed bySupermassive Games in collaboration with theBBC, as part of the resurgence ofWalking with Dinosaurs, accompanying the release of the 2013 film adaptation. It was released in Europe on 13 November 2013, and in North America on 12 November 2013, alongsideDiggs Nightcrawler andBook of Potions.[44]
To accompanyWalking with Dinosaurs, the BBC launched a website filled with both palaeontological information, behind-the-scenes information on the series,[32] games and puzzles, glossaries, and a section where visitors could ask questions and make comments.[7] The creation of a companion website, which went online in September 1999, was considered innovative for the time. Before the release of the series, the website included atrailer, still a new concept for a website in 1999. The website was updated weekly as new episodes were released, eventually becoming a large resource with educational material.[7]
Scientists largely applaudedWalking with Dinosaurs,[8] some going so far as heralding it as the "most credibly accurate depiction of dinosaur life ever produced."[11] Despite some complaints of scientific inaccuracies, the series was seen, and continues to be remembered, as mostly a "force for good", showing both the possibility of producing documentaries of its scale and for portraying dinosaurs and other Mesozoic animals as animals and not movie monsters.[8] Michael J. Benton, who worked as a consultant on the series, praisedWalking with Dinosaurs as a progression in both reconstructions of prehistoric life and in the promotion of the public understanding of science; Benton in a 2001 article referred to the series as not just a documentary but also a "powerful piece of palaeobiological research", showing to the public what the "best minds in palaeobiology have been able to achieve."[17] Numerous scientific journal articles have been written onWalking with Dinosaurs and the phenomenon it created.[7][45][4]
Although the academic response toWalking with Dinosaurs was largely positive, the series was criticised by some palaeontologists for its speculative storylines and the boldness of some of its claims, noting that some aspects presented as fact were very much speculative and possible to be challenged in the future.[8] In the companion book of the series, Haines admitted that speculating about dinosaur behaviour in of itself is unscientific since the theories cannot be tested, but maintained that it "seems well worth trying to find out more about how [the dinosaurs] may have lived", using both science and reasoned speculation.[15] A handful of decisions and sequences in the series came under particular palaeontological criticism.[8] Several supposed errors identified in the first weeks after the series aired fizzled out after a while, as critics found points about which they disagreed with one another and were unable to definitively prove their views.[17] Most of the errors or otherwise questionable decisions ofWalking with Dinosaurs were not the fault of the production team since they worked based on the advice of their consultants.[8]
New Blood shows a malePostosuchus urinating to mark a female's territory as his own after she is driven away from it. A number of critics pointed out that birds and crocodiles, the closest living relatives of the dinosaurs, do not urinate; they shed waste chemicals as more soliduric acid. However, Michael J. Benton, a consultant of the series, noted that nobody could prove that this was a real mistake: copious urination is the primitive state for tetrapods (seen in fish, amphibians, turtles, and mammals), and perhaps basalarchosaurs did the same.[17]New Blood also depictsPlateosaurus as aquadruped, but more recent studies suggest that it was an obligatebiped due to its inability topronate itsmanus.[46]
Diplodocus was reconstructed with mostly horizontal necks inWalking with Dinosaurs, an idea consistent with what was thought of their biology at the time, and thus pushed by the palaeontological consultants of the series, but challenged by new research in 2009.[8]
The pterosaur identified asOrnithocheirus inGiant of the Skies was actually based on fossils of the pterosaurTropeognathus, the two having been considered synonyms by David Unwin, one of the consulting palaeontologists.[8] Additionally, it is depicted as far larger than it actually was. In the companion book, it was claimed that several large bone fragments from theRomualdo Formation of Brazil possibly indicate thatOrnithocheirus may have had a wingspan reaching almost 12 metres and a weight of a hundred kilograms, making it one of the largest known pterosaurs.[47] However, the largest definiteTropeognathus specimens described at the time measured 6 meters (20 ft), in terms of wingspan.[48] The specimens which the producers of the program used to justify such a large size estimate were described in 2012 (with the designation MN 6594-V) and were under study by Dave Martill and David Unwin at the time of the production of the series. The final description of the remains found a maximum estimated wingspan of 8.70 meters (28.5 ft) for this large specimen.[49] Unwin stated that he did not believe the higher estimate used by the BBC was likely, and that the producers likely chose the highest possible estimate because it was more "spectacular."[50] Another famously "super-sized" animal inWalking with Dinosaurs is the pliosaurLiopleurodon, described as reaching lengths of 25 metres in the series (but in reality probably only reaching 6.4 metres); the extreme size was based on fragmentary specimens, and the estimate was at the time justifiable extrapolation provided by some of the consultants, who pushed it as scientifically supported.[8]
Walking with Dinosaurs was recognised by several commentators as marking a watershed in television imagery[14] and a scientifically and technologically significant benchmark in television history.[11]Walking with Dinosaurs is often credited for inspiring modern interest in the distant geological past.[12] Scientific papers have creditedJurassic Park andWalking with Dinosaurs as the two major productions inspiring increasing public interest in dinosaurs and other Mesozoic life in the 1990s and 2000s.[51] The success ofWalking with Dinosaurs led to the inception of an entirely new genre of documentaries that likeWalking with Dinosaurs also recreated past life with computer graphics and were envisioned in the style of nature documentaries.[4]
The success ofWalking with Dinosaurs led to the creation of an entire nature documentary media franchise on prehistoric life, commonly referred to as theWalking with... series. The first sequel series toWalking with Dinosaurs wasWalking with Beasts (2001), made by largely the same production team (now organised as the production companyImpossible Pictures) and focusing on life in theCenozoic, after theextinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.[52][53] Next wasWalking with Cavemen (2003), which was created without Haines and Impossible Pictures and focused onhuman evolution.[54] The last series to be made wasWalking with Monsters (2005), once again involving much of the original team and focused on life in thePaleozoic, before the time of the dinosaurs. During the production ofWalking with Monsters, the production team considered the series to complete the "Trilogy of Life", previously began withDinosaurs and continued withBeasts.[55]
The success of the two special episodesThe Giant Claw andLand of Giants led to the creation of the three-part miniseriesSea Monsters (2003), once again starring Marven traveling back to prehistoric times, this time exploring the "seven deadliest seas of all time".[56]
On June 4, 2024, it was announced that a reboot of the series would be produced by BBC, along with PBS, ZDF and France Télévisions, which will be released in 2025.[57]
