The Ballad of Big Al (2000)

This new, extra chapter of Walking with Dinosaurs focuses on an allosaurus later discovered in 1999 affectionately called "Big Al", who died as a late adolescent/early adult of six years of... See full summary »

Writers:

Kate Bartlett, Michael Olmert

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Avery Brooks

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator (UK version) (voice)
Avery Brooks	...	Narrator (US version) (voice)

Storyline

This new, extra chapter of Walking with Dinosaurs focuses on an allosaurus later discovered in 1999 affectionately called "Big Al", who died as a late adolescent/early adult of six years of age. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh, who also narrated the original series.

---

Plot Keywords:

dinosaur | allosaurus | dinosaur bone

---

Genres:

Documentary | Short

---

Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

25 December 2000 (UK)

Also Known As:

Allosaurus: A 'Walking with Dinosaurs' Special

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

BS Asahi, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Discovery Channel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

29 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The small herbivorous dinosaur that Al tries to catch, Othnielia, has been renamed Othnielosaurus since this special aired, since many fossils originally thought to have belonged to Othnielia had proved to be those of a different dinosaur. Othnielia is considered by some palaeontologists to be a dubious name.

---

Goofs

Big Al's foot injury switches from being on his right foot to his left in the closeup of his foot, near the end of the episode.

---

Connections

Spun-off from Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)

User Reviews

We've had fun, now comes some information - without being boring.

The Ballad of Big Al is really the follow-up that greatly increases the class of "Walking with Dinosaurs".

Big Al MUST be seen in combination with the second part of the special (The Science of Big Al). This way you at last get an idea of what clues we have on Dinosaurs and how the clues have been put together to get an idea of how the Dinosaurs might have lived.

Using the clues found within the skeleton of an Allosaurus (Big Al), the team has put together something like "This is your life", Big Al. Big Al is born, grows up, hunts and dies. Although the story is (of course) only speculation, it is very interesting and put together with a lot of love. Unlike the series (Walking with Dinosaurs), the Ballad of Big Al really tells the viewer that this is only an assumption of Big Al's life while also letting the viewer in on many of the key reasons for this assumption.

All in all this is a great follow-up. It's just too bad that "Walking with Dinosaurs" didn't have more of Big Al and the qualities of the follow-up.