"Planet Dinosaur" (2011) TV series 2011-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

14 September 2011 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Animation | Action

Plot:

An astonishing six-part series that brings to life the most incredible creatures that ever existed. From Spinosaurus...

Plot Keywords:

Dinosaur | Prehistoric Times

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Hurt

...

Himself - Narrator (6 episodes, 2011)

Series Directed by
Nigel Paterson		(5 episodes, 2011)

Series Writing credits
Nigel Paterson		(5 episodes, 2011)
Tom Brass		(2 episodes, 2011)

Series Produced by
Sara Kenney	....	development producer (6 episodes, 2011)

Series Original Music by
Ilan Eshkeri		(1 episode, 2011)

Series Film Editing by
Beverly Maguire		(6 episodes, 2011)

Series Production Management
Beth Ambrose	....	production manager (1 episode, 2011)
Laura Davey	....	production executive (1 episode, 2011)

Series Art Department
Giles Asbury	....	storyboard artist (6 episodes, 2011)

Series Sound Department
Nick Fry	....	dubbing mixer (6 episodes, 2011)
Keith Tunney	....	sound editor (6 episodes, 2011)
Nick Cox	....	sound mixer (2 episodes, 2011)
Zane Hayward	....	sound designer (unknown episodes, 2011)
Blair Jollands	....	foley designer (unknown episodes, 2011)

Series Visual Effects by
Mathew Cooling	....	lead modeller / lead modeler (6 episodes, 2011)
Dani Devereux	....	digital matte painter (6 episodes, 2011)
Martin Furman	....	compositor: Jellyfish Pictures (6 episodes, 2011)
Jesus Garrido	....	digital compositor (6 episodes, 2011)
Chris Gooch	....	lead compositor (6 episodes, 2011)
Ricard Raventos	....	digital compositor (6 episodes, 2011)
Iain Read	....	digital compositor (6 episodes, 2011)
Carolina Salvador Simon	....	motion graphics artist (6 episodes, 2011)
Tom Brass	....	motion graphics director (3 episodes, 2011)
Ben Casey	....	lighting/texture artist / lighter (3 episodes, 2011)
Philip Dobree	....	visual effects director / director of vfx & cgi (3 episodes, 2011)
Luke Dodd	....	visual effects supervisor (3 episodes, 2011)
Grant Douglas	....	systems support (3 episodes, 2011)
Hasraf Dulull	....	visual effects supervisor (3 episodes, 2011)
Tito Fernandes	....	compositor (3 episodes, 2011)
Denis-Jose Francois	....	lighting supervisor (3 episodes, 2011)
Guntuku Kishore	....	lighter (3 episodes, 2011)
Mark Ludford	....	systems support (3 episodes, 2011)
Sue Nelson	....	digital compositor (3 episodes, 2011)
Lawrence Pankhurst	....	senior lighter (3 episodes, 2011)
Clara Parati	....	digital artist / digital matte painter (3 episodes, 2011)
Mark Sherwood	....	visual effects producer (3 episodes, 2011)
Jeremy Smith	....	systems support (3 episodes, 2011)
Naveen Medaram	....	digital compositor (2 episodes, 2011)

Series Animation Department
Helen Bucknall	....	animator (6 episodes, 2011)
Lawrence Pankhurst	....	previs artist (6 episodes, 2011)
Stephen Cavalier	....	animation director (4 episodes, 2011)
Sam Howell	....	previsualization artist / lighting artist / ... (4 episodes, 2011)
Jason Ivimey	....	animation director (4 episodes, 2011)

Series Editorial Department
Perry Gibbs	....	colorist / grade (6 episodes, 2011)

Series Music Department
Paul Saunderson	....	music programming & arranging / composer: additional music (5 episodes, 2011)
Scott Shields	....	composer: additional music (2 episodes, 2011)

Series Other crew
Carmen Perez-Marsa Roca	....	production coordinator (6 episodes, 2011)
Jessica Norton	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 2011)

Series Thanks
Ron Blackey	....	thanks (1 episode, 2011)
Steve Brusatte	....	thanks: American Museum of Natural History (1 episode, 2011)
Eric Buffetaut	....	thanks: National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris (1 episode, 2011)
James Farlow	....	thanks: Indiana University - Fort Wayne (1 episode, 2011)
Scott Hartman	....	thanks (1 episode, 2011)
Russell Hawley	....	thanks (1 episode, 2011)
Thomas Holtz	....	thanks: University of Maryland (1 episode, 2011)
Nizar Ibrahim	....	thanks: University of Chicago (1 episode, 2011)
Christiano Dal Sasso	....	thanks: Museum of Natural History, Milan (1 episode, 2011)
Paul Sereno	....	thanks: University of Chicago (1 episode, 2011)
Darren Tanke	....	thanks: Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada (1 episode, 2011)
Charlie Underwood	....	thanks: Birkbeck College, University of London (1 episode, 2011)
Stephen Wallace	....	thanks: East Tennessee State University (1 episode, 2011)

Production Companies

• Jellyfish Pictures

Distributors

• Jellyfish Pictures (2011) (UK) (all media)
• Polyband (2012) (Germany) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

UK:180 min (original version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (High Definition)

Company:

Jellyfish Pictures

Trivia:

The program contains 180 minutes of CGI animation (display graphics and schematics included), equal to a theatrical feature. A total of about 2300 shots were rendered.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Throughout, the narrator pronounces the dinosaur name "Troodon" as TRUE-DON. Its correct pronunciation has an extra syllable: TROH-UH-DON.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Wright Stuff: Episode #16.25" (2011)

A better, more evidence-based approach

The best thing about Planet Dinosaur is not the CGI, the narration or the story (not that there is much of the latter). No, the best thing about the show is that it describes the fossil evidence for almost everything it, er, shows. From a bone broken by a stegosaur to a bed of eggs, when you see it on screen, you can be sure it's backed up by science and will be explained soon after, if it hasn't already been, with few exceptions.

The rest of the show leaves something to be desired. Yes, the animals are quite detailed. However, the animation is of somewhat poor quality, despite the fact that a lot of effort has clearly been put into it. In particular, there is no sense of weight to the dinosaurs: when two carnivores collide, it feels as if two small stones banged into each other, rather than two towering animals intent on hurting one another. Given that every episode features multiple struggles between predator and prey or predator and predator, this is a problem. At many points they feel disconnected from even the ground itself. In addition to the lack of weight, their movements in general are either too jerky or too smooth, almost never at the right point in the spectrum.

Planet Dinosaur repeats things a lot, especially in the last two episodes, where I think most of the salient facts were covered thrice over. The writing, too, is not quite up to scratch. The constant search for synonyms for 'monster' is a major offender. In many cases, the gravity of the narration seems very forced… it just doesn't gel with the image.

This series is overall a major step in the right direction. Introducing the general public—myself included—to the discoveries that we base our knowledge of dinosaurs upon in such an interesting fashion is to be commended. I just expected more, and I hope we will get it in the future.