Dinotasia (2012)

Documentary following the different ages of the dinosaur.

Directors:

David Krentz, Erik Nelson

Writers:

David Krentz, Erik Nelson

Stars:

Werner Herzog, Lorànt Deutsch

Cast

Credited cast:
Werner Herzog	...	Narrator (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lorànt Deutsch	...	Narrator (French version) (voice)

Storyline

One of our favourite natural history subjects, the good old dinosaur, gets a makeover and then some in this fantastically ambitious and groundbreaking documentary. Based on cutting-edge palaeontology and the latest fossil records, DINOTASIA presents a series of vignettes about dinosaurs - both familiar faces and some we have only found out about in the past ten years. The film uses CGI to bring the stories to life, but draws on animation's birth in silent film and early Disney to create proper, traditional visual storytelling. Werner Herzog narrates, reuniting with the team behind GRIZZLY MAN and CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS.

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Plot Keywords:

dinosaur | cgi | fossil | paleontology | earth | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Animation

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 2013 (Taiwan)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The K-Pg asteroid is shown impacting in daylight, but when the Earth is viewed from space, the impact site is on the night side.

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Connections

Edited from Dinosaur Revolution (2011)

User Reviews

A comedy of terrors.

Dinotasia is not an educational documentary, it is purely a piece of entertainment. This becomes clear after only a few minutes into the production. If viewed expecting it to be informative and enlightening, you will be disappointed. But for entertainment purposes, as a dinosaur fan I found it very enjoyable. None of the creatures featured are identified by name, so some previous knowledge is expected -- this wasn't a big problem as I was able to identify all but one (and that was possible with a quick internet search).

It is not a serious production. Many of the encounters between species were designed for comedy value, and in most respects, it was a success. While sometimes it may have erred toward humanizing some of the behaviours, they were still kept within acceptable estimates of how the species may have acted. Much of it is still suitably primal and bloody, however.

Werner Herzog's accent is quite distracting but in some ways that adds to the entertainment value. It is quirky and offers a fresh approach to the narration of life in the Mesozoic. It's also kept to a minimum -- most of the production is narrative-free.

Visually it is a little rough in places (especially the beginning) but on the whole, the animation is of decent quality. The pace is fast, if a little haphazard, throwing the viewer into the action rather than spending any time on palaeontological evidence.

If you need facts and science, this is not for you. But if you're in the mood for a light-hearted perspective of how dinosaurs may have lived, this is highly entertaining. At least until the conclusion of the Cretaceous Period, for which I've still yet to see an upbeat depiction.