Walking with Dinosaurs 

Documentary-style series about the era of the dinosaurs, mixing real locations and CGI.

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Avery Brooks, André Dussollier

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 11 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Kenneth Branagh	...	Narrator 7 episodes, 1999

Storyline

Using the latest technology the amazing lost world of the Cretaceous, Triassic and Jurassic periods of Earth's history, when the dinosaurs reigned supreme, is brought stunningly back to life. The series provides insights into how these mammoth creatures appeared, how they survived for millions of years and probes the mysteries of their sudden disappearance leaving only a fossil record to show they had ever existed!

---

Plot Keywords:

dinosaur | triassic | jurassic | cretaceous | howie scream | 

---

Genres:

Documentary | Animation | History

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK] Discovery Channel

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Akolouthontas tous deinosavrous

Filming Locations:

Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

GBP6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Natural History Unit (NHU), Impossible Pictures, Discovery Channel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to paleontologist Kent Stevens, the animators and scientist consultants both taught each other during production - theories on how various animals might have moved for example were tested with the show's CGI models and physical props, allowing for a unique two-way feedback between the two groups.

---

Goofs

Every pterosaur (flying reptile) in the series folds its wings incorrectly -- sideways. The bone structure only allowed these animals to turn their hands outwards to the sides, rather than frontwards, and this allowed them to neatly fold back their long, wing-supporting fingers, but not to the side.

---

Alternate Versions

In 2008, the series was given a brand new narration as well as a commentary from scientists in an effort to try and correct some of the mistakes and outdated info presented in the original narration from 1999. However since the footage couldn't be edited, this version still retained a large number of errors, such as the raptors lacking feathers, Ornitholestes having a nose horn, Liopleurodon still being described as the biggest carnivore ever, and Ornithocheirus/Tropeognathus being oversized. They even recorded some commentary with paleontologist Thomas Holtz Jr. over how raptors were feathered in real life, but chose not to use the clip since the footage still erroneously showed the raptors with scales. Apart from these, this new narration contained some errors of its own, such as stating that dinosaurs, lizards and crocodiles were ichthyosaurs, and also reinterpreted some of the original storylines -- for instance, the last episode was moved from taking place 65 million years ago to 70 million years ago.

---

Connections

Featured in Screenwipe: Episode #3.4 (2007)

User Reviews

Brilliantly produced documentary

This BBC produced series (6 Hrs worth) won many emmy awards and is an absolute must for any dinosaur aficionado. The series is approached as if it were a modern day nature film. The dinosaur effects put most movies to shame. I cannot recommend it enough.