Managing Editor Alex Ortuno
Ever since ‘Jurassic Park’ was put on the silver screens back in 1993, dinosaur media has really solidified within popular cinema culture. While of course there have been outside dinosaur media such as “When Dinosaurs Roamed America” and the upcoming AppleTV series “Prehistoric Planet” resembling prehistoric life as animals, I tend to notice people generally associate dinosaur media with brutal fights and all out action.
To me, this only leaves you with so much because too much focus on fights and death can stall as a cinematic story.
‘Dinosauria’ does an excellent job to demonstrate that the lives of our previous saurian residents were not brutal monsters but truly as animals of nature.
Beginning with the visuals of the animated series, they have intentional color palettes and styles rather than just making everything unreasonably colorful or dull.
The best example of the visuals department is the first episode of the series, “Old Buck.” In the episode, we do not see traditional blue waters and green trees but instead red leaves and a lake shimmering in blood red with a gray ambience.
It is as if we’re experiencing the sights of a land full of life as the leaves are in a similar red shade to that of blossom trees but also with a tint of conflict and death.
While we have seen dinosaur media in recent years a push for more accurate reconstructions of dinosaurs in comparison to older media, this series also uses modern reconstructions of dinosaurs. It’s a nice touch to see with the best example being in “Our Frozen Past” where dinosaurs had coats of feathers to keep warm in the ancient tundras.
The plots are short, generally below 10 minutes each, but are well made, and expertly crafted.
They aren’t crazy with twists and turns here and there causing confusing plot twists, nor is there a stereotypical rampaging monster revenge plot that is forced on the viewer. It’s just dinosaurs being the animals they are.
Now there are moments where it gets intense, but these scenes are neither excessive in action or in gore. The music score is also well chosen and delivers intensity to the scenes. It’s not messy and plays into the emotion of the short films.
Traditional dinosaur media often uses human narration as a crutch to tell the Dinosaur’s story. In ‘Dinosauria’ there is no narration or human characters, just dinosaurs and other prehistoric life living and roaming across the untamed world. The only narrator is nature itself.
While some things may not be easy to catch at first, subtle hints are left so the viewer understands the animations.
Overall, this is an excellent way to enjoy dinosaur media. While lacking some of the more violent fight scenes from series like the series “Primal” or the short film “Battle at Big Rock” this animated series does a much more respectful and heartful show of the prehistoric life that once dominated the landscape and the world.
The series is to conclude as only five episodes are to be made. As of press time, only four have been uploaded to Youtube.
Grade: A
