Dinosaur Revolution: Difference between revisions

{{work}}

 

Calling it a "documentary" may however be deceptive. [[Genre Busting|It combines elements of various genres]]: traditional wildlife documentaries, [[Body Language|silent movie-style "acting"]] and comic cartoon [[Slapstick]], and presents them in the form of [[Vignette Episode|vignettes]] or longer, cohesive stories, focusing on the characterization and the relationships between the animals. As always, whether this makes the show more entertaining or just plain dumb is up to the viewer to decide. However this isn't [[Dinosaur Planet|the first time]] that Discovery uses this borderline-[[Edutainment Show]] format for its dino-shows.

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the production, due to the bold claims of its creators, which can be read [http://press.discovery.com/us/dsc/programs/reign-dinosaurs/ here]. Basically, what the show set out to avoid was [[Somewhere a Paleontologist Is Crying|making paleontologists cry]], and to show off some [[Visual Effects of Awesome|breath-taking]] [[C Gi]]. Another major subject of discussion is the "sparse narration" the press releases promised. Do note, the slightly controversial dino-anthropomorphism ''is'' justified due to the fact that originally, the show was to be broadcast with no [[Narrator]], but [[Executive Meddling]] changed that.

 

 

''Dinosaur Revolution'' was [[Working Title|formerly titled]] ''Reign of the Dinosaurs''.

 

* [[All Animals Are Dogs]]: Some people have observed that the ''Allosaurus'' cub acts suspiciously like a playful pup.

* [[Always a Bigger Fish]]: Non-predatory example. After eating a young ''Majungasaurus'', one of the ''Beelzebufo'' is stepped on by a ''Rapetosaurus'' passing through.

** The ''Castorocauda'' is spotted by the ''Guanlong'' while chasing... [[Fridge Logic|a fish]].

* [[Edible Bludgeon]]: The still moving tail of a ''Dinheirosaurus'' slaps the ''Allosaurus'' eating it in the face. A mild subversion, since the food is acting ''by itself''.

* [[Enemy Mine]]: {{spoiler|The broken-jawed ''Allosaurus'' and enraged adult ''Dinheirosaurus'' combine forces to defeat the ''Torvosaurus''.}} [[Friendly Enemy|They don't fight each other ever again.]]

* [[Eye Scream]]: Happens a few times in the ''Utahraptor'' segment.

* [[Facial Markings]]: The male ''Tyrannosaurus'' appear to have a striking white skull-pattern on their head, in contrast to their otherwise fully black body.

* [[Feathered Fiend]]: The feathered dinosaurs ''Gigantoraptor'', ''Rahonavis'', ''Tyrannosaurus'', and ''Troodon'' are protagonists in their respective stories, but ''Velociraptor'' and arguably ''Guanlong'' and ''Utahraptor'' are antagonistic and play this straight (and there's also an antagonistic ''Tyrannosaurus'', although it's never shown in its fuzzy juvenile stage). [[Shown Their Work|Properly]] feathered carnivorous dinosaurs on TV, finally! At least, as properly as their budget allowed them to, feathers and fur being tough to animate.

** The one coelurosaur that lacks feathers (due to time constraints) is ''Ornitholestes'', though it also happens to be one of the more [[Hand Wave]]-able instances because of its uncertain phylogenetic position. For most part it serves as something of a [[Plucky Comic Relief]].

* [[Foot Focus]]: Happens frequently with the deinonychosaurs.

** Played pretty straight sometimes though. The baby Mosasaurs chirp like baby birds while getting attacked by the sharks. Even when they go to the bottom to hide they don't shut up.

* [[The Obi-Wan]]: The old bull ''Protoceratops''.

* [[Oh Crap]]: The ''Ornitholestes'' when it realizes that it has landed on the ''Allosaurus''. Later, both the ''Ornitholestes'' and ''Rhamphorhynchus'' when the ''Torvosaurus'' shows up at the watering hole.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: The ''Beelzebufo''.

* [[Science Marches On]]: The discovery that mosasaurs likely had tail flukes was published just as the mosasaur models were finished up.

** ''[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/04/04/yutyrannus-a-giant-tyrannosaur-with-feathers/ Yutyrannus]'' shows that large tyrannosauroids were feathered as well as smaller ones.

* [[Seldom-Seen Species]]: A refreshing lot. There are ''Cryolophosaurus'', ''Sinraptor'', ''Eoraptor'', ''Torvosaurus'', ''Majungasaurus'', ''Rahonavis'', ''Miragaia'', ''Glacialisaurus'', ''Mamenchisaurus'', ''Rapetosaurus'', ''Lusotitan'', ''Shunosaurus'', ''Gigantoraptor'', ''Draconyx'', ''Cedarosaurus'', ''Guanlong'', freakin' ''Dinheirosaurus''... But the most interesting examples are the non-dinosaurian ''Saurosuchus'', ''Anhanguera'', ''Castorocauda'' (a water-going mammal relative), ''Volaticotherium'' (the Jurassic "flying squirrel"), ''Probelesodon'' (a non-mammalian cynodont), ''Zalambdalestes'' (a small placental mammal), ''Ischigualastia'' (a dicynodont), ''Inostrancevia'' (a gorgonopsid), ''Cretoxyrhina'' (a shark), and the (by modern standards) ungodly large frog ''Beelzebufo''. Many of these were discovered [[Real Life Writes the Plot|while the show was still in production]].

** Even among [[Stock Dinosaurs|Stock Dinosaur]] genera, the show tends to use [[Seldom-Seen Species]] (such as ''Allosaurus europaeus'', ''Velociraptor osmolskae'', and ''Protoceratops hellenikorhinus'' instead of the stock ''Allosaurus fragilis'', ''Velociraptor mongoliensis'', and ''Protoceratops andrewsi'').

** Several elements of the show were inspired by a French film about grizzly bears called ''The Bear'', which (as was originally planned for ''Dinosaur Revolution'') told a story about wildlife without using narration.

** The way one of the ''Cedarosaurus'' kicks away the ''Utahraptor'' is similar to to a scene portrayed in the accompanying artwork for the description of the sauropod ''[http://svpow.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/please-welcome-brontomerus-mcintoshi-2/ Brontomerus]''.

* [[Shown Their Work]]: The theropod hands aren't pronated, most of the coelurosaurs are well feathered, and [[Noisy Nature]] is averted.

** Their ''Triceratops'' skin is even based on their personal examination of the skin shown on an unpublished ''Triceratops'' specimen.

** The juvenile pachycephalosaur in the last episode is not intended to be any particular species, in order to avoid the whole Hell Creek pachycephalosaur ontogenetic debate (and because the model was [[What Could Have Been|going to be]] used for ''Prenocephale'').

* [[Slapstick]]: There is a considerable amount. Yes, it's a "documentary" with tons of animal slapstick from grotesque to cutesy, deal with it.

* [[Somewhere a Paleontologist Is Crying]]: The people behind the show went out of their way to avert this, and mostly it works very well. However, a few errors still slip through.

** Due to time constraints, the ''Ornitholestes'' is the one coelurosaur on the show that lacks feathers.

* [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]: The pair of ''Guanlong''. They ''never stop bickering''.

* [[Voice Changeling]]: The ''Rahonavis'' amuses itself with its ability to copy the noises around it almost perfectly.

* [[Whip It Good]]: ''Dineheirosaurus'' tail, of which a poor ''Allosaurus'' cub [[A Taste of the Lash|get a taste of]]. He does so again as an adult, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|but this time literally.]]

* [[The Worf Effect]]: To the ''Torvosaurus'' in the "Battle at Kruger" homage scene.