Like Jaws to shark movies and The Exorcist to possession flicks, any dinosaur-related media will inevitably be compared to 1993’s Jurassic Park. While this makes a lot of sense, with Spielberg’s classic bringing the prehistoric beasts to life in new and exciting ways that previous filmmakers could only dream of (and that future filmmakers would struggle to recreate), it also means that some truly interesting dinosaur stories have been overshadowed by JP‘s legacy.
In the past, I’ve recommended some fun dinosaur films that aren’t Jurassic Park, but today I’d like to discuss something a little less cinematic – Hallmark and RTL’s forgotten miniseries adaptation of James Gurney’s Dinotopia. So if you’re in the mood to revisit a quintessentially 2000s yarn about shamanistic reptiles and the naive humans that live alongside them, read on to discover why I think this family-oriented production might also appeal to horror fans.
Unlike most fantasy book series, the visuals of Dinotopia were created long before Gurney put pen to paper and began telling actual stories set in the universe suggested by his paintings of a fantasy land where humans co-existed peacefully with dinosaurs. Originally published as something akin to a premium picture book, the first collection of Dinotopian artwork was released to critical acclaim in 1992, with the book soon spawning a multimedia franchise that was incredibly popular with dino-obsessed children. Kids weren’t the only fans of Gurney’s work, however, as Dinotopia became so influential that it even directly inspired elements of the Star Wars prequels (with the capital of Naboo looking suspiciously similar to Waterfall City).
And with eventual boom in young adult adaptations like Harry Potter (as well as the continued multimedia success of Jurassic Park and its sequels), it was only a matter of time before studios began showing interest in a live action version of Dinotopia. But with a reader base more comparable to Animorphs than Lord of the Rings, the rights were ultimately picked up by Hallmark Entertainment when both Disney and Columbia Pictures gave up on the project due to budgetary concerns.
Realizing that they could get away with a few cut corners on the small screen, Hallmark decided to turn the books into a big-budget television event, hiring Simon Moore to write and Marco Brambilla to direct three feature-length episodes. The finished series follows the dysfunctional Scott brothers (Wentworth Miller & Tyron Leitso) as they become marooned on an isolated island inhabited by sapient dinosaurs and the descendants fellow shipwrecked humans. As the brothers become immersed in this peaceful society and enter a love triangle with future matriarch Marion Waldo (Katie Carr), they soon learn of a lurking danger that threatens to destroy the Dinotopian way of life.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
From Hallmark’s own 1997 The Odyssey to Syfy’s excellent (if sometimes cheesy) adaptation of Dune, the late ’90s and early aughts were truly a golden age for limited event series. Back then, audiences weren’t yet accustomed to the blurring of the lines that occurred between television and film in the past decade or so – which made it easier to get away with low production value – but technology had also advanced to the point that where small screen creators could dare to tell large scale stories.
And if you’re willing to put yourself in the right headspace in order to enjoy the series as a product of its time, Dinotopia is one of the greatest examples of television underdogs wanting to produce their very own Star Wars with only a fraction of the resources. The end result might not always be pretty, but it’s consistently entertaining – which I think is what really matters.
From the memorable visuals to the strangely comforting atmosphere, there’s plenty to love about the show. I’d even argue that there are some well rounded characters despite the occasionally annoying performances (which I think is the result of the protagonists having originally been written to be much younger), as I had plenty of fun accompanying the Scott brothers slowly come into their own as well-rounded individuals, and that’s not even mentioning the insanely talented David Thewlis chewing up scenery as the scheming Cyrus Crabb. That being said, real fans know that the impressively animated Stenonychosaurus Zipeau is the real MVP of the story.
Of course, much like the Dinotopia books themselves, it’s the curious worldbuilding that makes the mini-series so fascinating. From the mythic backstory explaining how a group of dinosaurs survived the mass extinction event to an idealized division of labor where dinosaurs are paired up with similarly inclined humans, nearly every moment of the 250-minute runtime is filled with fascinating tidbits about a living, breathing world. And for dinosaur nerds like myself, there’s a certain primal delight in seeing human beings using a brachiosaurus like a Greyhound bus.
Some of these details feel a little inconsistent (such as the existence of an airborne military organization despite the fact that there’s no real conflict in this society), but you’re clearly meant to put yourself in a more childlike state of mind in order to enjoy this fantastical yarn.
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
The presence of cutesy dinosaur puppets and the general sense of childlike should have clued you in that Dinotopia is meant to be a family-friendly affair. However, no dinosaur story is complete without at least a couple of giant monster attacks, and this Hallmark production actually features quite a few moments of bafflingly mean-spirited tension.
While most of the dinosaur attacks are narratively justified as the (also sentient) carnivores being on edge due to territorial disputes involving the island’s mystical power source, the mini-series paradoxically presents these animals as uncontrollable monsters hell-bent on hunting down our protagonists out of sheer malice. From giant crocodiles to underwater eldritch horrors, there’s quite the selection of man-eating threats here, and the show has no qualms about showing what these beasts are capable of.
In fact, the climactic Pteranodon invasion even features children being devoured by the swarming sky-devils, with the brutality of the sequence leading me to believe that it must have at least sub-consciously inspired Colin Trevorrow during that absurdly chaotic breakout scene in 2015’s Jurassic World.
Additionally, in a clever cost-saving measure, the mini-series borrows most of its 3D assets from BBC’s fantastic documentary program Walking with Dinosaurs, which is why the show is capable of delivering thrilling imagery without breaking the bank (with the initial T-Rex attack being a great example of this). While the CGI doesn’t hold up quite as well as the instances of hand-crafted puppetry, these prehistoric characters remain some of the most believable examples of dinosaurs in any small screen production to date.
I often joke around with friends by claiming that we know all billionaires are evil because none of them ever purchased the rights to Dinotopia in order to produce a big-budget reboot of the series. However, with the Jurassic Park franchise soldiering on despite being unable to replicate the original film’s unique blend of sci-fi/horror thrills, I think there’s a real chance that some other studio might want to challenge Universal’s prehistoric-hegemony with their own dinosaur-centric IP meant to inspire the next generation of paleontologists. And if that’s the case, I recommend that writers and producers look back on the curious charms of Dinotopia.
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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