Dinotopia - TV series

In May 2002 ABC television in the US broadcast Dinotopia, three two-hour episodes of a ground breaking mini-series. It featured digital special effects and CG creatures on a scale never before seen in a TV series, and brought Framestore's astonishing dinosaur creations and effects to a wider audience than ever before.

 

Following the worldwide success of Dinotopia, Dinotopia: The Series, received its Network Premiere on 28th November 2002. The one-hour shows charts the extraordinary odyssey of a 21st-century family stranded in the prehistoric utopia that we were introduced to in the mini-series.

 

Karl Scott, his brother David, and their father, Frank, are castaways in a strange new world. Welcoming the visitors to this marvellous lost world are the stunning Marion, in training to be the beloved leader of her people; Marion's father, Mayor Waldo, the overseer of Dinotopia's magnificent capital, Waterfall City; and Marion's mother, Rosemary, the revered family matriarch.

 

In Dinotopia, dinosaurs and humans coexist in perfect harmony. But beneath Dinotopia's surface, dangers brew. They can be found in the towering castle of Le Sage, leader of a renegade tribe known as the Outsiders; the life-and-death perils caused by the experiments of a strange sorcerer toying with the notion of immortality; in the mysterious failing of the sunstones, Dinotopia's endangered lifeforce; and in the mysteries of a primitive village ruled by a charismatic leader.

 

The TV series scripts are broader in scope than the miniseries, with more action outside Waterfall City. 13 episodes have been created for the initial run, with shooting starting in Budapest in February 2002 and concluding in September.

 

Framestore has provided over 100 VFX shots per episode for 'Dinotopia: The Series', and doing this within an extremely tight schedule and still maintaining quality was the biggest challenge facing the effects team. The critics certainly seem to think they've succeeded:

 

"The real heroes of this series are director Thomas Wright and his production staff and the folks at London's Framestore. The creation and integration of special effects...remains the real source of power for Dinotopia."
Barry Garron - Hollywood Reporter

 

"The...show has been worth the wait. A lusciously produced series maintains the same Emmy-winning effects, creating an alien world where dinosaurs and humans live and work together. The CGI dinosaur effects are effortlessly incorporated into the action, while a bright new cast inhabit the roles, making them their own...Dinotopia is terrific family fare."
Kathie Huddleston - Scifi.com

 

"The special effects are quite pretty and impressive, especially for a weekly show."
Tom Shales - The Washington Post