Go on a Real Adventure with Walking with Dinosaurs: the 3D Movie

“Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie” takes us back in time to prehistoric Alaska. The exciting adventure follows a family of Pachyrhinosaurus (it means “thick nosed lizard”), huge beasts with horns, a frill and a beak. The hero is Patchi, a delightful and determined animal (with a hole in his frill) who is the runt of the litter. No one expects that this underdog (or under-dino) will amount to much. His brother Scowler is very ambitious, much stronger and it seemed certain that he will one day be leader of the herd, but what Patchi lacks in physical strength, he makes up for in sheer tenacity with his strong spirit and good heart.

We follow Patchi and his family as they set off on their annual migration to find food. It is a thrilling, but very dangerous, journey. We meet Alex, the funny and friendly Alexornis, a prehistoric, feathered bird with a toothed beak, and we also meet the rather feisty female Pachyrhinosaurus, Juniper. It is not surprising that Patchi has a soft spot for her!

The science behind the film and the brilliant technology make the movie so realistic that you feel you are actually there in the wilds of prehistoric Alaska, traveling with Patchi and the crew, in what is known as the Late Cretaceous, around 70 million years ago.

Key filmmakers behind this wonderful adventure explain why everyone is fascinated by dinosaurs and what they have in store:  Barry Cook and Neil Nightingale, the movie’s co-directors; John Lynch, co-producer;  Marco Marenghi, animation director and Steve Brusatte, one of the film’s paleontologist consultants.

Q: What makes dinosaurs so fascinating?
Neil Nightingale:
“Dinosaurs are the most amazing creatures that ever existed on our planet. It is amazing that there was a time when the world was completely dominated by them. In four and a half billion years of existence, there have been no creatures more dramatic or scarier. Whether they would be as popular if they existed today and were stomping down the high street, I don’t know.”  

Stephen Brusatte:
“They lived a long time ago and they lived for a long time. Some of them grew to enormous sizes. They were fantastic creatures. But they're not dragons or leprechauns or unicorns. When you look at them you can tell they were real. They have the same bones we have. You can see actual skeletons that people have found. Dinosaurs were big, scary and weird. They're real, but  they're confined to the deep dark past.”

Barry Cook:
“It is a mystery that we want to know more about. Children love dinosaurs because they can’t see them in their backyard or at the zoo, or in the wild. And the creatures that lived alongside them were just as impressive. Some of these flying pterosaurs were as big as giraffes. Wow! That’s something to imagine.”

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Q: Why are they so mysterious?
John Lynch:
“Dinosaurs have a magical, mysterious quality because they are real monsters that really  existed. But children know they're dead and they've been dead for 66 million years so they can't  hurt anyone. Some dinosaurs are horrendously horrible monsters but it is okay to be scared of them. They are also dramatic. Dinosaurs were their own living action adventure. They give us the sense that the world has been there forever and we are just a tiny little moment at the end of it.”

Q: What is the story all about?
Neil Nightingale:
“Patchi is our hero and we follow him from the first few days in his nest. We are with him as he grows up, we are with him on his adventures, with the friends he meets and the dangers he encounters. We discover that there’s far more to him than we ever thought when he was being kicked around in the nest. He is overshadowed by his older, arrogant brother Scowler who seeks  to dominate him throughout his life. But Patchi is very curious, he doesn’t give up, he’s caring towards his friends and eventually those qualities win through.”

    
Q: What were the Pachyrhinosaurus like?
Stephen Brusatte:
“They were big animals that formed big herds. They moved around together. They had fantastic horns coming out of their skull. They were plant-munching dinosaurs and if you were around at that time, you'd probably have seen a lot of these animals. They would have been all over the landscape.”

Q: How much fun was it making this film?
Marco Marenghi:  
“It was a dream come true for me, I could not wait to get up in the morning and find out what challenges I had ahead of me. It's not a job for me, it's a hobby. That is what makes it really cool.”

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Q: Do you wish dinosaurs were still around?
Stephen Brusatte:  
“No, those animals had their time. They had a long period of time, about 160 million years. If that asteroid hadn’t hit, who knows what would have happened? We probably wouldn't be here now, so I'm glad that they're gone. And I'm glad that we can study them. Literally every day there's new dinosaur research coming out.”

Q: Have they all totally disappeared?
John Lynch:
“No, technically dinosaurs did not actually die out 66 million years ago. Birds are now universally accepted as being part of the dinosaur branch of life. Whatever happened at that time so long ago to kill off so much of life on Earth, there is one line of dinosaurs that came through it all. So all around us the direct descendants of the dinosaurs are still with us today.”

Q: What is the best thing about Walking with Dinosaurs?
Marco Marenghi:
“It is pure adventure and entertainment. Nothing like this has ever been done before. You're really there with the dinosaurs, inside their world. You're actually on their journey. It will blow your mind. It is going to be a heck of a ride.”

Experience real like never before.  “Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie” is a major new blockbuster presented by 20th Century Fox and Reliance Entertainment in association with IM Global. A BBC Earth and Evergreen production in association with Animal Logic, the film is set for release in the Philippines on January 8, 2014 in cinemas nationwide.

View the gallery for screengrabs from Walking with Dinosaurs!