For two young boys it’s the adventure of a lifetime—thousands of lifetimes ago. Executive produced by Robert Halmi, Sr. (Merlin) and Robert Halmi, Jr. (Cleopatra) and based on the best-selling books by James Gurney.
A fantastic marriage of state-of-the-art computer technology, thrilling live action, and breathtaking ingenuity, Dinotopia emerges as one of the most ambitious and technically advanced projects in the history of television.
The story begins when Frank Scott, a wealthy American, crashes his plane into the Caribbean. He appears to perish, but his two teenaged sons, Karl and David survive, only to find themselves castaways on Dinotopia, a fantastic lost continent where humans and dinosaurs peacefully co-exist. Karl and David are constantly at odds, even as they struggle to adjust to life in their strange new world.
Dinotopia’s colourful human inhabitants include resident rogue Cyrus Crabb, a descendant of shipwrecked pirates who lives as an outlaw in the utopian society; smart, beautiful Marion, who is training to be a matriarch and leader of her people; Marion’s father, Mayor Waldo, overseer of Dinotopia’s spectacular capital, Waterfall City; her mother, revered matriarch Rosemary and Oonu, commander of the Skybax Corps (humans that train to fly huge Pterosaurs with 30-foot wingspans).
Marion – who captures both Karl’s and David’s hearts – leads the brothers to Waterfall City, where Mayor Waldo welcomes the “off-worlders” and has them live with Zipeau an academic Stenonychosaurus who speaks 17 human and Saurian languages, so they can learn to become Dinotopians. Upon receiving their Dinotopian assignments, cynical Karl is assigned to a Saurian “hatchery” where he’s charged with overseeing the birth of an infant Chasmosaurus named 26. David – terrified of heights – is ordered to partake in Skybax training on the very frontier of Dinotopia, Canyon City.
The brothers soon discover that they’ve arrived at a critical moment in the history of this lost world. The sunstones, a force of life for Dinotopia, are mysteriously failing, and Dinotopia may soon be plunged into darkness and chaos. The boys are the keys to Dinotopia’s survival, but in order to save their new home, they must journey to the World Beneath, a dark and dangerous territory forbidden to all the continent’s inhabitants.
The dinosaurs (including key character Zipeau) were created by Framestore, the company that handled visual effects for the award-winning Merlin, Arabian Nights and Walking with Dinosaurs. Using state-of-the-art digital special effects, a team of 125 computer animators, architects/designers and CG staffers worked full-time on the company’s largest project to date. 12 staff members alone made up the “Zipeau Squad”, working exclusively to bring the character vibrantly to life. Additional animatronic dinosaurs, including the adorable baby 26 and the giant prehistoric reptiles called Mosasaurs, were created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in London. 26 was hand-held, and her intricate, life-like movements were controlled off-screen by two Creature Shop operators, allowing the baby to blink, breathe and wriggle her tail convincingly.