When dinosaurs ruled the planet

MANILA, Philippines - Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie transports us back 70 million years in time to Alaska, towards the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs and approximately four million years before they became extinct.

The engrossing coming-of-age story centers on Patchi, a plucky young Pachyrhinosaurus, the runt of the litter, who is overshadowed by his stronger, rather arrogant brother Scowler. An adventurous dinosaur (with a hole in his frill) Patchi faces a series of challenges on the path to adulthood.

Inspired by the latest research and discoveries in paleontology, the film follows Patchi as he sets off with his family and herd on their annual migration, which turns into a perilous journey as they confront fearsome predators. The greatest threat comes from the terrifying Gorgon, a Gorgosaurus (fierce lizard), the villain of the story. There is a romance, too.  Patchi is attracted to Juniper, a spirited female Pachyrhinosaurus who is from a different herd. But, as with all the great love stories, the course of true love does not run smoothly.

Walking With Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie presents realistic dinosaurs based on research. Directed by Neil Nightingale and Barry Cook, this exciting adventure takes the audience back 70 million years into the heart of prehistoric Alaska. 

What is Walking with Dinosaurs all about?

JOHN LYNCH: It is a classic story about of one of the greatest journeys ever undertaken on Earth: the annual progression of a vast herd of dinosaurs. It’s a story of families being born, created and torn apart. It’s a story of the young growing up and becoming wise. And it is a story of rivalry and competition, resolution and forgiveness.  It’s about animal heroism and it’s an epic adventure, but at the same time the film’s got all the character-led emotion and dramatic narrative of classics such as The Lion King. And it is inspired by science.

Can you talk about the setting for the film and what you know about the Earth at that time?

NEIL NIGHTINGALE: The story is set in Alaska 70 million years ago. At that time they had 24 hours of sunshine in the summer and 24 hours of darkness in the winter. It was toward the end of the Age of the Dinosaurs, during one of the last great flourishing of the dinosaurs, so there were many different species of dinosaurs on the planet, but also birds and insects. In some ways it was a world we would be quite familiar with, except that the dinosaurs dominated it.

What can you reveal about the plot?

NN: This is an entertaining family film about a family of Pachyrhinosaurus. Just imagine huge herds of giant rhinos, and you’ll get a picture in your mind of what they were like. Our story follows Patchi, a baby Pachyrhinosaurus, from the first few days in his nest. He’s the last one to hatch. He has an older brother, Scowler, who dominates him. Scowler is the alpha male, he is like a typical football player, he is bigger than all the rest and it seems like he’s going to be the leader of the herd. Patchi meets Juniper, a young female, from another family or herd and they become firm friends. Walking with Dinosaurs is the story of how Patchi grows up in this extraordinary world, all the challenges that face him and the adventures he has, the friends he meets and the dangers he goes through.

BARRY COOK: The story begins with Patchi exploring his own neighborhood when he’s young. Then he sets off on his first migration, which is akin to a big family vacation. Everybody packs up and goes off into the unknown. There is a huge adventure beneath the aurora borealis (the Northern Lights), and it involves fending off predators. It is epic. There is a lot of conflict that makes you root for the hero. What makes it unique is that it takes place within a setting that has not been shown before. Dinosaurs have never looked this real on screen and the film has a real beauty to it.

JOHN D. BROOKS: This classic adventure shows how life is both a celebration and a tragedy at the same time. It happens to all of us; every single living person has events in their lives that are happy and sad and these characters are no different. On their amazing journey they get hurt, they are thrown challenges and have to face and overcome them. For example, they get backed up by one of the predators that attack them and they fall into a river. They meet those life challenges and overcome them one after another. I think that is a great message for kids. 

Can you say a little more about the romance between Patchi and Juniper?

BC: Patchi meets Juniper and wants to get to know her. They are separated after their first meeting and they meet again later. Our story looks at the dynamics among adults in the herd and how it all works, how the strongest male ends up with the girl. That means that Patchi probably can’t be with Juniper. No matter how much he wants to be with her, it just doesn’t work that way in the animal kingdom.  We discover whether Juniper will have to follow the social order. Society is telling her one thing, but her heart is telling her to do something else.

How much of this story is inspired by fact?

NN: Biological aspects of the dinosaurs’ lives have inspired our story. We know that some dinosaurs looked after their young in the nests and fed them and that’s a feature in the film. We know they lived in big herds because big numbers of bones have been found. But then of course the film tells the fictional story of Patchi. Dinosaurs have been anthropomorphized to make an entertaining family movie. But the things that happen to Patchi could have happened and the animals around him, such as the big bad Gorgosaurus, really did exist. They really did chase baby Pachyrhinosaurus.

What makes the film stand out, do you think, and what can audiences look forward to?

BC: You will encounter some of the most realistic dinosaurs ever seen on the screen and a really great, epic adventure story about a kid who becomes a great hero. He’s a dinosaur, but I still call him a kid.

JL: Walking with Dinosaurs is a fantastic mixture of drama, entertainment and fact. And if it gets people fired up about the prehistoric world, that would be a fantastic achievement.

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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 Jan. 8, 2014.