Walking with Dinosaurs (film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Walking with Dinosaurs
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Neil Nightingale Barry Cook
Produced by	Mike Devlin Luke Hetherington Amanda Hill Deepak Nayar
Written by	John Collee
Starring	Justin Long John Leguizamo Tiya Sircar Skyler Stone
Music by	Paul Leonard-Morgan
Cinematography	John Brooks
Editing by	John Carnochan Jeremiah O'Driscoll
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	14 December 2013 (2013-12-14) (Dubai Int'l Film Festival) 20 December 2013 (2013-12-20) (United States)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States Australia India
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Money made	$126.5 million

Walking with Dinosaurs is a 2013 family movie about dinosaurs. It takes place 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. The film mixes computer-animated dinosaurs with real-life backgrounds.

Actors like Justin Long and John Leguizamo gave voices to the main dinosaur characters. Neil Nightingale and Barry Cook directed the movie. John Collee wrote the story.

The film was made by BBC Earth and Evergreen Films. Its name comes from a BBC TV show from 1999. With a budget of $80 million, it was a very big independent movie. Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global helped pay for it. Most of the rights to show the movie were sold to 20th Century Fox.

The film crew shot scenes in Alaska and New Zealand. These places looked like what the dinosaurs' world might have been like. Animal Logic created the computer-animated dinosaurs. They added them to the real-life backgrounds. At first, the movie was not going to have voices. But 20th Century Fox decided to add them. They thought voices would help people connect with the characters.

Walking with Dinosaurs first showed on December 14, 2013. This was at the Dubai International Film Festival. It came out in cinemas on December 20, 2013, in 2D and 3D. People liked the movie's amazing visuals. But some critics thought the story was not very good. They also found the voice acting a bit childish. The movie made $126.5 million worldwide. The Hollywood Reporter said this was not enough money. It did not cover the high cost of making and marketing the film.

The Story of Patchi the Dinosaur

A paleontologist named Zack goes on a fossil hunt. He takes his nephew Ricky and niece Jade with him. Ricky wanders off alone. He meets a talking raven named Alex. Alex then changes into an Alexornis bird. Alex tells Ricky a story from 70 million years ago. This was during the Cretaceous period.

Patchi's Early Life

The story is about a young Pachyrhinosaurus named Patchi. He is the smallest of his brothers and sisters. His older brother, Scowler, often picks on him. Their father, Bulldust, leads their Pachyrhinosaurus herd. Alex, the bird, is like a guide to Patchi. He tries to help Patchi impress a female Pachyrhinosaurus named Juniper. But Juniper's herd moves south without him.

One day, a Troodon attacks Patchi. It tries to take him away. But Bulldust saves Patchi. Patchi gets a hole in his neck frill from the attack. Alex says this injury means Patchi is "destined for greatness."

A Dangerous Journey

Bulldust moves his herd south. They try to go through a forest. But a big storm hits, and a fire starts. A group of Gorgosaurus dinosaurs attacks the herd. Their leader, Gorgon, fights and kills Bulldust. Bulldust was trying to protect Patchi and Scowler.

After this, Patchi's herd joins Juniper's herd. Bulldust's rival, Major, now leads Patchi's herd. Gorgon's pack attacks them again. Patchi, Scowler, and Juniper fall into a river. They are swept far away to the ocean. Alex follows them from above.

Finding Their Way Back

They land on a beach. Scowler leaves Patchi and Juniper. He follows a herd of Edmontosaurus to find food. Patchi and Juniper travel through a forest. They finally find their herd and Scowler.

Years pass, and the dinosaurs keep moving north and south. An adult Scowler becomes the new herd leader. He defeats Major to take charge. Scowler chooses Juniper to be his mate. This makes Patchi very sad.

Scowler leads the herd onto a frozen lake. This is a risky move. But Patchi helps most of the herd get to safety. Scowler gets angry. He thinks Patchi is trying to take his place and Juniper. Scowler challenges Patchi to a fight for leadership. Scowler quickly wins the battle. He tells Patchi to leave the herd. He also tells Juniper and Alex to leave Patchi.

Patchi's Return and Victory

Patchi is sad and hurt. He gets stuck under a tree. He almost gives up and lets predators kill him. But Alex reminds him to fight for something important, like Bulldust did.

Patchi feels strong again. He escapes and fights off the predators. He returns to the herd. He finds Gorgon and his pack attacking them again. Gorgon is too strong for Patchi. Scowler tells Patchi to save himself and the herd. But Patchi leads the herd to fight Gorgon's pack.

The herd makes the Gorgosaurus pack leave. Patchi defeats Gorgon by breaking his arm. Gorgon's arm got caught in the hole in Patchi's frill. Scowler is saved. Scowler and Patchi make up. Scowler then lets Patchi lead the herd. Patchi and Juniper have eggs. One of their babies hatches. Alex asks for it to be named after him.

Back in the present, Ricky is touched by Alex's story. He gives the Gorgosaurus tooth back to Zack and Jade. They have found Gorgon's skull buried in the ground.

Meet the Voice Cast

Actor John Leguizamo voiced Alex the Alexornis, who tells the story in the film.

The movie starts and ends with real-life scenes. These scenes show humans. Justin Long, John Leguizamo, Tiya Sircar, and Skyler Stone are the voices for the animated dinosaurs. Karl Urban plays Uncle Zack. Charlie Rowe and Angourie Rice play his nephew and niece. They are at a dinosaur digging site.

John Leguizamo wanted to make a special voice for Alex. He used a Spanish accent. He said parrots came from Latin America. He also said, "The hardest part was finding the right sound. Alex is a small bird, but he tells the whole story. So he also had to sound like a father figure." Leguizamo compared his voice to that of Ricardo Montalbán. Justin Long said he got the role because he voiced Alvin in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movies.

Dinosaurs and Other Creatures in the Film

How Accurate Are the Dinosaurs?

The film tried to be entertaining, but also scientifically correct. A team of experts helped make sure the dinosaurs looked right. Dr. Steve Brusatte, a dinosaur expert, was on the team. He said the filmmakers learned a lot about dinosaurs. They used new discoveries since Jurassic Park came out in 1993.

Feathered Dinosaurs in the Film

Dr. Brusatte explained that thousands of feathered dinosaur fossils have been found. These discoveries happened over the last 15 years. So, some dinosaurs in the movie have feathers.

However, New Scientist reported that there is no proof that Pachyrhinosaurus or Gorgosaurus had feathers. Director Barry Cook said they decided not to put feathers on the Gorgosaurus. But they did give it shiny scales.

National Geographic noted that many experts were disappointed. The Gorgosaurus villains in the movie did not have any fluff or fuzz. After the film's Gorgosaurus was designed, a feathered dinosaur called Yutyrannus was found. This discovery showed more proof of feathers on tyrannosaurs.

Dinosaur Life in Alaska

Anthony Fiorillo, another dinosaur expert, helped the film. He advised on what dinosaurs lived in Alaska back then. He found the first known track of a therizinosaur in Alaska in 2012. This was too late to add to the movie.

Fiorillo also discovered a Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum in Alaska in 2012. He said if he had known more about it, he would have changed his advice. This would have affected how the movie's Pachyrhinosaurus looked.

Don Lessem, a writer about dinosaurs, liked the film's accuracy. He said the dinosaurs fit the time period better than in Jurassic Park. He found most dinosaurs were shown correctly. But he also thought the Gorgosaurus might have had feathers. Lessem also mentioned that the Alaskan scenery was beautiful. But he said it did not look like that during the dinosaur age. He described ancient Alaska as more like a cool, rainy forest.

Walking With Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D

In 2014, a shorter version of the movie was released. It was 45 minutes long and shown in 3D theaters. This version was more like a documentary. It had a narrator, just like the original TV series. It did not have character names or dialogue.

When a new dinosaur appeared, a "profile" would pop up. This showed the animal's name and what it ate. The Gorgosaurus from the movie were called Nanuqsaurus in this version. This is because Gorgosaurus is not known to have lived in Alaska. But Nanuqsaurus did live there.

See also

In Spanish: Walking with Dinosaurs (película) para niños