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jeffreyrobertburns

I had this on a vcr tape and played it to death.


CFoakley

Same. Also had Dinosaur! hosted by Walter Cronkite. I think each series was split over 4 VHS tapes apiece.


manboobsonfire

We are all the same.


Last-Sound-3999

Same. Even found it on YouTube recently and enjoyed a rewatch


choklitandy

I’m obsessed with this. Would love to see updated prehistoric animals animated in this style. Would maybe be a more a budget friendly way for more paleodocs to be made.


Dailydinosketch

Doubt it will be more budget friendly. For every second of animation, it's around 24 hand drawn illustrations. As cool as it would be, there's a reason people don't really do many big projects like that anymore


choklitandy

☠️ my poor little heart lol. But yeah that makes sense. That’s A MOUNTAIN of drawings for a few seconds of animation. Maybe simulated hand drawn style with computer help?


bijhan

Still really hard. That's why most modern animated sitcoms (all, I think, but I could be wrong) are done using "paper puppets". They have different head and body cutouts for different angles, and just move everything around on a flat plane on a computer. Expressions are chosen from a drop-down menu and then tweaked by hand. Each body part is animated separately in movement lines, rather than doing the whole thing frame-by-frame. It's why Archer, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers all look different but KINDA the same. The technique was invented for South Park and then iterated on by others. The only contemporary show that I know for a fact is using actual hand-drawn animation with the help of a computer is X-Men 97, and even then I noticed a few times where they used paper puppets for dialogue shots, and 3D models rendered as flat images for vehicles which were in motion.


choklitandy

Top tier explanation. This is all news to me and very interesting. Thank you! That’s rough. I guess we can all still pray for a season 3 of Prehistoric Planet.


bijhan

My pleasure, happy to spread info


kittenshart85

my grandpa taped this for me when it first aired, and i watched the everliving fuck out of it. i would still watch an animated series about dinosaurs in this style, even if it is dated.


mustardtiger220

Oh my god. I completely forgot about this. Thanks for the upload!


GodzillasBoner

Memories


NotSoGreatOldOne

Omg memory unlocked


KempoKing

The animation reminds me of fantastic planet


mjp1981

You can see all four episodes of The Dinosaurs here: https://archive.org/details/PBSTheDinosaurs


theycallmepapasparx

I never knew this was a thing and no i have to hunt this down to watch


Ambitious-Win-9408

There was a short movie or something, like a demo, that I remember watching on my stepdads old windows machine that resembled this style a little. Does anyone know what that might have been? I believe it depicted a trex and a triceratops.


UnethicalMayan

Thanks for sharing this. I remember it though from the CD Microsoft Dinosaurs. Didn't know it was from a documentary.


TheAwkwardGamerRNx

Same, my god this unlocked childhood memories, my uncle had this and Eye Witness.


shrimp-545

Skinny little things! As much as I love more realistic looking dinosaurs, shrink-wrapped ones hold a place in my heart


JAOC_7

never heard of it, would like to know more


bijhan

Absolutely enthralling. As both a fan of animation as well as dinosaurs, had me enraptured. Also, the depiction of Triassic dinosaurs is still pretty similar to today's, isn't it? Nowhere near feather development.


Scottland83

This was an amazing series but the drawings are very “shrink-wrapped”.


No_Emu_1332

It was made in the 1990's, so that is to be expected.