''Dinosaur Planet'' is a four-part American

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of tr ...

that aired on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

as a special-two night event on December 14 and 16, 2003. It is hosted by paleontologist

Scott Sampson Scott Donald Sampson (born April 22, 1961) is a Canadian paleontologist and science communicator. Sampson is currently the Executive Director of California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California. He was previously Vice President of Res ...

and narrated by actor

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

. It was released on DVD as a two-disc pack on February 17, 2004, and was also released on VHS around the same time. The format is similar to Discovery's earlier series ''

When Dinosaurs Roamed America ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'' (sometimes shortened to ''When Dinosaurs Roamed'' outside of the U.S.) is a two-hour American television program (produced in the style of a traditional nature documentary) that first aired on the Discovery Chann ...

''. Each episode tells a fictionalized account of a dinosaur from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

period. The animals are recreated with

computer-generated imagery Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...

and composited into present-day filmed locations that approximate prehistoric

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. Periodic interludes (three in each episode) feature Scott Sampson explaining the scientific findings behind the story, also similar to ''When Dinosaurs Roamed America'', but has improved in quality.

Episodes

Marketing

There were a couple of different websites for the series that were created back in November 2003, which included promos on the central characters of each of the episodes, and showed animations of them in a white background. The site appeared to have some of its format taken away by June 2006, but the link remained intact on the site until December 2008, when the link finally redirected to the dinosaur section of Discovery's website, and about five years after the show originally premiered. An interactive game was also created, showcasing the dinosaurs in the show, where they are located, and other facts about them.

Reception

The series was recommended by

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

– ''Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera)'' - Patrick Cusack, David Esparza, Sean Rowe, Lisa Varetakis, Michael Payne, Dean Grinsfelder, Stephen P. Robinson, Nancy Nugent and

Gregg Barbanell Gregg Barbanell is an American sound editor. He has been nominated for twelve Primetime Emmy Awards in the category Outstanding Sound Editing. In 2004 he won a Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Sound Editing for a Nonfiction or ...

– ''Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera)'' - Mike Olman and Ken Kobett

References

External links

(now a 404 error)
Dinosaur Interactive Viewer
(now a 404 error) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinosaur Planet (Tv Series) Discovery Channel original programming Documentary television series about dinosaurs 2003 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings