Walking with...

Walking with...
North American DVD cover of box set containing multiple series of the franchise.
Created by	Tim Haines Jasper James
Original work	Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)
Owner	BBC
Print publications
Book(s)	The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life (2006)
Films and television
Film(s)	Walking with Dinosaurs (2013)
Television series	Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) Walking with Beasts (2001) Walking with Cavemen (2003) Sea Monsters (2003) Walking with Monsters (2005)
Television special(s)	The Ballad of Big Al (2000) The Giant Claw (2002) Land of Giants (2003)
Theatrical presentations
Play(s)	Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular
Games
Video game(s)	Walking with Dinosaurs (2013)

Walking with..., also referred to as Walking with Prehistoric Life, is a media franchise created by Tim Haines and Jasper James centered on a collection of documentary series produced by the BBC and created by the independent production company Impossible Pictures. The series of documentaries began with Walking with Dinosaurs (1999), which was followed by four more series; Walking with Beasts (2001), Walking with Cavemen (2003), Sea Monsters (2003) and Walking with Monsters (2005).

Dinosaurs, Beasts and Monsters form an overarching series within the franchise dubbed the Trilogy of Life. In addition to the main series, three special episodes have been produced; The Ballad of Big Al (2000), The Giant Claw (2002) and Land of Giants (2003). In 2013, a movie based on Walking with Dinosaurs, with the same name, was directed by Neil Nightingale and Barry Cook.

The aim of the installments in the franchise is to recreate extinct animals and present them in the same way modern animals are presented in wildlife documentaries. The various extinct animals were realized throughout the franchise using computer graphics and animatronics.

Series[]

• Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)^[1]

This six-part series is focused on the rise, success, and the demise of the dinosaurs and other animals in the Mesozoic Era.

• Walking with Beasts (2001)^[2]

This six-part series is a sequel to Walking with Dinosaurs, and its focus is on the world after the dinosaurs, and the rise of the mammals in the Cenozoic Era. It was released in the United States as Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.

Puppet heads used in the series, Horniman Museum, London

• Walking with Cavemen (2003)

This four-part series is a sequel to Walking with Beasts and recounts the evolution of humans. However, instead of being narrated by Kenneth Branagh in the UK like other Walking with... series, it is narrated by Robert Winston.

• Sea Monsters (2003)

In this three-part series, real-life zoologist Nigel Marven travels through time to encounter many prehistoric marine creatures that lived during, before, and after dinosaurs. In the United States it was titled Chased by Sea Monsters.

• Walking with Monsters (2005)^[3]

This three-part series is a prequel to Walking with Dinosaurs, and its focus is life before the dinosaurs, in the Paleozoic Era. It was released in the United States as Before the Dinosaurs.

Specials[]

• The Ballad of Big Al (2001)^[4]

This special follows the life and death of "Big Al", a famous Allosaurus skeleton found with various injuries. In the United States, it was released under the title Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special.

• Land of Giants / The Giant Claw (2002–2003)

In these two episodes, real-life zoologist Nigel Marven travels through time in search for various dinosaurs. In the United States, the two episodes were marketed together under the name Chased by Dinosaurs.

Crew[]

Books[]

Several books were released that directly accompanied different series in the Walking with... series. These include the following:

• Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History by Tim Haines
• Walking with Beasts: A Prehistoric Safari by Tim Haines
• Chased by Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Predators of the Deep by Nigel Marven and Jasper James
• The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life by Tim Haines and Paul Chambers
• Walking with Cavemen by John Lynch

Related books issued by the BBC and Dorling Kindersley include:

• Walking with Dinosaurs 3-D Dinosaurs by Stephen Cole
• Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence by David Martill and Darren Naish
• Walking with Dinosaurs Sticker Book by Stephen Cole
• Walking with Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts by Mike Benton
• Walking with Dinosaurs Photo Journal by Stephen Cole
• Walking with Beasts Photo Journal by Stephen Cole
• Allosaurus! The Life and Death of Big Al by Stephen Cole

Prehistoric Planet[]

Prehistoric Planet is a revision of the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Beasts series, done by Discovery Channel and NBC for the Discovery Kids network. Though the producers kept most of the original animation, David Bock and Peter Sherman wrote new text for a younger target audience, narrated by Ben Stiller (in Season 1) and Christian Slater (in Season 2), and interspersed the scenes with occasional quizzes to act as bumpers around the commercial breaks. New music was incorporated as well. Most marketing and advertising for the series focused on the dinosaur episodes. In addition, the final episode, Prehistoric Planet Top 10, focused solely on the creatures from Walking with Dinosaurs. Most of the graphic content from the shows were removed to be more appropriate for children, small content edits were also done to allow original programs to fit in the 23 minutes of non-commercial time that a normal half-hour program has on network TV, resulting in footage from the shows to be trimmed down. Only Season 1 has been released on home video and DVD.

Accolades[]

Primetime Emmy Awards[]

BAFTA Awards[]

Visual Effects Society Awards[]

References[]

External links[]

• Impossible Pictures homepage