The prehistoric planet: the secret life of the dinosaurs

The prehistoric planet

A carnosaurus - a rather large and intimidating-looking dinosaur, wanders around in a Patagonian forest collecting branches and tearing grass: in doing so, it has created a small clearing in the middle of a very dense wooded area. A little later a female, bigger and more dangerous than him, joins him, and the two confront each other. The next scene sees the carnosaur spreading his squat little hands with blue palms and shaking them as if he were dancing the hi-hat, waving his tail and turning on himself in the space created: he is performing for his potential partner, hoping to win her over. It is just one of countless moments in the documentary series The Prehistoric Planet from May 23-27 with one episode per day on Apple TV + that will leave dinosaur lovers or simply wildlife insights amazed, stunned and impressed.

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The prehistoric planet is a combination of "art, science and technology" that allows you to tell the story of these extinct animals as in a traditional documentary, "based on the discoveries of that scientific community that has stopped limiting itself to staring at bones to investigate behavior, ”explained Elliot Newman of MPC, special effects supervisor. The show, narrated by a milestone in scientific popularization, the stainless Sir David Attenborough, is composed of five episodes set in as many biomes (Coasts, Deserts, Fresh waters, Ice worlds, Forests) that reconstruct life, appearance and the behavior of at least a hundred prehistoric creatures. "Nowhere else is wildlife as spectacular": commented producer Mike Gunton, referring to Africa. "But has it really always been this way? The prehistoric age was even more spectacular, so I thought I'd take the crew, equipment, experts and Sir Attenborough, put them in a time machine and take them back sixty-six million years and make a series in that era. "

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The project involves Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man (as well as the interpreter of the chauffeur Happy) who in the past has already worked with the special effects house Mpc in London on The Book of the Jungle in 2016 and The Lion King in 2019. Favreau and Gunton decided to treat the documentary as if the creatures were flesh and blood, "doing field research as you would a normal documentary" and employing a team of experts who “yes I know no questions asked about the habits of the subjects ". The prehistoric planet will, of course, appeal to adults and children who are crazy about dinosaurs, however, as producer Tim Walker pointed out: “The series is not Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park movies are in a different ecosystem than ours. Literally: our work is based on all this new scientific evidence. "

Prehistoric Planet - A tyrannosaurus with its baby Courtesy of Apple In fact, many recent discoveries were unknown to Spielberg and Co: The prehistoric planet is based on a myriad of unpublished researches that have revealed hitherto unknown behaviors and species as a group of giant pterosaurs known as the Azhdarchidae Hatzegopteryx, with wings more than ten meters wide, for which reference was made in a 2017 research. The striped tyrannosaurus is a Qianzhousaurus, a species identified only two years ago, while the chasing animal is a Corythoraptor, another newly found creature. In The Prehistoric Planet we recognize the "usual suspects" - the tyrannosaurus, the velociraptor, the brontosaurus - and other species that for most of the public sees for the first time, such as those mentioned and the very tender Mononykus.

Prehistoric Planet - The baby triceratops Courtesy of Apple There are pterosaurs who pretend to be females to steal the girlfriend of the biggest and strongest male specimens, there are sea creatures that swallow rocks, there are animals that are named after mythical creatures such as the pterosaur Quetzacoatlus, named after the feathered serpent worshiped by the Aztecs. And then the Ornithomimus, the Dromaeosaurus, the Deinocheirus, the Hadrosaurus, the Secernosaurus, the Tarbosaurus, the Dreadnought and the aforementioned Mononykus. The latter is a feathered creature with a very long tongue and a very fine hearing capable of perceiving its meal - for example, termites - inside a trunk. This cute little animal is producer Mike Gunton's favorite: "We wanted to emphasize that this era was incredibly rich in wildlife. There were not a few specimens, the planet was covered with different species and not only with gigantic specimens, but also as small as the feathered Mononykus, my favorite. It must be added that creating the feathered coat of an animal is not an easy thing, believe me ".

Prehistoric Planet - An edmontosaurus with its little one Courtesy of Apple Yet the result is extraordinary: today we know that many prehistoric species were covered with feathers or fur and what the documentary shows is so realistic that it is impossible to discern between CGI and reality. The production has traveled the world to find the locations - real - suitable for hosting digital creatures, which appear absolutely real and integrated into their designated environment. Footage of a vast desert needs to be large enough to fit the giant Dreadnoughts, for example. While the cameramen didn't have to stand in wait to capture the animals in action, the shots evoke that kind of effort: “You can't get close to a tyrannosaurus, but you can take a close-up of a Mononykus, so the photograph reflects what you would do. in the real world, ”Gunton explained:“ We know that the Mononykus feeds on this specific trunk, so why not put a camera inside it? ".

Prehistoric Planet - The courtship of two T-rex Courtesy of Apple Thanks to research - and shooting at a safe distance! - we can discover the tender side of a tyrannosaurus, perhaps an elderly specimen that has survived a thousand battles that finds a partner with whom to exchange affection. Thanks to the studies that have revealed how this species had very sensitive nerve endings on his face and neck. Similarly, we can learn that the Mosasaurus was fiercely confronted with his fellow men but without killing each other, thanks to the marks of the teeth left in some remains found. These and other fantastic revelations await you on The Prehistoric Planet.