"Dinotopia" (2002/II)TV mini-series

Director:

Marco Brambilla

Writers (WGA):

James Gurney (books)
Simon Moore (teleplay)

Release Date:

12 May 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Carl and David, two boys flying a small aircraft over the ocean with their father, crash land near an uncharted island...

Plot Keywords:

Wooden Leg | Pretty Girl | Unsteady Bridge | Caring | Half Brother

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Tyron Leitso	...	Karl Scott
David Thewlis	...	Cyrus Crabb
Wentworth Miller	...	David Scott
Katie Carr	...	Marion Waldo
Jim Carter	...	Mayor Waldo
Alice Krige	...	Rosemary Waldo
Colin Salmon	...	Oonu
Hannah Yelland	...	Romana Denison
Lee Evans	...	Zippo (voice)
Terry Jones	...	Messenger Bird (voice)
Stuart Wilson	...	Frank Scott
Anna Maguire	...	Samantha Waldo
Andy Beckwith	...	Copra Carter
Keith Newby	...	Messenger
Marcus White	...	Oliver

Also Known As:

Dinotopia (Germany)

Runtime:

250 min | USA:360 min (including commercials)

Country:

UK | Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

The Eleventh Code of Dinotopia (previously unknown since the tablet was broken) is "Find the Light". This is the phrase written on the front of a previous matriarch's (Marion's grandmother's?) letter.

Quotes:

Karl Scott: It's a skill, honed over a lifetime.
Rosemary: It's time you honed some other skills.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2002) (TV)

Underrated Future Classic

I enjoyed the two Gurney books (upon which this mini-series was based) and their stories. I hope parents will buy their children a copy of "Dinotopia" (the last two installments were aired at 8pm, cutting into bedtime hours for the youngest audience members), it really warrants an entire family viewing.

Most of us TV and Film addicts know what Dinotopia is about, so I won't bother going into too much detail.

Dino' teaches (is that so wrong nowadays) and enlightens (so what that it's plot and characters are preachy and two-dimensionally depicted). The 'series (not the books) is about two brothers (one egotistical, the other afraid of his own shadow); one learns humility by becoming a ceratopsian-nanny and the other becomes a pterosaurian-pilot.

Watch this one with your children and don't listen to all those impatient and cynical film critics who write tired newspaper reviews. The action and dialog wasn't as bad as all that, and the climactic (and a little frightening) Pteranodon swarming sequences were about as good as any made-for-television film can get without the censors breathing down the program production's backs.

Ultimately, viewers will have the last word on whether Dinotopia becomes a staple on video/DVD family shelves.