''Dinotopia'' is an American television series based on the series of illustrated books of the same name by

James Gurney James Gurney (born June 14, 1958) is an American artist and author known for his illustrated book series '' Dinotopia'', which is presented in the form of a 19th-century explorer's journal from an island utopia cohabited by humans and dinosaurs ...

, in which three Americans have crash-landed a plane and found themselves on a remote uncharted island inhabited by people and dinosaurs.

Outline

US pilot Frank Scott, with his sons Karl and David, crash-lands a light plane in a tropical storm and they find themselves on an English-speaking island called Dinotopia, remote and undiscovered, where people live alongside dinosaurs, mostly peacefully. The Scotts settle at Waterfall City, capital of Dinotopia, which then is affected by the arrival of a group called the Outsiders, who live outside the laws of Dinotopia. The Outsiders pose less of a danger than the featured Saurian antagonists, such as ''

Pteranodon ''Pteranodon'' (; from and ) is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of over . They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in presen ...

'', ''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'', and ''

Postosuchus ''Postosuchus'', meaning "Crocodile from Post", is an extinct genus of rauisuchid reptiles comprising two species, ''P. kirkpatricki'' and ''P. alisonae'', that lived in what is now North America during the Late Triassic. ''Postosuchus'' is a ...

''.

Production

The series was produced as a sequel to the miniseries ''

Dinotopia ''Dinotopia'' is a series of illustrated fantasy books, created by author and illustrator James Gurney. It is set in the titular Dinotopia, an isolated island inhabited by shipwrecked humans and sapient dinosaurs who have learned to coexist p ...

'', broadcast in early 2002, and thirteen new episodes were filmed. None of the cast of the mini-series returned to their roles. Location shooting lasted for three months near

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary.

Georgina Rylance Georgina Elizabeth Rylance (born 20 April 1976) is an English actress, best known for '' Dinotopia''. Early life Born in Ladbroke Grove in 1976, Rylance has a younger sister, Charlotte, and is the daughter of Judge John Rylance KC, a circuit ju ...

played Marion Waldo, and

Lisa Zane Lisa Zane (born April 5, 1961)Skin, Mr. Skin (2005). Mr. Skin's Skincyclopedia: The A-to-Z Guide to Finding Your Favorite Actresses naked'. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 612. . is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. Early lif ...

her friend Le Sage, leader of the Outsiders.

Michael Brandon Michael Brandon (born Michael Feldman; April 20, 1945) is an American actor. He is known for his role as James Dempsey in the British drama series ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' (1985–1986) and narrating the American dub of the children's televisio ...

Jonathan Hyde Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan Hyde, is an Australian actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the comedy film '' Richie Rich'' (1994), Samuel Parrish ...

, and

Erik von Detten Erik Thomas von Detten (born October 3, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He is known for his roles in '' Escape to Witch Mountain'', ''Toy Story'', '' Brink!'', ''Meego'', '' The Princess Diaries'', '' Complete Savages'', and '' So Weird'' ...

also star in the series. ABC first planned to launch the series in September 2002, but in the event waited until

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

in November. The network was disappointed by the 5.7 million viewers for Episode 1, but stated that it had been an "odd viewing night overall" and continued to broadcast the show. However, in December the viewing figures had not improved enough to satisfy the ABC network, and the series was canceled, with the result that only six of the thirteen episodes were aired on ABC, although all thirteen were broadcast in Europe in 2003.

Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until i ...

released the whole series on Region 1 DVD on January 20, 2004. This release was later discontinued and went out of print, but on March 15, 2016, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the series on Region 1 DVD and also on Region 2 DVD in Europe.

Cast

as Karl Scott *

Shiloh Strong Shiloh Strong is an American actor, screenwriter, photographer, and film director whose roles include "Zelos Wilder" from ''Tales of Symphonia'', "Karl Scott" from '' Dinotopia'', and "Grant" from '' Buck Naked Arson''. At the age of 16, Shilo ...

as David Scott *

as Frank Scott *

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili (; born 30 September 1965) is a British comedian, actor, and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvane ...

as the voice of Zipeau *

Sophie Ward Sophie Anna Ward (born 30 December 1964) is a British stage and screen actress, and a writer of non-fiction and fiction from London. As an actress, she played Jocelyn Sheffield in '' The Nanny''; she also played Elizabeth Hardy, the female l ...

as Rosemary Waldo *

as Le Sage *

as Mayor Waldo *

as Marion Waldo * Sian Brooke as Krista *Zoltan Papp as Martino *Zoltán Seress as Quint

Episodes

Dinosaurs

* ''

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...

'' * ''

Brachiosaurus ''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about . It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in paleontology, 1903 from fossi ...

'' ("Brach") * ''

Chasmosaurus ''Chasmosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period in North America. Its given name means 'opening lizard', referring to the large openings ( fenestrae) in its frill (Greek ''chasma'', meaning 'opening', 'hol ...

'' (incorrectly classified as a

hadrosaur Hadrosaurids (), also hadrosaurs or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod fami ...

) * ''

Parasaurolophus ''Parasaurolophus'' (; meaning "beside crested lizard" in reference to ''Saurolophus'') is a genus of hadrosaurid "duck-billed" dinosaur that lived in what is now western North America and possibly Asia during the Late Cretaceous period, a ...

'' ("Overlander"/Guard) * ''

Mosasaurus ''Mosasaurus'' (; "lizard of the Meuse (river), Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic Squamata, squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian an ...

'' (more

crocodilia Crocodilia () is an order of semiaquatic, predatory reptiles that are known as crocodilians. They first appeared during the Late Cretaceous and are the closest living relatives of birds. Crocodilians are a type of crocodylomorph pseudosuchia ...

n in appearance than in the

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

record, with arms and legs instead of flippers) * ''

'' * ''

Quetzalcoatlus ''Quetzalcoatlus'' () is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur that lived during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous in North America. The Type (biology), type specimen, recovered in 1971 from the Javelina Formation of Texas, United States, ...

'' ("

Skybax The skybax (''Quetzalcoatlus skybax'') is a fictional creature in the ''Dinotopia'' fantasy book series. In the series, it carries "skybax riders" to their destination, although the skybax itself does the steering. The master pilot that trains the ...

") * ''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

'' one makes a cameo during the first episode and has a bigger role in episode 3 * ''

Dunkleosteus ''Dunkleosteus'' is an extinct genus of large arthrodira, arthrodire ("jointed-neck") fish that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It was a pelagic fish inhabiting open waters, and one of the first verteb ...

'' (resembles more of an

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

-like creature than in real life, with spikes on its face instead of armor plating) * '' Stenonychosaurus'' * ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It live ...

'' * ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

'' (mentioned by Captain Oonu after the first ''Tyrannosaurus'' attack) * ''

Dimorphodon ''Dimorphodon'' ( ) is a genus of medium-sized pterosaur from Europe during the early Jurassic Period (about 201-191 million years ago).Müller R.T., Ezcurra M.D., Garcia M.S., Agnolín F.L., Stocker M.R., Novas F.E., Soares M.B., Kellner A.W.A. ...

'' (portrayed inaccurately as a feathered bird)

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinotopia Dinotopia American Broadcasting Company original programming 2002 American television series debuts 2003 American television series endings Television shows based on American novels Television series about dinosaurs