Simply born with sharp teeth
October 20, 2021 10:08 AM   Subscribe

On Youtube, animator David James Armsby has been creating the Dinosauria series (preview), extraordinary, quiet films about the daily struggles and rewards of the lives of dinosaurs. (cw: violent animal combat, death)
Our Frozen Past (6:36): In a bleak winter landscape, a mother troodon must use her wits to protect her chicks from nanuqsaurs.
Old Buck (4:29): An aging bull styracosaurus must defend his position from a rival or be left for dead among the scavengers.
An earlier dinosaur film, with narration: Sharp Teeth (3:21). Predators and prey, mothers and young.

There are also very informative "making of" videos on the channel that discuss the research process, which included watching local birds in winter and playing with action figures.
posted by Countess Elena (9 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
These are great--thanks for posting!
posted by box at 12:02 PM on October 20, 2021


I haven't seen so many new dinosaur words in so few sentences since about 3rd grade!

These are really really neat, I only wish the films weren't too intense for my 4½yo nephew who loves dinosaurs these days. And for some irrational reason, "Our Frozen Past" feels to me like it exists in the Heat Miser/Cold Miser universe. I have no defense for this.
posted by rhizome at 12:54 PM on October 20, 2021 [3 favorites]


Nice, thanks; love the details like the clacking beaks/jaws of the troodon and the vegetation hanging in the horns of Old Buck. Count me as also wishing that the scenarios weren't primarily about death and predation and appreciated the quick nod to interspecies cooperation in the first one.

These remind me of Ricardo Delgado's wonderful, wordless comic book series Age of Reptiles, which you can preview and buy digitally at the Dark Horse site. Wonderful storytelling, beautifully drawn, often violent but with some gorgeous peaceful nature interludes as well. "The Journey" is a story of a dinosaur migration that's gorgeously told. Well worth checking out if you're a dinosaur fan.
posted by mediareport at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2021 [4 favorites]


I was just saying to a friend.. you want an addition to the Jurassic Park franchise? Get in a room filled with suits and spend the next few months wrangling star talent for box office considerations and add the interminable list of other bs you'll have to wade through before the final cut hits the screen. There's something so delightfully direct and approachable about these animations.. thanks for sharing!
posted by elkevelvet at 1:22 PM on October 20, 2021


Really beautiful rendering. It suffers a but from the movements feeling a bit ploddy and boring. Animals move slow a lot but can be twisty, jerky and really dynamic, I expect the dinos that lived long enough to be fossilized were pretty wild sometimes.
posted by sammyo at 2:51 PM on October 20, 2021


So excited about this.
posted by grobstein at 2:52 PM on October 20, 2021


awesome, reminds me of mutual of omaha's wild kingdom (or marty stouffer's wild america ;) but with dinosaurs! or the mercy sequence in tree of life :P
posted by kliuless at 10:56 PM on October 20, 2021


These are some phenomenal reconstructions.
posted by brundlefly at 11:18 PM on October 20, 2021


I expect the dinos that lived long enough to be fossilized were pretty wild sometimes.

Here’s a brief glimpse of two lesser reptiles fighting – imagine Tyrannosaurs going at it: Two huge Komodo dragons fight on Indonesian island (YouTube, South China Morning Post, Feb 21, 2019).
posted by cenoxo at 5:06 AM on October 21, 2021


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