If you ever visit Northern California's redwood forests, it really does have the same effect of almost turning into night the deeper you go in that you see in Prehistoric Beast.
Yes, and as I'm sure you know (but not everyone in the comments section will) the plants of our redwood forests are not that different from the forests of that era. Plant nerd time! 🪴🤓 Gymnosperms (conifers) were dominant in that time period compared to flowering plants (angiosperms), along with Polypodiophytes (ferns) which live in the wetter areas of the woods, and the last surviving Equisetum genus (horsetails). Of course, they have changed over time, much like today's Coelacanths are descendants of the ones fossilized millions of years ago, but if you want to get an idea of what plants looked like in the Cretaceous, heading more than a mile or so into one of these areas (where less human trash and angiosperms are) will give you a pretty good clue.
Ngl that honestly feels how people imagine how interaction Tyrannosaurus's encounter with any ceratopsid would look like Tyranno gets badly hurt by its horn, then chargest against ceratopsid's head/its horns and Tyranno wins (even tho that would he suicide :3)
Actually, something like that almost happened. Tim Burton would have directed Dinosaurs Attack - a gory 1980s science fiction horror trading card series about dinosaurs accidentally sent into the present and going on a murderous rampage and eating people. However, with the release of Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg, the project was canceled, and instead, he turned his focus to Topp's other science fiction horror card series, Mars Attack. ☠️🦕🫀🦖
@@Morrison-saber-tooth Gain some media literacy, look up how Tim Burton describes his upbringing and his works, and what he chooses to romanticize. You'll notice the racist undertones present in EVERY SINGLE ONE of his works. They are also insultingly empty and devoid of meaning, i.e, stupid. If Tim Burton has a million haters, I am one of them. If Tim Burton has ten haters, I am one of them. If Tim Burton has only one hater then that hater is me. If Tim Burton has no haters, then that means I am no more of this earth. If the world is for Tim Burton, I am against the world. I hate Tim Burton till my last breath. Die Hard hater of Tim Burton. Hit Like If you know Tim Burton worst director & dumbest In the world.
My earliest memories of seeing clips of this short film (& to an extent Dinosaur!) was with 3D Dinosaur Adventure (PC Game) and Really Wild Animals: Dinos & Other Creature Features (VHS Tape)
As someone who loves animation as an art form, I really appreciate the feeling of texture and "squishiness" of Tibbet's work. Stop motion is almost always used in more expressive animation styles now, emulating the ever iconic "Nightmare Before Christmas," but it was once the standard for great vfx. The way that the teeth on the T-Rex glimmer with saliva or the redness of the flesh and blood as it eats its prey just can't be matched with current CGI. There's a disturbing quality to old practical effects like this because they make us remember that we are also flesh bags with wet bones in our face, and there were plenty of animals that made their snacks of us not that long ago. Good chills!
I forget if it was When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth or another movie, but there's a bit involving a plesiosaur fighting cavemen on a beach where they put a lot of effort into projecting the light from flickering camp/wild fires in the scene on the model. It makes an effect that's obviously a special effect pop out like the actors on-screen.
I recorded the Dino-Mania episode from Movie Magic along with a few other dinosaur documentaries when Discovery channel had its first "dinosaur week" and watched it incessantly. Made me have a real appretiation for stop motion and movie effects in general. Seeing a few clips from it in this activated some very core memories for me.
"incessantly" I bet there are going to be some people who think that means you watched it while fooling around with a family member 🤦♂. Probably should've just gone with nonstop or continuously instead.
@@ranchosdelnorte You could've legit corrected me for misspelling "appreciation" or any of my other numerous grammatical errors. It would have been annoying, but whatever. Instead this comment section got to witness your creepy thought processes and where they lead. TLDR get your mind out of the gutter
@@ThatDMan87 You were wanting to sound like a try-hard by using a word no one uses. I personally knew what it meant and hence why I gave you alternatives that mean the same, however most people aren't going to know what it means but common word they do know that sounds similar is incest, so it's not even that much of a process and is why I was letting you aware of it. You could've taking it as someone just pointing out something or even simply as a joke, perhaps even just moved on without even saying anything. But instead you decided to get in your feelings and make a big ordeal about it.
If stop motion was used to day, it would look amazing. It already looked incredibly realistic in the 60´s, imagine today. Look at how Star Wars still uses practical effects.
I grew up watching and loving the 1985 Dinosaur! documentary and imagine my shock when I discovered the Tyrannosaurus/Monoclonius segment was its own short! :)
Same here. My family would rent the VHS so much at the local video store that they let my parents buy it for me. I had no clue the short was its own thing at one point.
I first saw this in Eyewitness Dinosaur. It was pretty scary to me. The lighting and cinematography really left an impression on me. It really is one of the best short films I’ve ever seen.
@@canonbehenna612 The Sauropod and Maiasaura clips are featured in 3D Dinosaur Adventure, along with an extinction clip I wanna say was Tippet's work. But yeah, a lot of the clips in the game were CGI or short videos of animatronics.
I distinctly remember recognizing both the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Monoclonius (later Centrosaurus) from Really Wild Animals from National Geographic, but never realized they actually used footage from both this and later on footage from Dinosaur that was hosted by the late Christopher Reeve. It amazes me to think that the stop motion for both dinosaurs has aged timelessly after nearly 40 years of the original release of Prehistoric Beast. And oh man, as someone who’s been watching Prehistoric Beast time and time again on TH-cam, I’m really happy to see you cover this on right here on TH-cam. 💖💙
I was first introduced to this short through an audio-edited snippet of the Rex/Mono fight included in Eyewitness' Dinosaur. If you haven't seen it just look up the program online it should be about 14:00 in. I bring this up because that scene nearly traumatized me as a kid, and as an adult I finally see why. Before the segment starts, you're viewing the dentition of carnovious dinosaurs, as the narrator talks about how they would be used to remove meat from bone. All the while a heavy, heartbeat-esque breathing is heard in the background, slowly building tension. Then, we shift to the Monoclonius before the carcass, as the T-Rex sneaks around in the distance. The narration fades out, the breathing gets louder, accompanied by only bird song and crickets. Then before you can fully grasp what's going on, the quiet is suddenly pierced by the sounds of the terrifying roar of a killer and the terrified roar of its victim. You can feel the murderous intent of the T-Rex and the sheer terror of the Monoclonius through nothing else but sound. And as soon as it began, the T-Rex audibly bites down, causing an horrifying sound from the herbivore that can only be described as a scream of unimaginable pain. The rest of the scene is then nothing but the Rex's muffled breathy growls as its mouth continues to clamp down on the Monoclonius' back, the pounding steps from their massive bodies shuffling as these two forces fight to survive, and the occasional sounds of the Monoclonius making small hits on its attacker. But then, the audible puncture of the Rex's leg causes it to roar again, but not in pain or distress. Somehow, you understand that there is nothing but anger and contempt in that roar, and as it fades into the breathy growls, you can tell, even though the scene ends, that that Monoclonius is not only a dead man walking, but will be viciously ripped apart without mercy in a twisted sense of naturalistic torture. After watching the original short film this scene came from so many years later, it surprised me why it didn't seem as disturbing as it did in Eyewitness. While the original scene is terrifying in its own right, and Phil Thippet and his team did an amazing job, I think I know why this scene is so scary. The redubbed sound design here doesn't have that more Fantasia-y, synth style ambience the original does, and its sound effects are much more visceral and are designed to bring out an emotional response. The roars and growls tug on your sympathy to place you, however briefly, into the minds of these giants, and you start to understand the biological fear that a predator puts into its prey. It's a masterpiece of horror cinematography, and I can only thank the Eyewitness team for managing to not only include one of the most amazing dinosaur short film of all time, but to raise it up in a way as a true show of cinematic achievement.
You explained it better than I could. That’s exactly why I found it so scary but I was never scared enough to look away or cover my ears. I still enjoy the sound design of the original, it’s practically perfect to me. But I also love Eyewitness’s interpretation of the scene
This is the short I will recommend to people who say they don't like stop motion, or feel it's outdated. Spielberg should allow Tippett to do a cut of Jurassic Park with the stop motion replacing the CGI so fans can see what could have been possible. Also worth mentioning is how Phil achieved his dynamic shots and smooth animation. He called it Go Motion, and the techniques had been done by other stop motion artists, but they were simple as lightly applying Vaseline on the camera to great the blur effect, or putting the subject out of focus on the camera. Today, it can be done with editing, but I think more people like to see the choppy animation of stop motion to appreciate it.
I didn't see the Prehistoric Beast short on its own the first time I saw that stop-motion footage. When I saw it, it was part of the Dinosaur! documentary hosted by the late great Christopher Reeve. So my initial impression was that that footage was made specifically FOR that documentary. It wasn't until the Dino-Mania episode of the show Movie Magic that I learned they were originally two separate projects. In the documentary version, the footage of the actual fight is cut down in length, but that actually works in its favor, because the music used in the documentary version is FAR more intense and dramatic than in the original short. It's honestly the kind of music you'd expect to hear in a horror film!
I discovered this film during high school while I was looking up everything I could from Phil Tippett and I was blown away. It's one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. I would love to see a feature length version of Prehistoric Beast. You know what? I want to see a Raptor Red movie done in this style. Go Motion and zero dialogue. Not even narration. Just the Mesozoic being a completely alien world and the dinosaurs are just being dinosaurs. Kinda makes me sad that Jurassic Park didn't use these techniques. But, oh well.
When i was younger i had a dvd from a documentary series called ' Les yeux de la découverte' or eyes of the discovery , it was based from a book series of the same name and each episodes was about a specific subjet as from the books so your typical educational stuff ? ( like the human skeleton , animals etc ) and so of course i had the dinosaur one and the fight scene of the rex and monoclonius and i think some other shots were in it and tbh i had no idea it was coming from such a talented person as him ! Althou i have no idea how the episode from this french doc series was able to get the shots from prehistoric beast still , unfortunatly i cant find the episode anywhere so i guess when ill get this dvd back i will be able to revive my childhood memoriee , and yes as a kid this scene was scaring me alot back then to the point that i kinda skipped this scene when i dint had the courage to watch it again xD
Same, when he said not many people saw it and people didn't think it was appropriate for kids I thought "What? I vividly remember being shown this when I was like six..." It did scare me, but not like 'have nightmares' or 'burst out crying' level of scared.
@@girlbuu9403 I wasn’t scared of it, I just thought it was awesome! I can certainly understand how it would scare kids a little bit, but the museums really should’ve taken Phil up on his offer!
@@MarkusMaack Yeah, one of the first things I thought when they turned him down because it would scare little kids is... older kids and teenagers would love it.
I like how we get to see never before seen behind the scenes pictures and concept art for this short film. Plus, stock footage of this short was also used for Eyewitness for their episode "Dinosaur" and "Prehistoric Life."
We need more stop motion dinosaur films. Almost got it with Disney's dinosaur until Jurassic park came out and they abandoned stop motion all together.
Typing this before actually watching your video. I love this film and wrote a 10 star review and summary. I loved this film and wish there was a feature film of it. But anyway I'm going to watch this video and thank you for covering this awesome work of Paleo media and it's special place in film history as the first to depict a horizontal body posture for T. rex
Thank you for turning what would've been a shitty evening into a great one. Edit: If you like the way the dinosaurs look in Prehistoric Beast, then you'll love Dragonslayer. Easily Phil Tippetts best work, and by far my favorite 80s fantasy movie.
I remember that short from when I was a kid!! That entire few moments sparked SO MANY years of imagination! Thank you, sincerely, for bringing back a 40 year old memory!
A curious feature of stop motion is that it adds a slightly disturbing effect to animated creatures, being movements that are more rigid and less fluid than real ones. In fact, the creatures that are best animated with stop motion, in my opinion, are automatons and statues (see Talos from Jason and the Argonauts, or Kali from The golden voyage of Sinbad). The at-sts in Return of the Jedi have always seemed fluid and natural to me, and I was amazed when, as a boy, I discovered the technique used to animate them. It never ceases to amaze me that there are still stop motion film projects, what would seem to be an archaic animation technique compared to CGI, or rather a lot of the fake CGI we've seen in the last 20 years, and especially in the last 10.
I love the amazing paleo accurate dinosaurs designs we’ve had in the last couple of years, but man, seeing these retro designs and the way these animals were portrayed back then makes me very happy. Along with the accurate designs though a lot of dinosaur media seems to dial back on portraying these animals in a way that lets people see how terrifying it would be to live during the Mesozoic. I like recent documentaries breaking bad dinosaurs tropes but at the same time would like to see more media to giving insight on how dangerous these animals could have been. After all, we live amongst a fair share of scary animals today. The way the T-Rex portrayed in the film was chilling but simultaneously not portrayed in an over the top movie monstrous way. Just something I appreciate from this short and would love to see more of.
I completely agree with the opinion of how perfect this short film is. It's such a beautiful piece that I want to do something similar but more accurate to current information someday. Also, fun fact: the Monoclonius in the film inspired a color scheme variant for the juvenile Centrosaurus (which Monoclonius was revealed to be an individual of) in the Beasts of the Mesozoic dinosaur action figure toy line by veteran toy designer David Silva of Creative Beast Studio, who's done work for Hasbro, NECA and McFarlane Toys.
And "Albertosaurus", first of all, lived alongside Styracosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, and Centrosaurus lived alongside Edmontonia, Chamsosaurus and Daspletosaurus.
Honestly, I agree with Phil about the meme. It may have been amusing at first, but I think it's overshadowed his actual work. Works like Prehistoric Beast showcase his immense talent, and that's what his name should be associated with.
Counter argument: considering the reach memes get on the internet, his name gets further spread to demographics or people who might not of have otherwise known about him. Those who are curious enough (or just for the shits and giggles), look his name up and learn about the works he's created!
Glad you mentioned that CD-Rom, cause that's exactly where I saw this film. I will point out that that version cuts out after the T. Rex lunges at the Monoclonius to deliver the final blow. I had no idea it was called "{rehistoric Beast" or anything behind it. That CD-Rom had a bunch of videos on it that would be interesting to see the origin of. The only other one I remember was a cartoon about a mother T. rex and her babies and the mother hunts a Triceratops to feed them.
I saw some of tippett dinosaur segments in madrid natural history museum when I was a kid in 90s! Wondering who did it, until mid 2000s I discovered who did those films! Really sad the fate of the maquettes right now
Fun fact, this movie would serve as the basis for Phil Tippit's and Paul Verhoven's campaign to get a dinosaur-centric feature film made...a film that after multiple failed attempts and changing of leadership would eventually become the Disney movie Dinosaur...a guilty pleasure film of mine.
Omg! I used to watch this when I was young, way back in the early 90s. I was fascinated with dinosaurs, and I had to see every movie or documentary about them. This brings back so many memories. It's so nostalgic 😁
Bro, I JUST looked this video up and rewatched Prehistoric Beast like last month because I saw it on an old CD ROM (I don't even know which) when I was a child in the 90s and it stuck with me in my subconscious ever since. I only learned who Phil Tippett was after I rediscovered this amazing film 12:14 JFC!!! THAT HAS TO BE IT!!! 14:15 LOL Damnit, Phil!!
The stop motion in this short reminds me of the movie Mad God, which is a VERY heavy movie I don't recommend to everyone but comparison to its stop motion is always a compliment Edit: Tippet made Mad God too, which explains it XD
I remember first seeing clips of prehistoric beasts in a UK dinosaur documentary called Eyewitness dinosaur though the clips had different sound design
I would call it less a film and more a vignette. It’s a moment in time that gives everyone what they came for. There isn’t much beyond what we see nor beyond what we’d expect from dinosaurs. Its entire strength is in the idea that we all know the work put in behind its presentation.
This is unironically my favorite dinosaur sequence of all time, and in my opinion one of the top 4 greatest stop motion sequences ever put to film (the other 3 being the Kong vs T.Rex fight in the original King Kong, the skeleton sequence in Jason and the Argonauts, and the Medusa sequence from Clash of the Titans).
I remember only learning of this short film years ago as an elementary student after watching the DK Eyewitness episode called Dinosaur where they showed several scenes from Prehistoric Beast and my god, the stop motion was fantastic and the reconstructions were accurate for the time.
I love this film to death. It's so unique even if it is 10 minutes in that there is no narration, no dialogue, no humans or voice acting, just Dinosaurs being Dinosaurs. It's a pure 10/10. Just imagine if this was a feature length theatrical film about just Dinosaurs being Dinosaurs.
Am I the only one who thinks the forest in Prehistoric Beast had reused props from Return Of The Jedi ( the scenes on Endor)? Seriously, I expected the Ewoks to come out and attack the dinosaurs. edit: 7:57 I friggin KNEW IT!
My favourite addition to the meme is the person who said that all the dinosaurs were hitting their marks just fine (it's called ACTING) and therefore Phil did a brilliant job.
In the 90's the Natural history museum in Sweden let you play the Microsoft dinosaur game for free. I remember watching it there so I guess in the end it got to be shown in a museum for kids in the end.
I wish Phil Tippett’s Dinosaurs were available on DVD in America so I could watch them anytime day or night if I chose to. Tippett’s T.Rex is like an early Modernized version one of its kind that appeared on those previous films like Monsters of the Past (1923), The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933), The Animal World (1956), The Valley of Gwangi (1969) & Planet of Dinosaurs (1978). “T.Rex was Originally planned to appear in When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth but was cutout & it was planned to appear on Jim Danforth’s Project Film TIMEGATE but for some reason it stopped. I hope TIMEGATE is being shelved until further notice.” I simply would give a thing from Phil Tippett’s Dinosaurs to be available on DVD in America.
As much as I love Disney's Dinosaur as it is, I do wish we could've seen the Dinosaur film Tippett and Verhoeven had in mind, too. Prehistoric Beast is such an amazing taste of what that version of Dinosaur could've been had Disney been more willing to give Tippett/Verhoeven's vision a shot.
i want to see the dinosaur movie Phil Tippet wanted to make so very badly. if i were a billion or millionaire, i'd give him a call and say Hello Mr. Tippett would you like to make that dinosaur movie you wanted to make with complete creative control. lol
It would be cool if he tried revisiting the idea nowadays. I feel like the market for a Prehistoric Beast-esque show is a lot more present than it was back in the 80s
If you ever visit Northern California's redwood forests, it really does have the same effect of almost turning into night the deeper you go in that you see in Prehistoric Beast.
Yes, and as I'm sure you know (but not everyone in the comments section will) the plants of our redwood forests are not that different from the forests of that era. Plant nerd time! 🪴🤓
Gymnosperms (conifers) were dominant in that time period compared to flowering plants (angiosperms), along with Polypodiophytes (ferns) which live in the wetter areas of the woods, and the last surviving Equisetum genus (horsetails). Of course, they have changed over time, much like today's Coelacanths are descendants of the ones fossilized millions of years ago, but if you want to get an idea of what plants looked like in the Cretaceous, heading more than a mile or so into one of these areas (where less human trash and angiosperms are) will give you a pretty good clue.
I've been and you're absolutely right. It's a whole different world the deeper you travel into the woods, but I love how primordial it feels😆
Don't worry. They're all owned by Georgia Pacific timber, so they won't be around forever.
Ngl that honestly feels how people imagine how interaction Tyrannosaurus's encounter with any ceratopsid would look like
Tyranno gets badly hurt by its horn, then chargest against ceratopsid's head/its horns and Tyranno wins (even tho that would he suicide :3)
Making it even cooler because of the sheer crackhead determination of the T. rex to get it's lunch
TBF, we do have quite a bit of fossil evidence of just how resilient and tanky these animals were, with one fossil even showing a healed broken neck.
I always imagined, if Tim Burton was directing jurassic park, these Phill Tippet's models were used for dinosaurs, which could've work
If he did, it would have been stupid and racist.
Actually, something like that almost happened. Tim Burton would have directed Dinosaurs Attack - a gory 1980s science fiction horror trading card series about dinosaurs accidentally sent into the present and going on a murderous rampage and eating people. However, with the release of Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg, the project was canceled, and instead, he turned his focus to Topp's other science fiction horror card series, Mars Attack. ☠️🦕🫀🦖
@@EmonWBKstudios what??!!??
@@Morrison-saber-tooth Gain some media literacy, look up how Tim Burton describes his upbringing and his works, and what he chooses to romanticize. You'll notice the racist undertones present in EVERY SINGLE ONE of his works. They are also insultingly empty and devoid of meaning, i.e, stupid.
If Tim Burton has a million haters, I am one of them. If Tim Burton has ten haters, I am one of them.
If Tim Burton has only one hater then that hater is me. If Tim Burton has no haters, then that means
I am no more of this earth. If the world is for Tim Burton, I am against the world.
I hate Tim Burton till my last breath. Die Hard hater of Tim Burton. Hit Like If you know Tim Burton
worst director & dumbest In the world.
@@EmonWBKstudiosthe fuck do you mean by that
My earliest memories of seeing clips of this short film (& to an extent Dinosaur!) was with 3D Dinosaur Adventure (PC Game) and Really Wild Animals: Dinos & Other Creature Features (VHS Tape)
As someone who loves animation as an art form, I really appreciate the feeling of texture and "squishiness" of Tibbet's work. Stop motion is almost always used in more expressive animation styles now, emulating the ever iconic "Nightmare Before Christmas," but it was once the standard for great vfx. The way that the teeth on the T-Rex glimmer with saliva or the redness of the flesh and blood as it eats its prey just can't be matched with current CGI. There's a disturbing quality to old practical effects like this because they make us remember that we are also flesh bags with wet bones in our face, and there were plenty of animals that made their snacks of us not that long ago. Good chills!
I forget if it was When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth or another movie, but there's a bit involving a plesiosaur fighting cavemen on a beach where they put a lot of effort into projecting the light from flickering camp/wild fires in the scene on the model. It makes an effect that's obviously a special effect pop out like the actors on-screen.
I recorded the Dino-Mania episode from Movie Magic along with a few other dinosaur documentaries when Discovery channel had its first "dinosaur week" and watched it incessantly. Made me have a real appretiation for stop motion and movie effects in general. Seeing a few clips from it in this activated some very core memories for me.
They need to do more behind-the-scenes special effects docs for these older dinosaur movies. I always love learning about them
Movie Magic was such a cool show. It blew my mind as a kid seeing how all of these amazing things in movies were actually done.
"incessantly"
I bet there are going to be some people who think that means you watched it while fooling around with a family member 🤦♂. Probably should've just gone with nonstop or continuously instead.
@@ranchosdelnorte You could've legit corrected me for misspelling "appreciation" or any of my other numerous grammatical errors. It would have been annoying, but whatever. Instead this comment section got to witness your creepy thought processes and where they lead.
TLDR get your mind out of the gutter
@@ThatDMan87 You were wanting to sound like a try-hard by using a word no one uses. I personally knew what it meant and hence why I gave you alternatives that mean the same, however most people aren't going to know what it means but common word they do know that sounds similar is incest, so it's not even that much of a process and is why I was letting you aware of it.
You could've taking it as someone just pointing out something or even simply as a joke, perhaps even just moved on without even saying anything. But instead you decided to get in your feelings and make a big ordeal about it.
If stop motion was used to day, it would look amazing. It already looked incredibly realistic in the 60´s, imagine today. Look at how Star Wars still uses practical effects.
He needs to remaster his works with current designs. The same approach. I love his style.
Absolutely! His style with modern designs would look amazing
I grew up watching and loving the 1985 Dinosaur! documentary and imagine my shock when I discovered the Tyrannosaurus/Monoclonius segment was its own short! :)
Same here. My family would rent the VHS so much at the local video store that they let my parents buy it for me.
I had no clue the short was its own thing at one point.
I first saw this in Eyewitness Dinosaur. It was pretty scary to me. The lighting and cinematography really left an impression on me. It really is one of the best short films I’ve ever seen.
Phil Tippet's work was also used in the DOS gane, 3-D Dinosaur Adventure!
I wish it did because the game used 3D models and scene instead of borrowed from other films
@@canonbehenna612 The Sauropod and Maiasaura clips are featured in 3D Dinosaur Adventure, along with an extinction clip I wanna say was Tippet's work. But yeah, a lot of the clips in the game were CGI or short videos of animatronics.
That game used stock footage from the one documentary hosted by Christopher Reeve, that Tippett also did animation for.
Prehistoric Beast is one of my favourite stop motion dinosaur projects
This short has lived in my head for decades!
Because of this film and the 1985 film "DINOSAUR!" 9 year old me wanted to pursue stop motion. Sadly that never really went anywhere.
Also it was the reason "Monoclonius" was my favorite dinosaur for a while.
I remember watching this as a kid.
Thank you for talking about my favorite dinosaur movie!
I distinctly remember recognizing both the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Monoclonius (later Centrosaurus) from Really Wild Animals from National Geographic, but never realized they actually used footage from both this and later on footage from Dinosaur that was hosted by the late Christopher Reeve.
It amazes me to think that the stop motion for both dinosaurs has aged timelessly after nearly 40 years of the original release of Prehistoric Beast.
And oh man, as someone who’s been watching Prehistoric Beast time and time again on TH-cam, I’m really happy to see you cover this on right here on TH-cam. 💖💙
i found this short film unexpectedly and i don't regret watching it.
I remember this movie from the Microsoft Dinosaurs CD-ROM in the 90s! Good times.
Don't you have terrible Netflix "Documentary" to defend?
12:12 This CD is where I first saw this short. While other kids were scared to watch it, I was always fascinated by it. Good times.
Imagine being scared of dinosaurs. Skill issue.
Jokes aside, that's very cool!
Agree we should have got a new dinosaur documentary with updated and realistic designs and with a non narrative story instead of Netflix bad dinosaur
I was first introduced to this short through an audio-edited snippet of the Rex/Mono fight included in Eyewitness' Dinosaur. If you haven't seen it just look up the program online it should be about 14:00 in.
I bring this up because that scene nearly traumatized me as a kid, and as an adult I finally see why.
Before the segment starts, you're viewing the dentition of carnovious dinosaurs, as the narrator talks about how they would be used to remove meat from bone. All the while a heavy, heartbeat-esque breathing is heard in the background, slowly building tension.
Then, we shift to the Monoclonius before the carcass, as the T-Rex sneaks around in the distance. The narration fades out, the breathing gets louder, accompanied by only bird song and crickets.
Then before you can fully grasp what's going on, the quiet is suddenly pierced by the sounds of the terrifying roar of a killer and the terrified roar of its victim. You can feel the murderous intent of the T-Rex and the sheer terror of the Monoclonius through nothing else but sound. And as soon as it began, the T-Rex audibly bites down, causing an horrifying sound from the herbivore that can only be described as a scream of unimaginable pain.
The rest of the scene is then nothing but the Rex's muffled breathy growls as its mouth continues to clamp down on the Monoclonius' back, the pounding steps from their massive bodies shuffling as these two forces fight to survive, and the occasional sounds of the Monoclonius making small hits on its attacker.
But then, the audible puncture of the Rex's leg causes it to roar again, but not in pain or distress. Somehow, you understand that there is nothing but anger and contempt in that roar, and as it fades into the breathy growls, you can tell, even though the scene ends, that that Monoclonius is not only a dead man walking, but will be viciously ripped apart without mercy in a twisted sense of naturalistic torture.
After watching the original short film this scene came from so many years later, it surprised me why it didn't seem as disturbing as it did in Eyewitness. While the original scene is terrifying in its own right, and Phil Thippet and his team did an amazing job, I think I know why this scene is so scary.
The redubbed sound design here doesn't have that more Fantasia-y, synth style ambience the original does, and its sound effects are much more visceral and are designed to bring out an emotional response. The roars and growls tug on your sympathy to place you, however briefly, into the minds of these giants, and you start to understand the biological fear that a predator puts into its prey.
It's a masterpiece of horror cinematography, and I can only thank the Eyewitness team for managing to not only include one of the most amazing dinosaur short film of all time, but to raise it up in a way as a true show of cinematic achievement.
You explained it better than I could. That’s exactly why I found it so scary but I was never scared enough to look away or cover my ears. I still enjoy the sound design of the original, it’s practically perfect to me. But I also love Eyewitness’s interpretation of the scene
This is the short I will recommend to people who say they don't like stop motion, or feel it's outdated. Spielberg should allow Tippett to do a cut of Jurassic Park with the stop motion replacing the CGI so fans can see what could have been possible.
Also worth mentioning is how Phil achieved his dynamic shots and smooth animation. He called it Go Motion, and the techniques had been done by other stop motion artists, but they were simple as lightly applying Vaseline on the camera to great the blur effect, or putting the subject out of focus on the camera. Today, it can be done with editing, but I think more people like to see the choppy animation of stop motion to appreciate it.
The scene at the end where the t-rex kills the monoclonius and you hear it scream is permanently engraved into my brain.
The special effect at the beginning was so good I thought that was the film you were going to talk about
You actually hear my suggestion and I wish it became Disney first Disney dinosaur film adaptation
I didn't see the Prehistoric Beast short on its own the first time I saw that stop-motion footage. When I saw it, it was part of the Dinosaur! documentary hosted by the late great Christopher Reeve. So my initial impression was that that footage was made specifically FOR that documentary. It wasn't until the Dino-Mania episode of the show Movie Magic that I learned they were originally two separate projects. In the documentary version, the footage of the actual fight is cut down in length, but that actually works in its favor, because the music used in the documentary version is FAR more intense and dramatic than in the original short. It's honestly the kind of music you'd expect to hear in a horror film!
I really love stop motion Dinosaurs 🦕 🦖
I discovered this film during high school while I was looking up everything I could from Phil Tippett and I was blown away. It's one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. I would love to see a feature length version of Prehistoric Beast. You know what? I want to see a Raptor Red movie done in this style. Go Motion and zero dialogue. Not even narration. Just the Mesozoic being a completely alien world and the dinosaurs are just being dinosaurs. Kinda makes me sad that Jurassic Park didn't use these techniques. But, oh well.
When i was younger i had a dvd from a documentary series called ' Les yeux de la découverte' or eyes of the discovery , it was based from a book series of the same name and each episodes was about a specific subjet as from the books so your typical educational stuff ? ( like the human skeleton , animals etc ) and so of course i had the dinosaur one and the fight scene of the rex and monoclonius and i think some other shots were in it and tbh i had no idea it was coming from such a talented person as him ! Althou i have no idea how the episode from this french doc series was able to get the shots from prehistoric beast still , unfortunatly i cant find the episode anywhere so i guess when ill get this dvd back i will be able to revive my childhood memoriee , and yes as a kid this scene was scaring me alot back then to the point that i kinda skipped this scene when i dint had the courage to watch it again xD
I remember watching this short film at the old dinosaur section of the Children's Museum of Indianapolis when I was a kid. This takes me back.
Same, when he said not many people saw it and people didn't think it was appropriate for kids I thought "What? I vividly remember being shown this when I was like six..."
It did scare me, but not like 'have nightmares' or 'burst out crying' level of scared.
@@girlbuu9403 I wasn’t scared of it, I just thought it was awesome! I can certainly understand how it would scare kids a little bit, but the museums really should’ve taken Phil up on his offer!
@@MarkusMaack Yeah, one of the first things I thought when they turned him down because it would scare little kids is... older kids and teenagers would love it.
@@girlbuu9403 Thank you! A lot of people seem to think that all kids are the same regardless of age, but that couldn't be further from the truth!
I like how we get to see never before seen behind the scenes pictures and concept art for this short film. Plus, stock footage of this short was also used for Eyewitness for their episode "Dinosaur" and "Prehistoric Life."
Oh damn, core memory unlocked
I watched these clips in 3-D Dinosaur Adventure's theater mini game
This film scared me as a kid.
We need more stop motion dinosaur films. Almost got it with Disney's dinosaur until Jurassic park came out and they abandoned stop motion all together.
Amen, dinosaurs and stop motion go together like peanut butter and jelly.
Typing this before actually watching your video. I love this film and wrote a 10 star review and summary. I loved this film and wish there was a feature film of it. But anyway I'm going to watch this video and thank you for covering this awesome work of Paleo media and it's special place in film history as the first to depict a horizontal body posture for T. rex
Thank you for turning what would've been a shitty evening into a great one.
Edit: If you like the way the dinosaurs look in Prehistoric Beast, then you'll love Dragonslayer. Easily Phil Tippetts best work, and by far my favorite 80s fantasy movie.
I REMEMBER THIS! I LOVED THE MOVIE AS A KID! IT WAS INCREDIBLE!
just finished watching the short and saw this video pop up in my notifications right after lol
I remember that short from when I was a kid!! That entire few moments sparked SO MANY years of imagination! Thank you, sincerely, for bringing back a 40 year old memory!
A curious feature of stop motion is that it adds a slightly disturbing effect to animated creatures, being movements that are more rigid and less fluid than real ones. In fact, the creatures that are best animated with stop motion, in my opinion, are automatons and statues (see Talos from Jason and the Argonauts, or Kali from The golden voyage of Sinbad). The at-sts in Return of the Jedi have always seemed fluid and natural to me, and I was amazed when, as a boy, I discovered the technique used to animate them.
It never ceases to amaze me that there are still stop motion film projects, what would seem to be an archaic animation technique compared to CGI, or rather a lot of the fake CGI we've seen in the last 20 years, and especially in the last 10.
I love the amazing paleo accurate dinosaurs designs we’ve had in the last couple of years, but man, seeing these retro designs and the way these animals were portrayed back then makes me very happy. Along with the accurate designs though a lot of dinosaur media seems to dial back on portraying these animals in a way that lets people see how terrifying it would be to live during the Mesozoic. I like recent documentaries breaking bad dinosaurs tropes but at the same time would like to see more media to giving insight on how dangerous these animals could have been. After all, we live amongst a fair share of scary animals today. The way the T-Rex portrayed in the film was chilling but simultaneously not portrayed in an over the top movie monstrous way. Just something I appreciate from this short and would love to see more of.
I wish their was a production that was like prehistoric beasts and not bad dinosaurs
I watched the Dinosaur documentary as a kid! It's wild to find out he worked on Star Wars and Jurassic Park. I love your content!!
Tippet definitely has a lot of range! And thank you for the nice words!
I completely agree with the opinion of how perfect this short film is. It's such a beautiful piece that I want to do something similar but more accurate to current information someday. Also, fun fact: the Monoclonius in the film inspired a color scheme variant for the juvenile Centrosaurus (which Monoclonius was revealed to be an individual of) in the Beasts of the Mesozoic dinosaur action figure toy line by veteran toy designer David Silva of Creative Beast Studio, who's done work for Hasbro, NECA and McFarlane Toys.
Phill Tippet is one of the greats, and I think more aspiring film makers should take influence from his work.
I've always fought that the theropod is an Albertasaurus and the ceratopsian a Centrosaurus
Interviews with Tippett and synopses of the film itself say otherwise
@@DinoDiego16, Yeah.
And "Albertosaurus", first of all, lived alongside Styracosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, and Centrosaurus lived alongside Edmontonia, Chamsosaurus and Daspletosaurus.
Honestly, I agree with Phil about the meme. It may have been amusing at first, but I think it's overshadowed his actual work. Works like Prehistoric Beast showcase his immense talent, and that's what his name should be associated with.
Counter argument: considering the reach memes get on the internet, his name gets further spread to demographics or people who might not of have otherwise known about him. Those who are curious enough (or just for the shits and giggles), look his name up and learn about the works he's created!
I show this to all my friends, even the ones that don't know much about dinosaurs.
Glad you mentioned that CD-Rom, cause that's exactly where I saw this film. I will point out that that version cuts out after the T. Rex lunges at the Monoclonius to deliver the final blow.
I had no idea it was called "{rehistoric Beast" or anything behind it.
That CD-Rom had a bunch of videos on it that would be interesting to see the origin of. The only other one I remember was a cartoon about a mother T. rex and her babies and the mother hunts a Triceratops to feed them.
I saw some of tippett dinosaur segments in madrid natural history museum when I was a kid in 90s! Wondering who did it, until mid 2000s I discovered who did those films!
Really sad the fate of the maquettes right now
Fun fact, this movie would serve as the basis for Phil Tippit's and Paul Verhoven's campaign to get a dinosaur-centric feature film made...a film that after multiple failed attempts and changing of leadership would eventually become the Disney movie Dinosaur...a guilty pleasure film of mine.
Just seeing this make you think "jeez Disney really throw away a incredible idea to make 'Dinosaur' "
Disney are the masters of messing up great ideas, either by throwing them away or running them into the ground.
You should talk about the Prehysteria trilogy.
Thanks for reminding me of this movie 🦖🦖
this was the first dinosaur movie I ever watched so I hold it close to my heart
I remember seeing this short now decades ago and I was rather unnerved by it. Especially the opening scene of the T-Rex munching on the iguanodon.
Omg! I used to watch this when I was young, way back in the early 90s. I was fascinated with dinosaurs, and I had to see every movie or documentary about them. This brings back so many memories. It's so nostalgic 😁
Bro, I JUST looked this video up and rewatched Prehistoric Beast like last month because I saw it on an old CD ROM (I don't even know which) when I was a child in the 90s and it stuck with me in my subconscious ever since. I only learned who Phil Tippett was after I rediscovered this amazing film
12:14 JFC!!! THAT HAS TO BE IT!!!
14:15 LOL Damnit, Phil!!
Dude, the full pilot episodio for qalking with dinosaurs just dropped
You mean walking with dinosaurs reboot cool and let’s hope it better then the movie
The stop motion in this short reminds me of the movie Mad God, which is a VERY heavy movie I don't recommend to everyone but comparison to its stop motion is always a compliment
Edit: Tippet made Mad God too, which explains it XD
I remember first seeing clips of prehistoric beasts in a UK dinosaur documentary called Eyewitness dinosaur though the clips had different sound design
One of the best Dinosaur movies ever made!😁👍👍🦖
Loved this short because it was scary to me as a kid
I was VERY young when I saw Prehistoric Beast and I thought it was amazing. I wasn’t scared at all, and I was scared of horror movies.
I like this Prehistoric beast also stop motion too
Yeah I wish more dinosaurs productions were like this especially Netflix bad dinosaur
Video suggestion:Kurupira Plateau,a place in Amazon that inspired the Lost World
I loved this when i was young. It has a Star Wars Indiana Jones feel.
I would call it less a film and more a vignette. It’s a moment in time that gives everyone what they came for. There isn’t much beyond what we see nor beyond what we’d expect from dinosaurs. Its entire strength is in the idea that we all know the work put in behind its presentation.
This is unironically my favorite dinosaur sequence of all time, and in my opinion one of the top 4 greatest stop motion sequences ever put to film (the other 3 being the Kong vs T.Rex fight in the original King Kong, the skeleton sequence in Jason and the Argonauts, and the Medusa sequence from Clash of the Titans).
Ah nostalgia because Trex fight was in eyes witness 💙💙💙
I remember only learning of this short film years ago as an elementary student after watching the DK Eyewitness episode called Dinosaur where they showed several scenes from Prehistoric Beast and my god, the stop motion was fantastic and the reconstructions were accurate for the time.
It's a shame it didn't get properly green lit, I would have LOVE that short as a kid
I love this film to death. It's so unique even if it is 10 minutes in that there is no narration, no dialogue, no humans or voice acting, just Dinosaurs being Dinosaurs. It's a pure 10/10. Just imagine if this was a feature length theatrical film about just Dinosaurs being Dinosaurs.
I don’t remember who was my teacher but he or she show this during class when I was five years old whoever they are, they were awesome for that
Based teacher
14:57 Yeeeeeees
IT'S SO COOOL~✨️
Am I the only one who thinks the forest in Prehistoric Beast had reused props from Return Of The Jedi ( the scenes on Endor)? Seriously, I expected the Ewoks to come out and attack the dinosaurs.
edit: 7:57 I friggin KNEW IT!
Pfffft😂, you totally called it!
@@DinoDiego16 the battle of Endor would have become more interesting if a T-Rex came in and attacked the AT-ST's.
this was one of Best Animated short flims one was able to find on TH-cam NGL
Imagine how different the world of cinema would be if The Ghost of Slumber Mountain was never made.
We wouldn't have the kind of dinosaur films we have now, that's for sure
Really Wild Animals was my exposure to Prehistoric Beast
Could you imagine if Jurassic park never used cgi and used this beautiful fluid stop motion instead?
Nice video Diego 👍, bad night to be a beer
Great video! The more information you give the better! I don't feel the video was derailed at all! Looking forward to more videos!
Gotta mention this: Monoclonius is an invalid taxon due to undiagostic remains.
My favourite addition to the meme is the person who said that all the dinosaurs were hitting their marks just fine (it's called ACTING) and therefore Phil did a brilliant job.
I used to watch it in Microsoft dinosaurs
In the 90's the Natural history museum in Sweden let you play the Microsoft dinosaur game for free. I remember watching it there so I guess in the end it got to be shown in a museum for kids in the end.
Finally❤
I wish Phil Tippett’s Dinosaurs were available on DVD in America so I could watch them anytime day or night if I chose to. Tippett’s T.Rex is like an early Modernized version one of its kind that appeared on those previous films like Monsters of the Past (1923), The Lost World (1925), King Kong (1933), The Animal World (1956), The Valley of Gwangi (1969) & Planet of Dinosaurs (1978). “T.Rex was Originally planned to appear in When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth but was cutout & it was planned to appear on Jim Danforth’s Project Film TIMEGATE but for some reason it stopped. I hope TIMEGATE is being shelved until further notice.” I simply would give a thing from Phil Tippett’s Dinosaurs to be available on DVD in America.
As much as I love Disney's Dinosaur as it is, I do wish we could've seen the Dinosaur film Tippett and Verhoeven had in mind, too.
Prehistoric Beast is such an amazing taste of what that version of Dinosaur could've been had Disney been more willing to give Tippett/Verhoeven's vision a shot.
Here's hoping for Season 3 of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal he does an episode like Prehistoric Beast.
Loved this growing up 🥰
I'd be mad too if people were blaming me for a breakout event when the system was clearly hacked.
I kinda wish for a 4k scan of Prehistoric Beast and to be put on as a special feature on ether a physical release of Jurassic Park or Dragonslayer
Tippett seems like he's kept up with the times well. I'm sure one of these days he'll manage to find a way to get PB out in 4k
I always thought It was an Albertosaurus because it was set in Alberta Canada and it looked too slender for a Tyrannosaurus Rex
i want to see the dinosaur movie Phil Tippet wanted to make so very badly. if i were a billion or millionaire, i'd give him a call and say Hello Mr. Tippett would you like to make that dinosaur movie you wanted to make with complete creative control. lol
It would be cool if he tried revisiting the idea nowadays. I feel like the market for a Prehistoric Beast-esque show is a lot more present than it was back in the 80s
Can you look at a Dinosaur movie called Baby Secret Of The Lost Legend🦕
Maybe one of these days, I'll do a breakdown on it!
Does anyone else remember this being used in the Eyewitness VHS tape?
Good Job. 👏🏼
You should do a carnivores dinosaur hunter iceberg