I'm going to tell you a story about a time when the world was ruled by monster creatures. They were the most spectacular, terrifying, and successful life forms ever, and they ruled the planet for 150 million years... - Walter Cronkite
Back in the early nineties, A&E presented a four-part documentary called Dinosaur! hosted by Walter Cronkite. The first two episodes are available via YouTube user Troodon311, and well worth your time. Here's the first ten minute installment of the first, "A Tale of a Tooth." The four remaining parts, as well as the second episode, are available here. Scrolling through, I'm finding tons of great stuff, including Dino-Riders, Ben Linus, Lloyd Bridges, and Dennis the Menace: Dinosaur Hunter. Best YouTube channel ever.
More chilling than the puppet battle between Megalosaurus and Iguanodon is Bob Bakker's stonewashed vest.
We really need something like this to be done again. I think it really works well to have someone like Cronkite narrating and hosting. He has such a common touch. I guess there was a reason he was known as the most trusted man in America. It would be fun if he was still around, to see him at one of Scott Sampson's museum visits, surrounded by kids.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched this yet, but my favorite documentary when I was a kid was ALSO called "Dinosaur!" complete with the exclamation point and everything, but this one is hosted by Christopher Reeves. I don't know if it's in that list too, but it is on Youtube and here's the first part.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eQ3LDhGfpU&playnext_from=TL&videos=P8TvVBrGZRQ
Aside from being pretty entertaining all around, and containing footage from my favorite goofy dino movie (Caveman, w/ Ringo Starr), it also has a few original stop-motion shorts that I think are still quite visually impressive even today.