Prehistoric Kingdom Episode 1 thoughts.

It was fantastic. The CG, the music, the cinematography, and the animation is some of the best ever made for paleo media.

I get the feeling after watching episode 1 that they wanted to mess with your expectations. The very first thing you see is a Tyrannosaurus swimming. This isn't a new idea in paleontology, but it's not something depicted very often; even among paleo-artists. I'm sure it'll be an even bigger shock to the general public.

The other way this episode messes with your expectations is by not being a dinosaur-focused episode. Besides the T.rex at the beginning, there aren't any other non-avian dinosaurs to be seen. I don't mind but I definitely didn't expect the show to start with a heavy marine animal focused episode. There's also a good bit of pterosaurs in the beginning. There is even a small segment on ammonites! I can't remember the last time I saw ammonites in a prehistoric documentary! So I'm happy they got some of the spotlights! It's a welcomed surprise since I didn't know how much they'll devote to non-dinosaur animals.

I was also sitting there wondering if certain shots of the sponges and corals were from modern-day. There are things that I swear look real, but I'm not sure if they are. That's how good the CG looks. According to the credits, there is real footage there so most of the backgrounds are real, but I'm wondering whether there are any CG enhancements used to make the terrain look more like what the creators envisioned. When I look at the dead ammonites washed up on the beach, I swear they're real physical objects. Maybe props or something. If I'm wrong (chances are high that I'm wrong) that's just a testament to how amazing the effects are.

Just like Walking With Dinosaurs, this show wants to be viewed as a documentary. These creatures are animals first and foremost! You'll have moments of danger. You'll be cheering for some of these creatures. You'll feel sad for some of these creatures. You'll even get a jump scare. It's not the cheesy horror movie jump scare either. It was a nice relaxing scene and BAM out of nowhere.

I do have one minor gripe. I wish the show would have focused on one area instead of jumping all over the place. It would have been nice to really flesh out the ecosystem these creatures lived in. The show takes a Planet Earth approach and jumps around with many different stories in 1 episode. Who knows, maybe my gripe will be irrelevant by the end. The show still has 4 more episodes. They can always go back to the previous areas to do more world/ecosystem building.

The show is amazing! Watch it!