Walking with Dinosaurs is a 2013 live-action/computer-animated family film about dinosaurs set in the Late Cretaceous period, years ago. The production features computer-animated dinosaurs in live-action settings with actors John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Tiya Sircar, and Skyler Stone providing voice-overs for the main characters. It was directed by Neil Nightingale and Barry Cook from a screenplay by John Collee. In the film, an underdog dinosaur named Patchi must find his courage to become the leader of his herd as well as become a hero for the ages.
The film was produced by BBC Earth and Evergreen Films and was titled after the BBC's 1999 television documentary miniseries of the same name. The film, with a budget of , was one of the largest independent productions at the time. It was financed by Reliance Big Entertainment and IM Global instead of a major studio. The majority of distribution rights were eventually sold to 20th Century Fox. The crew filmed footage on location in the U.S. state of Alaska and in New Zealand, which were chosen for their similarities to the dinosaurs' surroundings millions of years ago. Animal Logic designed computer-animated dinosaurs and added them to the live-action backdrop. Though the film was originally going to lack narration or dialogue, 20th Century Fox executives decided to add voiceovers, believing it would connect audiences to the characters.
Walking with Dinosaurs premiered on 2013 at the Dubai International Film Festival. It was released in cinemas in 2D and 3D on 2013. Critics commended the film's visual effects, but derided its subpar storyline and the juvenile quality of the voiceover performances. The film grossed million in the United States and Canada and in other territories for a worldwide total of . The Hollywood Reporter stated the film's global box office performance was disappointing in context of the production budget and marketing costs.
Plot
A paleontologist named Zack takes his nephew Ricky and his niece Jade on a fossil hunt in Alaska while their parents are on vacation in Europe. While alone, Ricky encounters an anthropomorphic raven named Alex, who then transforms into a prehistoric ancestor, Alexornis. Alex tells Ricky of a story set in the Late Cretaceous period, 70 million years ago, about his best friend Patchi. Patchi is the youngest and smallest in a litter of Pachyrhinosaurus hatchlings and is often bullied by his older brother Scowler. Their father Bulldust is the leader of the herd. Alex, who is Patchi's mentor, protector, and teacher, tries to help Patchi impress a female Pachyrhinosaurus named Juniper, but her herd migrates south without him. Patchi is also attacked by a troodontid, which attempts to eat him, but he is saved by his dad, resulting in Patchi having a hole in his frill as an injury which Alex claims that Patchi is "destined for greatness".
Later, Bulldust moves his herd south as well, but when they try to pass through a forest, they are forced to flee when a storm strikes and a forest fire erupts. Taking advantage of the chaos, a pack of Gorgosaurus attacks the scattered herd. They kill the rest of Patchi and Scowler's family, while their leader and alpha, Gorgon, fights and kills Bulldust while he’s trying to defend Patchi and Scowler. Afterwards, Patchi's herd, now led by Bulldust's rival Major, combine with Juniper's herd as they continue their migration. Gorgon's pack attacks them again, and in the ensuing chaos, Patchi, Scowler, and Juniper fall into a river and are swept downstream to the ocean, with Alex following them from above. At a beach, Scowler follows a herd of Edmontosaurus to find food, callously leaving Patchi and Juniper behind. The two make their way through a forest and eventually are able to find their herd and Scowler.