A lot is riding on ABC’s 6-hour prehistoric fantasy “Dinotopia,” but content is one thing the network shouldn’t worry about: It’s got a lavish, cleverly constructed and entertaining story on its hands, with some of the most elaborate special effects ever made for television.
But “Dinotopia,” which airs at 6 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday on WLS-Ch. 7 as a special edition of “The Wonderful World of Disney,” has a major hurdle to overcome: the mini-series format, which has dwindled since the 1970s and ’80s to become something of a, well, dinosaur. That’s oddly appropriate since “Dinotopia” is based on writer-illustrator James Gurney’s books about dinosaurs and humans living together in a utopian society.
ABC is calling “Dinotopia” a “mega-series,” but no one is fooled. However, many network observers may be confused. The last three-parter on TV was “Stephen King’s Rose Red” on ABC in January, which was seen by about 18.5 million people. Respectable numbers, but not spectacular considering it was a special effects-laden property with horror writer King’s name on it.
This reinforced the established argument that TV mini-series cost a lot but don’t deliver an audience in an age of cable fragmentation that makes it tough to assemble viewers on one night, much less two or three.
Then CBS startled the industry with the not-as-special-effects-heavy, more compelling supernatural mini “Living With the Dead.” The two-parter averaged more than 16 million viewers when it aired last week, generating a rare Sunday night win for CBS.
And it is especially important to ABC that “Dinotopia” be a success. ABC has already commissioned a 13-episode “Dinotopia” series to air sometime next season. If the mini-series doesn’t get big crowds, how will a weekly show fare?
Fortunately, fantasy producers Robert Halmi Sr. and Jr. (“Merlin,” “The Odyssey,” “Arabian Nights”) of Hallmark Entertainment know how to handle this kind of pressure. They had the reported $85 million mini-series follow the lead of Gurney’s books by making each of the three nights into separate novels.
So each episode, in effect, stands alone while retaining the same characters and recurring themes. This avoids the story padding that helped drive viewers away from the mini-series format.
“Dinotopia” follows two bickering half-brothers, headstrong Karl (Tyron Leitso from “Snow White: The Fairest of Them All”) and level-headed David (Wentworth Miller from “Popular,” although neither actor will be in the series). Their plane crashes off the shores of an unknown continent in the Caribbean , their father (Stuart Wilson) going down with the plane.
The young men realize they’re not in Kansas anymore when they come across a vast assortment of dinosaurs, from long-necked brachiosaurs to aggressive tyrannosaurs.
“How could a place like this really exist, without everybody knowing about it? It’s maddening!” David cries.
Surprising dinosaurs
The brothers are thrown for a more dizzying loop when they find out some of the dinos speak (they all talk, some just don’t speak English). Zippo, a fussy, computer-generated stenonychosaurus, librarian takes the teens in — they’re now forbidden to leave the continent.
“I find you a very interesting species,” Zippo says (voice provided by English comic Lee Evans). “I just love how you jump about . . . and the way you eat, with your little knife and fork cutting up all the food first, it’s so funny.”
Sunday’s premiere is a primer on the mores of Dinotopia, which viewers learn along with the brothers. These include the various rules all live by (“Survival of All or None”; “Weapons Are Enemies, Even to Their Owners”; “Others First, Self Last”); mystical, brilliant rocks called sunstones, the source of light and sustenance for Dinotopia; and the human occupants, mainly descendants of those who were stranded over the course of hundreds of years.
Monday’s episode finds the brothers taking different paths as new residents of Dinotopia, while Tuesday’s conclusion finishes recurring story lines from the first two nights — sunstones all around the region are mysteriously failing, threatening to plunge Dinotopia into darkness, and marauding prehistoric creatures are banding together to cause mayhem.
Sibling rivalry works
Laced within all this is the long rivalry between the brothers, especially when it comes to Marion (Katie Carr, “Mrs. Dalloway”), the spirited, leader-in-training daughter of the mayor of Waterfall City, Dinotopia’s capital, and the shenanigans of rouge Cyrus Crabb (David Thewlis, “Seven Years in Tibet”) — the son of a character in the original “Dinotopia” books — who uses a rebellious Karl for several schemes.
The story takes itself a little too seriously, and the performances sometimes get formulaic, but all this is overshadowed by some fantastic special effects.
The creature effects come from the same outfit that made the Discovery Channel’s “Walking With Dinosaurs” series of specials, so they look fairly authentic as they interact with humans. But they don’t come off nearly as realistic as those seen in the “Jurassic Park” movies.
Zippo, in particular, with his various facial expressions, looks cartoonish, although he and a few other dino-ish characters are just right if you’re thinking about the merchandising possibilities.
Other computer-generated visuals are amazingly realistic, with an overall production value making for great eye candy. Waterfall City is a vast metropolis with Niagara Falls-like cascades flowing throughout it. Canyon City is made up of spiraling plateaus with winged petrosaurs that majestically swoop around them.
ABC has had intense programming problems for months, leading to executive turnover and causing the network to slip to fourth place at one point during the season. “Dinotopia” represents not only a last-ditch attempt to gain some respectability this season, but also an attempt to build something, anything, for next season.
If the special effects hold up in the series (costs may be a problem), and the story lines get tighter, ABC could use the much-disparaged mini-series format as a steppingstone to prime-time success.
