Usually I draw ACEOs for these reviews, but I didn't feel like it this time. Instead, I decided to draw a dumb little sequential piece ...which, now that I see it, I can say safely it looked better in my head. ^^
Anyway, the egg hatches to reveal a sketchy rectangle that gradually becomes something more complex: a dinosaur.
Anyway...
I'm generally apprehensive about dinosaur documentaries and specials.
Many of the more contemporary dinosaur docs/series I've found on YouTube are so overdramatic and foolish they would give majesty to 'Dinosaur Train'.
The worst offenders IMHO are 'Prehistoric Park' (think 'The Crocodile Hunter'/w dinosaurs) and 'Walking with Dinosaurs' (the dumping ground for the BBC's prehistoric fan fictions).
Part of me wants to cite the 'Jurassic Park/World' franchise for the lack of quality dinosaur edutainment, but if I'm to remain honest, dinosaur TV wasn't much better before JP/W's influence.
The docs I grew up with tended to be 'enjoyably-dumb' (think those of 'Eric Boardman/Gary Owens'; 'Christopher Reeve'), focusing more on comedy/telling a story than properly introducing dinosaurs to children. There were exceptions (think 'Paleoworld'), but for the most part, then as now, dinosaurs were not given the same level of dignity or consequence as other subjects.
Even so, I maintained a fondness for dinosaur docs through many years, despite their shortcomings.
Still, one has to wonder what characteristics a 'good' dinosaur doc would have; how would it be told? What would it look like?
I thought about that, and recalled this little gem: 'Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up' (MaDGU). Oh, said jewel has a few scratches, but its glimmer remains almost without peer, making it an ideal 'good' doc to review. :3
Before we start, I feel I should say MaDGU is not my favorite dinosaur documentary (the likes of 'Son of Dinosaur' will always have my heart), rather I admire MaDGU for its soft yet straightforward presentation of its subject (this manner sets it apart from most other docs of its kind).
MaDGU began as a book written in 1985 by paleontologist John Horner and NYT science writer, James Gorman. Further, the book was illustrated by Doug Henderson: a paleoartist whose work focused on dinosaur behaviors (i.e., next building) rather than dino-dramatics (i.e., T-Rexes standing over a kill, roaring at the moon).
The book was adapted into home video in 1987, with Judd Hirsch ('A Beautiful Mind') as its narrator.
...But that's not the version I presently have: mine is the 2004 rerelease, which uses a substitute narrator (uncredited) ...more on this later.
***SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!***
MaDGU is a docudrama about life as a maiasaura. What's a maiasaura?
Maiasaura were, effectively, the nine-meter bison of the Cretaceous: gregarious; maternal and chiefly herbivorous, they.
The maiasaura's distinguishing feature was its ducklike head (and, no, maiasaura didn't quack ...that hadn't been invented yet).
Our experience begins at a maiasaura nesting site in Montana, some eighty-million years ago. The eggs within one of these nests are beginning to hatch. :3
The visuals are mostly storybook paintings, with limited animations given to some (i.e., one of the nest eggs jiggles slightly, letting us know something's inside).
The first egg to hatch is that of Maia: our protagonist. Maia doesn't talk or think. Rather, Maia's life journey is explained to us by the narrator.
An example,
NARRATOR: "Inside Maia's egg, it was dark. Maia felt that she had to stretch!
Although the egg was as big as a grapefruit, it was getting too small for Maia: she was a foot and a half long! She was curled up in a tight ball---too tight! She started to squirm and peep and squeak!
Her mother (who was 30 feet long and weighed two tons) put her head down low over the nest and listened to the sounds"
The narrative is sensible and detail-oriented. Although the reading of the substitute narrator isn't as strong as Hirsch's, their performance is serviceable.
Also of note here is the rerelease lacks any musical accompaniment to the narration (the original used instrumentation to enhance the narrative). Some would count this loss as a plus: I am ambivalent.
The mostly earth-toned illustrations are expressive, albeit some images are recycled throughout the story. The camera zooms and pans around the illustrations to immerse the viewer in Maia's environment (as if we're looking around with her).
Of Maia's siblings, only one has a name: Crooked Leg, so named for his slight defect. I'm unsure if this is a reference to some fossil Horner found in the field, but Crooked Leg's peculiarity serves to broaden identity of the brood, thus facilitating the viewer's concern for it (Crooked's given mention to from time to time, but nothing he does is integral to the 'plot').
As for the documentary's intensity, there are a few dino deaths, but none of them is 'too' graphic. There is a scene in which some nest-raiding *troodon encroach upon Maia's nest, snatching one of the unnamed chicks during the mother's absence.
This experience affects Maia in a believable way and will be returned-to later in the story.
*Based on my very perfunctory research, there is some uncertainty as to whether troodon and maiasaura were contemporaries, albeit it is agreed the two lived within the same period (and one must bear in mind the 'facts' of MaDGU are over thirty years old).
As Maia grows, she and her surviving siblings venture forth into the world. Maia learns to forage, as well to be vigilant for predators (she has an exciting encounter with an albertosaurus)!
Some years go by: Maia rejoins her herd, chooses a mate and builds a nest for her eggs.
Soon after her chicks hatch, Maia has a chance to exact some revenge on the troodon clan ...well, on a member of it, anyway.
This brief scene is likely the one any who knows this doc remembers, as its description is rather violent (concisely, Maia crushes the invader to death ...it's a bit more intense than that, but that's the gist)!
~Fin
In conclusion... I love this! Again, it's not my favorite doc, but it's easily the one given the most care to by its producers.
Academics won't like this: MaDGU isn't a TED Talk or a dry lecture---and may have been a bit generous in its personifying of Maia ...yet, I'd say it surpasses in areas most dinosaur docs don't. For the most part, MaDGU knows what to give attention to and in what doses.
Maia was a good mother dinosaur. :3
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6 years, 4 months ago
14 Jul 2019 19:52 CEST
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