Re: Land of the Lost Nostalgia

[Dino Guy Ralph <ralph.miller@alumni.usc.edu>]

I have seen footage from "Dinosaurs: the Terrible Lizards," or perhaps the
whole thing.  I can't tell.

The 1987 "Concord Children's Video Encyclopedia: Mr. Know-It-Owl Presents
Dinosaurs & Strange Creatures" includes about 8 1/2 minutes of Wah Chang's
1971 short, "Dinosaurs: the Terrible Lizards," and about 7 1/2 minutes of
Mark Wolf's stop-motion documentary, "The Age of Mammals," as well as
footage of extant animals that are considered "strange" (anteater,
chameleon, platypus, sloth, mudskipper, armadillo, and echidna).  Including
the owl puppet footage, the VHS tape runs approximately 33 minutes.  There
are no titles for the documentary short footage incorporated, and I don't
know whether they have been edited.  Personally, I can't see why they would
have been edited, as the "strange creatures" footage looks like filler to
me.

_Close-Up_, a stop-motion magazine, includes a 3 1/2 page article on "Land
of the Lost" in issue #1, 1975.  It states that Wah Chang's models for
"Dinosaurs: the Terrible Lizards" (and the later "Land of the Lost"
program), were "built up of cut foam and covered with rubber cement and
paper toweling to simulate reptilian flesh."  In the case of _Styracosaurus_
and _Triceratops_, the caption reads: "Foam body with replacement heads used
to simulate various horned dinosaurs.  Solid heads sculpted by Doug Beswick,
who also built the armature for this body.  All final foam and body work by
Wah Chang."  The expedient use of rubber cement and paper towels for skins
explains the absence of defined scale texture in Wah Chang's dinosaur
models.

According to the box, the dinosaurs include _Coelophysis_, "Brontosaurus_,"
_Stegosaurus_, _Tyrannosaurus rex_, _Triceratops_, _Monoclonius_,
"_Trachodon_," and _Ankylosaurus_, with a _Pteranodon_ pair thrown in for
good measure.  There's also a glimpse of _Parasaurolophus_ and perhaps
_Tsintaosaurus_.  The backgrounds appear to be either still photographs or
projected transparencies, with the exception of scenes of _Triceratops_ and
_Tyrannosaurus_ looking on as a (stock footage) volcano erupts.  Needless to
say, these dinosaurs and their actions are very much "old school," and the
lack of skin details doesn't help to make them convincing.  The
"_Brontosaurus_" munches on swamp mush with excessive jaw movement, and the
"_Trachodon_" is said to make use of its "webbed feet" to flee into the
water when predators approach.  There is little action in the dinosaur
scenes, and the scenery isn't very colorful.

Having said this, it _is_ stop-motion animation, and represents an earnest
attempt on the part of the filmmakers to bring the dinosaurs alive.  Of
course, we can now see that the dinosaur sequence from "Animal World"
covered very similar ground with superior results decades before (see this
footage on "The Black Scorpion" DVD).  Then again, in spite of the cut
corners, "Animal World" had Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, and a healthier
budget.  Surely, Wah Chang did the best he could on a very tight budget and
schedule.

The footage from "The Age of Mammals" features more detailed models and
settings, resulting in a more naturalistic documentary short.
_Deltatherium_, "_Eohippus_," _Diatryma_, _Baluchitherium_, Platybelodon_,
Glyptodon_, _Megatherium_, _Smilodon_, Wooly Mammoth, and Neanderthal man
are featured.  The hominids are crudely modeled and will fool no one, but
the mammals look good and move rather well.

To sum it up, I would recommend the tape for stop-motion completists (you
know who you are, Dan!), but the "Dinosaurs: the Terrible Lizards" and "The
Age of Mammals" footage will definitely not satisfy modern audiences who
have been brought up on lively prehistoric animals brought back to life with
state-of-the-art digital effects.  Kids these days have no idea how lucky
they are!

So... if you're feeling really nostalgic and want to see what dinosaur
documentary shorts looked like in the olden days (1971!), then you can give
it a look.

You can still obtain used copies of this VHS tape at the usual internet
outlets.  And some people must not have liked it much, seeing as they're
unloading it for as little as $1.99!

You have been warned...

--------
"Dino Guy" Ralph W. Miller III
Docent at the California Academy of Sciences
proud member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

By the way, S. S. Wilson is also a screenwriter and frequent contributor to
_Cinefex_ magazine.