The Animal World (film)

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The Animal World
Directed by Irwin Allen
Produced by Irwin Allen
Written by Irwin Allen
Starring Theodore Von Eltz (narrator)
Music by Paul Sawtell
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) 1956
Running time 82 minutes
IMDb profile

The Animal World is a 1956 documentary film that was produced, written and directed by Irwin Allen. The film includes live-action footage of animals throughout the world, along with a ten-minute stop motion animated sequence about dinosaurs.

Irwin's intention was to show the progression of life over time, although he told The New York Times, "We don't use the word 'evolution.' We hope to walk a very thin line. On one hand we want the scientists to say this film is right and accurate, and yet we don't want to have the church picketing the film."[1]

[edit] Dinosaur sequence

The special effects in the film's dinosaur sequence were produced by Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien. Irwin originally planned to film the scenes as a series of static dioramas with plastic models, but Harryhausen suggested that the scenes would be more memorable if they were animated. The dinosaurs that appear include an Allosaurus, a Stegosaurus, a Ceratosaurus, a Triceratops, a Tyrannosaurus, and a family of Apatosauruses. [2]

For many years, still shots from the segment were included in View-Master slide show reels.[3] Some of the footage was reused for the 1970 film Trog,[4] and the entire sequence was released as an extra on the 2003 DVD release of The Black Scorpion.[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Oscar Godbout. "From primordial ooze to primates". The New York Times. 13 February 1955. p. 113.
  2. ^ Roy P. Webber. The Dinosaur Films of Ray Harryhausen. McFarland, 2004. p. 87.
  3. ^ Scott Shaw. "The Animal World". Comic Book Resource. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
  4. ^ Michael H. Price. "Tape it". The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 4 March 1995. Arts and Entertainment, p. 1.
  5. ^ Randy A. Salas. "Classic silent horror films make creepy mark on DVD". The Augusta Chronicle. 31 October 2003. p. A16
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