S Behind the Scenes - Dinomania

This 1996 segment of the Discovery Channel's Movie Magic TV series focuses on the history and evolution of dinosaur special effects, offering a balanced perspective between the FX technicians themselves and expert scientists who have been inspired since youth by prehistoric illusions from Hollywood and around the world. Beginning in 1914 with Winsor McCay's animated line-drawings of Gertie the Dinosaur, and culminating with the technological breakthrough of 1993's Jurassic Park, the segment chronicles the steady evolution of effects techniques--and the varying degrees of realism--that brought dinosaurs to the big screen. The "golden age" began with the pioneering work of stop-motion animator Willis O'Brien, whose 1925 classic The Lost World was a crucial step toward his stunning advancements in 1933's King Kong.