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1956 American film
The Animal World
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by
| Irwin Allen
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Written by
| Irwin Allen
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Produced by
| Irwin Allen
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Narrated by
| Theodore Von Eltz
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Cinematography
| Harold E. Wellman
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Edited by
| Robert Belcher
Gene Palmer
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Music by
| Paul Sawtell
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Distributed by
| Warner Bros.
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Release date
|
- May 30, 1956
(
1956-05-30
)
(New York)
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Running time
| 82 minutes
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Country
| United States
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The Animal World
is a 1956 American
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 noted, "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]
Dinosaur sequence
[
edit
]
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.
[2]
The dinosaurs that appear include a
Stegosaurus
, a pair of
Ceratosaurus
, a
Triceratops
, a
Tyrannosaurus
(which doubles as an
Allosaurus
), and a female
Brontosaurus
, along with one of her hatchlings.
[2]
O’Brien built the dinosaur models and miniature landscapes while the actual animation was performed by Harryhausen. With the stop-motion dinosaur sequence scheduled for only six weeks of filming, Harryhausen used two cameras for the sequence to get more footage in less time, and in interviews after his retirement he stated he ran into a “censorship problem” (apparently with the
Hays Office
) because it was felt the dinosaur fights were too gruesome, even though, as Harryhausen pointed out, the film's live action sequences show fights between lions and gazelles and the like.
For many years, still shots from the segment were included in
View-Master
slide show reels.
[3]
Some of the footage was reused for portions of the
Night Gallery
season 2 episode "The Painted Mirror," as well as in the 1970 film
Trog
,
[4]
and the entire sequence was released as an extra on the 2003
DVD
release of
The Black Scorpion
.
[5]
Reception
[
edit
]
The film ended up with a profit of over $500,000.
[6]
Comic book adaptation
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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Features
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Shorts
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- How to Bridge a Gorge
(1942)
- Tulips Shall Grow
(1942)
- Guadalcanal
(1943)
- Mother Goose Stories
(1946)
- The Story of Little Red Riding Hood
(1949)
- The Story of Rapunzel
(1951)
- The Story of Hansel and Gretel
(1951)
- The Story of King Midas
(1953)
- The Story of The Tortoise & the Hare
(2002, begun 1953)
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Films
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Television series
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TV films
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