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Like many great creative minds, Bad Dinosaurs showrunner and co-creator Joel Veitch (Uncle Wormsley’s Christmas) got the idea for his new animated series while chatting with his friend and collaborator David Shute in a pub. “It was way back in 2014, and we were talking about how the word ‘dinosaur’ translates from Latin as ‘terrible lizard,’” Veitch recalls in an email interview. “I felt it would be funny to make some dinosaurs who were ‘terrible’ as in ‘not very good at dinosaur-ing,’ rather than ‘terrible’ as in ‘terrifying and mighty.’ We were then able to flesh out the idea over the course of four shorts with the help of CG Swiss Army knife Alex Mallinson and composer Jamie Robertson, who helped put meat on the prehistoric bones of the idea!”
Produced by Dan Dixon and Paul Schleicher, the new show is the debut animated project from London-based Snafu Pictures and is described as “a high-octane thrill ride through the Mesozoic that follows the hilarious shenanigans of a Tyrannosaurus family as they deal with life in the prehistoric wilderness while surrounded by incompetent dinosaurs.” Based on a series of popular online shorts, the show is directed by BAFTA-nominated animation veteran Simone Giampaolo (Only a Child).
From the Napkin to the Screen
Veitch says the mockumentary format was perfect for the initial series of online shorts. “Our narrator had all the wonder and gravitas of Attenborough,” he explains. “This format worked brilliantly for the shorts, but as we adapted it for the series we found that we had the time and space to allow the characters to create deep emotional connections and spend time fooling around, acting stupid. Our characters were able to become more multidimensional, which was very cool.”
The showrunner adds, “It took us 10 years to get it from the back of a napkin to the screen. I created the original shorts with Dave Shute and Alex Mallinson shortly after, and I took one of the shorts around the festival circuit, with international trips funded by the wonderful British Council Shorts Support Scheme, and while having a delightful time at the excellent São Paulo International Short Film Festival, I met Dan Dixon.”
‘Our journey with Bad Dinosaurs has taught me that a brilliant idea will eventually find a home, even if it takes a great deal of pushing, heartache and time to get there.’
— Showrunner and co-creator Joel Veitch
Dixon says, “There is a great tradition of short, animated storytelling, fueled by anarchic stories full of laughs as well as pathos; and we like to think of Bad Dinosaurs as being part of the lineage. We were fortunate to work with our head writer, Natt Tapley, who had a real affection for this classic medium. He really led the charge on shaping this for our show.”
“Dan and I don’t have a background in kids’ TV, as we have always worked in high-end animation and VFX for games, films and TV,” says Schleicher. “We initially contacted Netflix through their adult animation commissioning exec Julio Bonet. After our initial pitch we were quite quickly asked to undergo a round of funded development, which really helped us to interrogate and find the edges of the show we wanted to make, before being greenlit at the start of 2022.”
The show’s animation is handled by Madrid-based Able & Baker. “We built a fantastic team to handle the writing, storyboarding and editing,” says Dixon. “This was vital in allowing us to hand over clearly defined structure to the animation team, and all of these elements were pulled together by the exceptionally talented director, Simone Giampaolo.”
“Able & Baker had produced an episode of Love, Death + Robots called The Dump and we were really impressed with the fidelity of animation they were producing,” says Schleicher. “In particular, as a smaller independent studio, we were convinced that they would be as committed to delivering a great show as we were. And we were proven right; founders Carlos Tschuschke, Ramón Giráldez and their team were fully committed to bringing fantastic talent to the project.”
Veitch believes that the T. rex family are the true heart of the show. “Despite the fact that they are dinosaurs, predatory beasts who do not use language, we have made them a real family with real feelings and a relatable family dynamic,” he explains. “We put a huge amount of thought into making sure that viewers would care about these lovable fools. I have three kids myself, and my years of parenting have gone into this prehistoric tale, along with the joys and frustrations of the other writers. I hope parents will recognize themselves in these stories, and kids should recognize themselves as well!”
For Dixon, one of the great challenges was the balance of simple and complex storytelling. “Our writing team worked tirelessly to craft an arching story about a slightly dysfunctional family who lose their home, before becoming a fully functioning, although unconventional, unit,” says the producer. “At the same time, each episode needed to have its own beginning, middle and end as well as a clear point of view (lead character). I am very proud of how the writing team worked to craft this delicate balance.”
Schleicher adds, “I would also add my love for the craft and design on the show. I feel like the team really nailed the character design, which is fused by underlying principles of silly, simple shapes and colors, but is [also] built on top of with beautiful texturing and lighting. The world-building is also impressive, and the art direction has been a joy to see being brought to life.”
Veitch believes that although the animation landscape is a crowded market, young viewers are hungry for shows that have great characters that make them laugh. “Like many shows, Bad Dinosaurs looks and sounds great, the design and characters are immediately appealing, and the comedy and journey are engaging,” he says. “But this show’s superpower is the unique vision of the team behind it. We have been incredibly lucky in this process to work with a group of intimidatingly brilliant people who have been focused on helping this show to blossom.”
Make Them Laugh
After all is said and done, Veitch hopes that audiences will tune in and enjoy silly dinosaurs that will make them laugh. “However, once they are pulled in, I want them to become emotionally invested in our characters and join them in their roller coaster journey through the land of Bad Dinosaurs, rooting for them all the way and feeling powerful emotions,” Veitch adds. “I want them to be surprised at every turn; this is not a show that you can easily predict. Most of all, I want them to love our dino-children, who we have expended so very much of our souls to bring into the world!”
He concludes, “We all know that there are serious challenges facing the industry in 2024, and this is a hard time to try and get a completely new show idea away. But our journey with Bad Dinosaurs has taught me that a brilliant idea will eventually find a home, even if it takes a great deal of pushing, heartache and time to get there.”
Bad Dinosaurs premieres on Netflix today (Thursday, March 28). Watch it here.
