Conceived three years ago by Emmy award winning creature effects expert Matt Drummond, Dinosaur Island is a family film aimed primarily at children aged from 6 to 12 years.
Dinosaur Island begins when Lucas (Darius Williams) a 13 year old boy embarks on the vacation of a lifetime. When disaster strikes, Lucas finds himself stranded in a strange land littered with ghost ships and prehistoric creatures.
While searching for signs of life, Lucas hears a distant radio broadcast and is drawn into the jungle where he encounters a beautiful young girl (Kate Rasmussen) who claims to have come from the 1950s. Together they set out on a quest to get home all the while uncovering secrets that will forever change the future.
The feature film came about when Australian director, Drummond was living in Vanuatu, where his company, Hive Studios worked on a string of dinosaur documentaries featuring dinosaurs for American cable networks National Geographic, History and Discovery channels. In Vanuatu, Drummond met legendary Hollywood producer, Paul Mason who encouraged him to make his first movie.
Dinosaur Island is garnering international attention from both the scientific and entertainment community with Drummond’s controversial choice to portray some of the dinosaurs as feathered, notably the Tyrannosaurus.
According to Science, “The most recent discovery of fossilized feathers on a newly identified dinosaur far removed from the bird lineage means that feathers likely were more widespread than previously thought in the dinosaur world.”
These latest findings add further weight to the feathered versus non-feathered debate and could change the way scientists’ and film audiences view dinosaurs.
Fans of the film love what has been dubbed as the “fluffy t-rex.” with many referring to Director, Colin Trevorrow’s decision not to include feathered dinosaurs in the upcoming feature Jurassic World. Noted geophysicist and science journalist, Mika Mckinnon writes that she is, “delighted that the first Dinosaur Island trailer features a fantastically fluffy T-Rex.”
In response to the renewed debate, Director Matt Drummond states, “Our Tyrannosaur is more about character… having worked with Jack Horner, Luis Chiappe and a range of paleontologists on all sorts of documentaries and exhibits, one thing is irrefutable… none agrees with the other.”
“It’s an ever evolving science and new discoveries trump old theories almost weekly. Hopefully what we have created sparks the imagination and provides some great entertainment.”
Dinosaur Island stars two Australian acting newcomers Kate Rasmussen and Darius Williams, and features Juliette Palmer-Frederick, Joe Bistaveous, Nicole Yardley and Paul Padagas. The score was composed by Australian musician, Chris Wright with title track was recorded by Australian Idol winner, Kate DeArougo.
Dinosaur Island is distributed exclusively by Hoyts and is currently screening nationally. For more information, visit: www.dinosaurislandthemovie.com for details.