My dino media wishlist

[HD-man]

I originally posted the following at deviantART ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-My-dino-media-wishlist-901438371 ).

Hi everybody!

This journal entry was inspired by Naish's "Fossils We Want to Find" ( https://web.archive.org/web/20180110171830/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/fossils-we-want-to-find/ ). It's nothing formal, just a list in no particular order of dino media I (as a non-expert dino fan) wish to see someday & why. Even still, I hope that at least some of you will get something out of it.

Cheers,
Herman

New Bakker-related dino media:
-1) New adult books by Bakker: More specifically, I wish to see adult versions of "The Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs" (which I reviewed: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2INIHTO7ANTSM/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ), "Dino Babies!" (which I reviewed: https://www.amazon.com/review/RGGG87Q9W2PHE/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ), & "Raptor Pack". Not only are said books the best of their kind (I.e. The best children's natural history of dinos, the best baby dino book for younger kids, & the best day-in-the-life dromaeosaur book, respectively), but also some of my favorite dino books. Furthermore, there aren't enough dino safari, baby dino, or day-in-the-life dino books for adults.
-2) A "Raptor Red" movie or mini-series (hence the cover image, which is by anatotitan: https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2011/08/design-exercise-raptor-red-teaser.html ): Of all the day-in-the-life dino books I've read, Bakker's are by far the best ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R16K64LXYBME69/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ). I think a RR movie would be something like "The Last Lions" (Part 1: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnr4b0 ) (Part 2: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnrg9a ), but better b/c dinos. Alternatively, I think a RR mini-series would be something like Genndy Tartakovsky's "Primal" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZUWGoEbbSs ), but more scientifically accurate. Maybe David James Armsby should contact Bakker & Random House 😉 If his "Dinosauria" series is any indication ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ5VEKOKH8PCoo-gp50NgGhm3CNPAhgle ), he's probably the best person for the job of adapting RR in a way that's both faithful to the essence of the book & scientifically accurate by modern standards.
-3) A remake of Peter Zallinger's "Dinosaurs and Other Archosaurs" by Bakker/Rey: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2KNMVQKGS4Q9R/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8
-4) A remake of Stout's "The New Dinosaurs"/"The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era" by Steve White or Bakker/Rey: More on that below.

An adult book version of Conway's "The Dinosaur Pet Guide" ( http://johnconway.co/dinosaur_pet_guide ) in the style of Conway et al.'s "All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals": To paraphrase Naish ( https://web.archive.org/web/20130521090221/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/01/02/how-not-to-keep-dinosaurs/ ), "This could [be] a really interesting experiment in the reconstruction of behaviour, and on whatever imaginary perils and pitfalls might befall any attempt to bring dinosaurs into the human world". The closest thing we have is Bradley's "Care & Feeding Of Dinosaurs", a very good but outdated (E.g. Un-feathered coelurosaurs) children's book. Mash's "How to Keep Dinosaurs" is the right idea, but the wrong execution ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R1BRQGIJNZWTQH/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

More faithful adaptations of Crichton's "Jurassic Park" & "Lost World" novels. More specifically: 1) They'd be better as a series like "Westworld" on HBO; 2) They'd be better if the dinos were mostly accurate for today's time ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj1pOgaXTf4&t=246s ), similar to how the novels' dinos were mostly accurate for their time ( https://jurassicpark.fandom.com/wiki/Isla_Sorna_(novel_canon) ); 3) They'd be better if the original Lex character was cut altogether; At best, she adds nothing; At worst, she ruins the experience ( https://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2013/08/so-reading-jurassic-park-in-2013-is.html ); In other words, cutting her would greatly improve the experience without changing anything important (I.e. Major plot points or dino/character interactions).*

*4/23/24 UPDATE: I've since gotten feedback on #3. To clarify, I'm also open to cutting Tim & giving all his traits to Lex (I.e. Making her an older/only child & a dino/computer nerd).

A feature-length version of "Phil Tippett's Prehistoric Beast" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlaXIRTjNfo&t=4s ): This is basically what Disney's "Dinosaur" ( http://www.williamstout.com/news/journal/?p=3549 ) & BBC's "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D" ( https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2013/12/missing-kenneth-branagh.html ) were originally meant to be.

A PNSO-published Natural History of Dinos in the style of Burton's "The Age of Dinosaurs: A Photographic Record" ( https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/search/label/Jane%20Burton ): As you may remember, I love dino dioramas ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R3F47215A3OEHY/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ). As you may also remember, I love PNSO ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R3R6KZA4VWB8E6/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ), especially their dino models ( https://www.paleo-nerd.com/tag/pnso/ ). Gripes aside, said models are so detailed & realistic that they should be in museum dioramas like the Smithsonian's ( http://agathaumas.blogspot.com/2011/05/annual-report-for-year-ended-june-30.html ). I'd especially love it if, like said models, this hypothetical NHD was updated every few years (& thus, always up-to-date, like many bird field guides: https://betterbirdphotography.com/bird-field-guides/ ).

A remake of Stout's "The New Dinosaurs"/"The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era" by Steve White ( https://sharkeytrike.deviantart.com/ ) or Bakker/Rey: As you may remember, Stout 1981/2000 is "1 of the best adult NHDs" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Top-4-natural-histories-of-dinos-758236511 ). I'd love to see a new edition w/updated stories, but I don't think that's likely given that William Service, the original narrator, is RIP. I do think the next best thing would be a remake that's authored/illustrated by White or Bakker/Rey. I say White for 2 main reasons: 1) AFAIK, White's comic book-style paleoart comes closest to evoking Stout's vision of dinos; For an especially good example of that, compare White's "DINOSAUR WRESTLING: VELOCIRAPTOR V. PROTOCERATOPS" ( https://www.deviantart.com/sharkeytrike/art/DINOSAUR-WRESTLING-VELOCIRAPTOR-V-PROTOCERATOPS-302059940 ) to Stout's "Deinonychus vs.Tenontosaurus" ( https://www.pinterest.com/pin/441704675923271479/ ); 2) As indicated by White's "Dinosaur Hunter: The Ultimate Guide to the Biggest Game" (which I reviewed: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2DH2U4T7MNS0N/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ), he's also experienced in writing short day-in-the-life stories. Alternatively, I say Bakker/Rey for similar reasons discussed elsewhere ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R16K64LXYBME69/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

A WWD-style book for "Dinosaurs in the Wild" ( https://twitter.com/TetZoo/status/1424502725245607938 ): As you may remember, "the Dinosaurs in the Wild book" is 1 of the reasons why "I pledged...to Darren Naish's Patreon" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-The-Jurassic-World-2-movie-and-challenge-770593457 ). I get that "writing of any sort is a slow business" ( https://darrennaish.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/naish-2021-becoming-a-science-writer-bsr.pdf ). What I don't get is why said book still hasn't found a publisher, especially given the following:
-1) How awesome DitW is (I.e. It combines the best aspects of "Jurassic Park" & WWD w/Naish's expert consultancy: https://chasmosaurs.com/2019/10/11/walking-with-dinosaurs-20-years-on/ ).
-2) How many companion books have been published for the less good-looking/accurate-for-its-time WWD (2 of which I reviewed).*
-3) How many dino fans still wanna experience DitW but couldn't do so in person.
Yes, there's Parker et al.'s "Saurian: A Field Guide to Hell Creek" (which is set in more-or-less the same time & place: http://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/2/16/dinosaur-books-of-2019 ), but Saurian isn't as good-looking (I.e. It's too video gamey for me to get into) or accurate-for-its-time ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-The-Saurian-Dakotaraptor-could-be-better-707516300 ).

*I'm specifically referring to Martill/Naish's "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Evidence" ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R1NXSYJDL0LBHM/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ) & Benton's "Walking With Dinosaurs: Fascinating Facts" ( https://www.amazon.com/review/RA7SEUWSUPTX1/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

Honorable Mentions:
-A real book version of Darius's "Field Guide" from "Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous" ( https://jurassicpark.fandom.com/wiki/Field_Guide_(Camp_Cretaceous) ). It'd be like when "The Journal of the Two Sisters" from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" became a real book ( https://mlp.fandom.com/wiki/The_Journal_of_the_Two_Sisters ), but better b/c dinos.
-A video combining the mosasaur clips from "Jurassic World" & other media w/the "Free Willy" theme. Basically, I wanna see a mosasaur version of the orca scene in "nostalgia citic The Pebble and the Penguin", but w/more of the theme included (See 0:00-0:30): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVGLLRPpN-0
-An homage to "Pitch Meetings" (like Doug Walker's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBaFPl6oG5Y ) that makes fun of terrible dino/paleo books like Feduccia's "Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: Hidden Birds of China" (which I reviewed: https://www.amazon.com/review/R47I7QPHDIHYD/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ) & Ford's "Too Big to Walk: The New Science of Dinosaurs" (See "Bad": https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-Semi-good-and-Bad-Dino-Sources-4-800236863 ).

[HD-man]

I originally posted the following at deviantART ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-More-Dino-Sources-and-Wishes-970376086 ).

Hi everybody,

I was originally planning on "Good, semi-good, and bad dino sources 4" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-Semi-good-and-Bad-Dino-Sources-4-800236863 ) & "My dino media wishlist" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-My-dino-media-wishlist-901438371 ) being the last of their respective kinds. However, I've since learned more about some of the already-listed sources/wishes & others. 1 more thing of note: The cover image is the Triassic scene from PNSO's "Children's Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs series", which I like aesthetically b/c it reminds me of the Foetodon scene from "King Kong 2005" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpkc1v7tKFU ).

Cheers,
Herman Diaz

Good

As you may remember, "I love PNSO", which seems to be best known for their models (& for good reason: https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-My-dino-media-wishlist-901438371 ). That said, I love them most for their books, which may be the best of their kinds, especially the natural histories ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Top-4-children-s-natural-histories-of-dinos-924726008 ). I seriously hope all their books are published in English, especially the "Children's Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs series" (As of this posting, Holtz's "Dinosaurs" still hasn't been updated & no other dino encyclopedia for kids comes close: http://www.pnso.org/?p=1464 ) & the "Dinosaur Museum series" (which, based on this interview, combines the best aspects of "Zoobooks" & "DK Eyewitness Books" w/Chuang's artistic & Yang's story-telling expertise: http://www.pnso.org/?p=1498 ). It's also worth mentioning their Youtube channel, which (in addition to Witton's "The Palaeoartist's Handbook: Recreating Prehistoric Animals in Art") is an especially good source for those who wanna learn to draw prehistoric animals ( https://www.youtube.com/@PNSO2010/playlists ).

Remember what I said about Hone ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources-3-632615112 )? The same goes for Lomax ("Palaeontologist Dr Dean Lomax": https://www.deanrlomax.co.uk/ ), maybe even more so.* This is very impressive, given Lomax's less traditional path to academia (I.e. Hone got his B.S. in 1999 & published his 1st paper in 2004, while Lomax was self-taught until 2013, publishing his 1st paper in 2010).

From what I understand, "Eofauna | Scientific research" ( http://www.eofauna.com/ ) is similar to PNSO, but Spanish instead of Chinese.

*E.g. Compare Lomax's book list ( https://www.deanrlomax.co.uk/Books ) to Hone's ( https://www.davehone.co.uk/outreach/books/ ). On a related note, I've since reviewed Hone's 1st dino book for casual readers ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/Review-update-45-It-s-a-big-1-743681263 ).

Semi-good

Remember what I said about Cau (See "Semi-good": https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources-1-351589315 )? Apparently, I didn't say enough. My bad. Since 2013, he's continued doing good phylogenetic work (E.g. A "lengthy paravian-themed paper[...]on the enigmatic and wonderful Romanian paravian Balaur bondoc": http://web.archive.org/web/20150623050531/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/the-romanian-dinosaur-balaur-seems-to-be-a-flightless-bird/ ). Unfortunately, he's also continued doing hit-&-miss non-phylogenetic work (E.g. His PhP ep2 review, which makes me wonder if he complains when real nature docs show pair-hunting accipitrids & scavenging Marabou storks 🙄 : https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2022/05/recensione-di-prehistoric-planet_25.html ). It doesn't help that he's basically a jerk to anyone who disagrees w/him. As indicated by the anonymous quotes, it's not just me, but his colleagues. The most egregious example I know of is discussed in this "Fun Halzskaraptor thread": https://twitter.com/Paleoartologist/status/1436853098920636416

Quoting an anonymous paleontologist (per. comm. about this thread: https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2017/09/perche-allosaurus-non-e-aquila.html#comment-form ): "Cau is being a dick in that thread. I haven't met him personally, but based on what I read on his blog, I wouldn't like him. I notice he doesn't hold himself to his own rule about offensiveness.
He flat out misrepresents the Reisz 2010 paper. The paper says nothing about whether the specimens were altricial or not. What Cau is referring to in the paper is their discussion about whether or or not they were close to hatching. The paper confirms that, while it is difficult to assess, every indication is that the "embryoes" were close to or ready to hatch. So yeah, they can be counted as hatchlings, especially since one of the eggs in the brood appears to have already hatched."

Quoting an anonymous enthusiast (per. comm. about this screenshot: http://web.archive.org/web/20221202064432/https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.15752-9/284096977_707998870429400_6732298095296292044_n.png?_nc_cat=102&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=ae9488&_nc_ohc=WRqsZEFx6hUAX_2GFAL&tn=jhWNcBY9_9wdjyCH&_nc_ht=scontent-sea1-1.xx&oh=03_AdT7qmkFrDkwL0m6uE04GDYpgqmLVtb3pE7fOEKfARX9fg&oe=63B10F0B ): "Back when Cau still had Twitter, when Trierarchuncus was published, Cau went to twitter to rant about how it's a dubious taxon that should not been named[...]Then Denver Fowler, who named the taxon, showed up on the tweet and directly called Cau out."

Bad

Remember what I said about the Hunters (See "Bad": https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources-1-351589315 )? Apparently, I didn't say enough. My bad. I've known of the 2 major BANDit groups since my Riddle review, but have since learned that they have names (I.e. Feduccia et al. are "scientific BANDits", while the Hunters are "rat BANDits": https://archive.ph/JdX4w ). On a related note, Fe-douche-ia has since authored another nonsense book (which I had the displeasure of reviewing: https://www.amazon.com/review/R2EWZH9WUPG03A/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

Wishes

A "Camp Cretaceous" sequel series/movie that takes place post-S5/"Fallen Kingdom": This quote from Gizmodo's review sums up my biggest problem w/"Jurassic World: Dominion" ( https://gizmodo.com/jurassic-world-dominion-review-chris-pratt-laura-dern-j-1848883641 ): "The locust thing might even be okay if the whole movie was about it. But the film opens, and closes, with hints of what a unified world blending dinosaurs and humans could be. In fact, the last few shots of [JWD] are excellent and make the previous two-plus hours seem small by comparison. By shoving these ideas awkwardly into the film's bookends, Trevorrow seems to be admitting he knows that's the movie this could have been. But instead, he tricks you into thinking it's about that by starting and ending there. The whole structure feels awkwardly slapped together." Even w/my already low expectations, JWD ended w/me feeling very unfulfilled in a way that was hard to explain until I read said review. In contrast, S5 is a very satisfying conclusion to CC in particular & JP/JW in general, tying everything up & feeling complete, especially w/Yasammy ( https://it-fits-i-ships.tumblr.com/post/659914337944780800/updated-the-yasammy-video-clip-compilation-and ). W/that in mind, I won't be upset if we don't get said sequel, but I'd still love to see more of JW's best "characters in general" ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-My-favorite-aspects-of-Camp-Cretaceous-882741250 ), especially in said "unified world".

A WWD-style book for AppleTV+'s "Prehistoric Planet" ( https://tv.apple.com/us/show/prehistoric-planet/umc.cmc.4lh4bmztauvkooqz400akxav ) for the same reasons as "Dinosaurs in the Wild", but more so. More specifically, not only is PhP even more like WWD (I.e. They're both natural history series that focus on non-bird dinos), but also more recent & relevant (S1 came out 5/2022 right before JWD; S2 came out 5/2023 right before JP's 30-year anniversary). Plus, if the potentially-good-but-definitely-not-as-good Netflix series "Life on Our Planet" can get a companion book ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Our-Planet-Accompanies-Landmark/dp/1529144140 ), why not PhP?

A remake of Stout's "The New Dinosaurs"/"The Dinosaurs: A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era" by Darren Naish ( https://darrennaish.wordpress.com/ )/Steve White or Bakker/Rey: When I originally suggested Steve, I didn't have any one expert collaborator in mind. In retrospect, Darren is kinda the obvious choice, given his history of great dino books, including another of the best adult NHDs ( https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Top-4-natural-histories-of-dinos-758236511 ) & another art-heavy book involving Steve ( https://tetzoo.com/blog/2022/10/29/announcing-mesozoic-art ).