Natural pre-history show to leap out of the big screen...

The BBC has announced that the popular CGI creations from its Walking WIth Dinosaurs franchise are heading for the big screen. A movie based on the 'natural pre-history' series, which first aired to popular acclaim in 1999 and recreated many species of dinosaurs in a documentary-style approach, will be made by the people behind Happy Feet and Finding Nemo, and is the first outing in a three-movie deal with Reliance Big Entertainment in India.

BBC Earth, the company's Natural History branch, will oversee the new project with its partners. The Walking With Dinosaurs live arena show has proved a huge success over the last three years, bringing in £124m from punters eager to see the CGI dinosaurs come to life in a theatrical environment.

This is the kind of populism (and I'm not necessarily criticising this particular project) which the BBC is going to have to make a habit of, with the annual licence fee frozen for the next six years and the institution struggling harder than ever in a commercial marketplace under its customary barrage of flak about what it is/isn't/should/shouldn't be doing with 'our money'.

Those who have waited nine years for the Jurassic Park franchise to finally start out on No. 4 will have to get their 3D dino-kicks in a slightly more cultural context for the moment.

BBC

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