MovieChat Forums > Walking with Beasts (2001) Discussion > The Best/Worst CG Or Animatronic Model

The Best/Worst CG Or Animatronic Model

posted 18 years ago by Vihktor-24
14 replies | jump to latest

Just like in the WwD boards:
I am not asking which animal you liked best. I'm asking which CG or animatronic model was your favourite. Which looked, moved, the most lifelike? Which had the best skin pattern? Or which animatronic would you take home (if it was still intact, that is)? Or which one was the worst, in your opinion?

As for my favourite, ... I have to think it over.

[–] EugeneandSasha 18 years ago

I liked the Ambulocetus, Andresarchus, Calicotherium, Entelodon, and Smilodon. As for the anamatronic to take home-probably Andresarchus because how realistic and freightening and large it was (to scale I think). Must of CGI was good (better than WWD) I can't really think of the best CGI model used.

[–] Dutch90 18 years ago

Best CGI: Embolotherium and Paraceratherium. They looked incredibly lifelike for some reason, with a distinct elephant/rhino-like hide.

Worst CGI: Formicium giganteum. Gotta cut them some slack, though- arthropods are a bitch to get right in CGI. Other than that I think Gastornis, Doedicurus and Hyaenodon looked a bit too CGI in some shots. Really interesting creatures, though.

Best animatronic: Ambulocetus.

Worst animatronic: Smilodon. This was the only time something in the series actually looked downright fake; in one shot Halftooth's tongue looked like red plastic. The Andrewsarchus looked a bit clumsy, probably because the head was so big and heavy to operate. I also didn't really like the mammoths, and the Australopithecus were too inexpressive.

Take home: the Phorusrhacos head. These birds rule.

Dutch90, the ninth wonder of the world

[–] EugeneandSasha 18 years ago

Yeah those 3 creatures did look a little too computer-generated but at other times they looked very realistic. As for the Andrewsarchus I didn't think it was clumsy. The Australopithecus did look a little inexpressive.

[–] Vihktor-24 18 years ago

Worst animatronic: Smilodon. This was the only time something in the series actually looked downright fake; in one shot Halftooth's tongue looked like red plastic

Yeah, you're totally right on that. It bothered me too. And not only his tongue, but his skin on his face looked too "solid" like it was made of hard plastic. This is the problem with the Gastornis too. Its face just looked too... solid.

As for the best animatronic, I'd also say Ambulocetus. It looked and even moved lifelike. The Andrewsarchus looked good too. But there was one tiny thing that bugged me about it. The problem here, thought, was not with the animatronic model, but the fact that you didn't see the shadow of the whole animal in some shots, only the head's shadow. This can be best seen (or not seen) in the book, when the animal is eating the turtle. You see the shadow of the head but not that of the torso... and one thing, you see a part of the puppeteer's shoe. Oh, and I guess the turtle model wasn't so good either. Its shell bended like it was made of rubber. Same with the dead Embolotheruim baby. It looked an awful lot like rubber.

I still can't decide which CG model was the best, though. But that Indricothere one did look good. And there is one shot in which the mammoths looked so real. Very real.

As for the worst: in some shots, the Basilosaurus looked too much like being CG. Like it was in some sort of video game. But there are more like this, for example those Megaloceros' didn't look so authentic - mostly because the antlers kept passing through eachother.

[–] Dutch90 18 years ago

Oh yeah, I forgot the baby Embolotherium. It bended more like rubber than that turtle ever did, and its feet bounced like they were hollow.

Dutch90, the ninth wonder of the world

[–] userwithnoname 17 years ago

For Smilodon, you guys are talking about the animatronic right? Because i thought the CGI was quite good....

[–] Vihktor-24 17 years ago

Yep, the CG Smilodon was pretty decent. At any rate better than the one they used in Prehistoric Park. Well, IMO.

[–] juunanagou_17 18 years ago

Best CGI Creature: Indricothere.

Worst CGI Creature: Calicotherium.

Best Animatronic: Ambulocetus.

Worse Animatronic: The Smilodon.

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[–] userwithnoname 17 years ago

Hey, did anybody see the sea scorpion in the first episode of "Chased by Sea Monsters"? That was so life-like i could have had it for dinner....yeah i love sea food!!! :-)

[–] Dutch90 17 years ago

Sea Monsters has the best CGI of all the Walking With installments, overall.

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[–] JPfanatic93 17 years ago

Best CG: Indricotherium
Worst CG: giant ants, or Smilodon.

[–] prestonm1993 11 years ago

Half-Tooth and Andrewsarchus are mine! Both favorites, and I call dibs. That full mammoth or a leptictidium would look great in my living room, too.

[–] Vihktor-24 10 years ago

Having re-watched this for the bajillionth time, I'm inclined to add Australopithecus to the list of less-successful CGI critters. I think they're only about a handful of shots where they didn't look blatantly like computer effects. It didn't help that they barely even resembled their animatronic counterparts, which also deserve a mention for being so utterly stiff.

Not that the people-in-suits versions seen in Walking with Cavemen are any better.

[–] eljuma_1 10 years ago

Best CGI: Andrewsarchus

Worst CGI: Cave Lion (it's just the Dinofelis one with different skin and a long tail!)

The puppets never thrilled me.