Monsters We Met
Monsters We Met is a documentary produced by the BBC that later aired on Animal Planet in 2004 (under the title, Land of Lost Monsters) which also included footage from Walking with Beasts and Walking with Cavemen (both also made by the BBC). The show used computer-generated imagery to recreate the life of the giant animals that lived during the last ice age and explains how early humans encountered them. It also features humans as the main reason for the extinction of all great animals.
Monsters We Met | |
---|---|
Narrated by | Ian Holm (UK Version) William Hootkins (US Version)[1] |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 |
Production | |
Running time | 45–50 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Four Animal Planet |
Original release | 8 April – 22, 2003 |
Episodes
Episode 1: The Eternal Frontier (Montana, United States, North America, 11,000 years ago)
- Woolly mammoth
- American lion (live-acted by an African lioness)
- Homotherium (scimitar-tooth cat)
- Smilodon (saber-tooth cat)
- Paramylodon (Harlan's ground sloth)
- Camelops (live-acted by a dromedary camel)
- Arctodus (short-faced bear)
- American mastodon (Mammut americanum)
- Steppe bison (live-acted by an American bison)
- Hagerman horse (live-acted by a Grevy's zebra)
- American cheetah (live-acted by a snow leopard)
- Wild horse (live-acted by a Przewalski's horse)
- Horse (live-acted)
- Grey wolf (live-acted)
- American bison (live-acted)
- Andean condor (live-acted)
- Brown bear (live-acted)
- Muskox (live-acted)
- Caribou (live-acted)
- Saiga (live-acted)
- California condor (live-acted)
- Dall sheep (live-acted)
- Raven (live-acted)
- Bald eagle (live-acted)
- Wolverine (live-acted)
- Snowshoe hare (live-acted)
- White-tailed deer (live-acted)
- Snowy owl (live-acted)
- Sockeye salmon (live-acted)
The episode starts with mammoths living during the Ice Age. It also shows how humans became top predators and started hunting them. We also had to compete with other predators like the Short-faced Bear and the Saber-toothed Cat. We destroyed them by depleting their food supply, and making them starve to death. The episode ends with how there were no more extinctions following the Ice Age and that it remained that way until the European colonization of the Americas.
Note: This episode used most of the extinct mammal models from Wild New World, as well as some archive footage.
Episode 2: The Burning (Australia, 65,000 years ago)
- Genyornis
- Diprotodon
- Megalania
- Saltwater crocodile (live-acted)
- Red kangaroo (live-acted)
- Emu (live-acted)
- Perentie (live-acted)
- Frilled lizard (live-acted)
- Black cockatoo (live-acted)
- Brown snake (Pseudonaja) (live-acted)
- Green ants (live-acted)
It starts by showing how humans migrated to Australia. We also hunted the native wildlife. We encountered the huge birds and the giant lizard, megalania. The reptiles kill two humans and they plan on burning the fields to kill the giant lizard. The episode then ends with how the burning of the forests changed the landscape of Australia.
Episode 3: The End of Eden (New Zealand,CE 1280)
- Giant moa
- Haast's eagle (live-acted by a harpy eagle)
- Bottlenose dolphin (live-acted)
- Sperm whale (live-acted)
- New Zealand sea lion (live-acted)
- Seagull (live-acted)
- Red-tailed black cockatoo (live-acted)
- Snares penguin (live-acted)
- Kakapo (live-acted)
- Wētā (live-acted)
- Kiwi (live-acted)
- Tuatara (live-acted)
- New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (live-acted)
- Polynesian rat (live-acted)
- Kurī (live-acted)
- Sumatran rhinoceros (live-acted)
- Rat (live-acted)
- Cat (live-acted)
It starts with humans populating New Zealand. We encounter the giant moa. We start to see it was harmless. We then discover Haast's eagle, which hunts moas and starts to target us. We then start to steal the moa's giant eggs and go after the adults for food. The program then goes into human evolution and goes over how humans have led to the extinctions of the megafauna and how they are still affecting modern animals. The program ends with us in space and starts to ask the question that if we can't live with these monsters, are we monsters ourselves.
Note: This episode used footage from the previous two episodes, Walking with Cavemen, Walking with Beasts and Wild New World.
See also
Monsters We Met is part of a series of BBC documentaries that also include:
- Walking with Dinosaurs (1999)
- Walking with Beasts (2001), depicting life after the dinosaurs
- Walking with Cavemen (2003)
- Walking with Monsters (2005), depicting life before the dinosaurs
The following are Walking With... series specials:
- The Ballad of Big Al (2000)
- Chased by Dinosaurs (2002)
- Sea Monsters (2003)
The following are similar programs, produced by the BBC:
- "Prehistoric America" (2002)