Animal Planet expanded its brand of fascinating and family-friendly programming with the network's first venture into the exploration of mythical animals — dragons. Throughout human history, people have been fascinated with dragons. These fantastical beasts have appeared in the myths and legends of almost every world culture, including the Inuit, Aztecs and Chinese, to name a few. These civilizations never connected, yet all of them conceived of the same mythical animal.
Working with production crews from around the world, and collaborating with top scientists, artists and animators, the creators of Animal Planet's new special bring these mythical animals to life in Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, followed by a half-hour special, Dragons: The Magic Behind the Scenes.
Narrated by internationally acclaimed television and film star Patrick Stewart, the 90-minute Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real imagines dragons as real animals. Using stunning computer-generated imagery from the same graphics company that made creatures for the Discovery Channel's Walking With Dinosaurs and Walking With Prehistoric Beasts, as well as the Harry Potter films, the program shows viewers dragons from the inside out. Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real envisions how these mythical animals would have evolved into a number of different species through the ages and around the globe. Along the way it explores how each species would have been endowed with physical adaptations and behaviors specialized for its environment. In this story, dragons find mates, raise young, protect their territory and struggle to survive human encroachment, just as animals have done throughout history.
Immediately following the program, the 30-minute special Dragons: The Magic Behind the Scenes gives viewers an inside look at the making of the film. In this documentary, the animators, artists, scientists and producers of Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real reveal how they combined legend, scientific fact and theory, CGI animation and cutting-edge special effects to create creatures so convincing, you'd swear they were real.
