Everythings Better With Dinosaurs

Name
Everything's Better With Dinosaurs
Duration
Three minutes, fifty five seconds (3:55)
Tagline
Heres Proof!
Premise
A mysterious stranger takes it upon himself to persuade some hapless, saddened children that their
lives and everything else can be greatly improved with the addition of dinosaurs.
Genre
Comedy/Musical
Genealogy
Drawing has never been a strong point for me,
so I naturally gravitate toward animation with
simplistic graphical styles and rough edges. For
animated music videos in particular, like the
one I'm working on, simplistic styles and
characters are fairly common. With smash
successes such as Dumb Ways To Die, and The
Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, it's
quite uplifting to know that at the core of this
genre, there are things even I can create with
minimal drawing skills, so long as the content is
Little Inferno, a game with an interesting graphical style
developed by Tomorrow Corporation. 2012.

entertaining and, most importantly, funny.

I'll be using a black and white style for the
backgrounds and human characters in
Everything's Better With Dinosaurs to help
contrast with the bright vibrancy of the
dinosaur characters. They're meant to
represent excitement and improvement, so
they'll be some of the only coloured things in
the film, along with a few other items, such

A screenshot from the 14 million hit viral song "The Ultimate

Showdown of Ultimate Destiny". It was produced and
released back in 2005 to instant success.

as water and blood to allow for easy distinction and

emphasis.
Limbs are hard. I hate drawing limbs. Fortunately,
there are plenty of styles available which share a
similar. Arguably one of the most famous internet
animation content providers; ExplosmEntertainment,
has a web series called Cyanide and Happiness which
uses incredibly simple characters to tell short comedy
stories. It's easily my biggest inspiration for this whole
project. The limbs on these characters are dark lines
A still from a Cyanide and Happiness short. Here's an
animated version
:http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view1/1919330/cyanide
-happiness-o.gif

with rounded edges. They can bend whichever way you

like and somehow still look normal, so long as their length
doesn't change. This makes this style of animation ideal for

mesh-constraining puppet tools on programs such as

After Effects.
As for animated songs, it's not an original concept,
and it's not one that people are ready to give up quite
yet. The lyrics have to be clever, the rhymes have to
be creative, and the concept has to be interesting.
Along with Dumb Ways To Die and Ultimate
Shot from Dumb Ways To Die, making use of negative
space and simple animation to convey a line of lyrics
Showdown, we also have less famous examples like
in a comedic way. As of current it has a whopping 92
Adam Buxton's Counting Song, which totally captures million views.
the essence of animating in rhythm better than
others. It's perfect from the narrative arc, to the tonal shift, to the hilarious and creative lyrics.

The character starts counting things like "All the ways

The Counting Song teaches kids tothe
count
to eight.
It starts
world's
a massive
ball of crap" and "All the so
off happy and colourful... Until... called "friends" who stabbed you in the back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXvsl8xgRxc - Counting Song Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw - Dumb Ways To Die
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuBWHLwfI-Y-Cyanide and Happiness Film

Social Value and Function/Target Audience

As usual, I am making what is funny to me. That means the target audience is young adult
males/females or teenagers. The comedy is accessible and universal although a little tasteless
regarding the infanticide aspects. It is definitely not for children. The piece is a simple
entertainment product. It carries no message or secret meanings. It's simply a silly, comedic musical
piece designed to get toes tapping and audiences laughing.
The humour is similar to that of internet shows such as Cyanide and happiness, and the concept of
musical comedy has proven to be a hit on the internet time and time again. Youtubers and Youtuber
groups such as Brentelfloss, Yogscast, The Lonely Island, Axis of Awesome, Jack Douglas, Roomie and
Ylvis all found considerable success by creating online songs. Some of them are parodies, and some
are original content. Some are animated, and some are not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbyzgeee2mg - Ylvis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ - Axis of Awesome
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYvli9ps8eQ - Yogscast
Futures and Transmedia
The song I've written and shared with some people has been described as funny and catchy. The
song itself could be placed into other mediums or even distributed/sold separately as a
downloadable piece of music on platforms such as Itunes. The video carries a lot of aspects that
people, especially those part of the Youtube culture, find appealing. It has the right aspects of a viral
video when uploaded, but a great deal of this comes down to luck and location.
The song is entirely home produced, meaning it will face no legal issues and could be viable for
animation festivals and events.
What is it?
Everything's Better With Dinosaurs is a comedy 4 minute 2D animation, consisting roughly 20% of
dialogue and 80% song. The animation will be composed of hand-drawn and digitally drawn symbols
brought into and animated in Adobe After Effects. A mysterious stranger arrives in an orphanage,
acting as a narrator, speaking to the children and stating that their lives can be improved with the
addition of dinosaurs. He then unleashes a t-rex into the orphanage to prove his point, terrifying the
children as he breaks into song. The song sections of the animation are composed of small sketches,
displaying scenes in which things have been "improved" with dinosaurs.
The song with its imagery has next to no narrative, (although there are call-back jokes) but every
now and again we cut back to the orphanage to see how things are progressing there. The narrator
character has an on-screen arc, foreshadowing a sinister motive at the start, before breaking into full
on psychotic verbal mannerisms the further into the animation we go. The film gets slowly more and
more twisted as it progresses, and you start to realise maybe this narrator character isn't quite as
friendly as he initially seemed.
The piece uses very minimalistic and simple animation, with contrasting coloured characters against
a black and white background.

Sample Frames

Storyboard and Layout

Mood Board
This moodboard looks at
aspects that helped influence
my film, such as:
The puppet animation of How
It Should Have Ended
The use of negative space in
Dumb ways to Die
The expressions and designs
of Cyanide and Happiness.
The textured backgrounds of
Looney Toons.
The simple clear backgrounds
of Cyanide and Happiness
The dinosaur designs from a
bunch of sources.
Character and tone designs
from Tomorrow Corporation.

Character Family
The Humans

The human characters of the film are very simple, and virtually all use the same body parts
(although the children have larger heads and smaller bodies.) There are slight details added
here and there to make certain characters more distinctive, such as hair, accessories and
pieces of clothing. They have black balls for eyes which can be quite expressive, as shown in
the small demonstrations at the side.

The length of the "body" area can also help distinguish what it is characters are wearing.
Simple shirts and jackets are normal length. Skirts mean the characters have shorter legs,
and long robes may mean the character has no legs at all. Ultimately, however, the humans
have very little character. The main protagonists of the tale are the narrator, and the
dinosaurs themselves. The narrator is never seen, and the dinosaurs...

The Dinosaurs
The dinosaurs are very different to the humans, both artistically and with personality.
(They're also dinosaurs. Duh.) Most of them reappear more than once in the film, wearing
various disguises and outfits. They're very busy creatures, spending most of their day going
out and making things better.
This is Bronto. Bronto is not a bright
dinosaur, sharing this trait with most of
his friends. That said, he's enormous,
easily the largest of the group, meaning
he can get into basically anywhere
without much resistance. You'll see him
in aquariums, courts of law... pretty
much anywhere large enough to house
him. Bronto is kind and just, despite his
tiny brain. His favourite food is food,
and his favourite colour is food.
Stego and his band of colourful
brother stegosauruses are the
stupidist dinosaurs in The
Narrator's arsenal. Typically
you have to guide Stego
around on a large leash and
just leave him in places that
need to be improved. He'll
usually just stay still, although
sometimes he'll wander off. He
never was that disciplined.
This is Iggo. Iggo is an iguanodon; you know? The one no
one cares about. No one loves iggo, and as much as he'd
like to flip them the finger, alls he can do is give them a
thumbs up and somehow bolster their disinterest in him.
He's had a pretty sad life, and sometime after he created
rabies, he decided to find God in a church. God cared about
him a little more than normal folk, and Iggo swore to make
religion better. Because he's a dinosaur, remember?

Rexo knows he's everyone's favourite. He's a

f*cking t-rex. He sits firmly at the top of the
pecking order, despite the fact he's not even
close to being the smartest dino. Rexo's been
doing this for years, however, and he knows all
the tricks of the trade. He knows exactly how to
make things better. Usually it involves, you
know, standing around them, being a t-rex.
Sometimes he roars, eats a couple of people, but
that's only if he can be bothered. He's already
made it. Everyone wants to be him and no one
wants to get on his bad side.

Oh Pleso...you must never

know... You must never know
that technically, plesiosaurs
aren't dinosaurs. Thankfully,
the general populace isn't
fully aware of this either. He's
so enthusiastic. I just don't
have the heart to tell him...
Well, that and the fact that, as
the closest thing to an aquatic dinosaur there is in the history of this wonderful planet, we
need people like Pleso to make things better in places other dinosaurs cannot go in order to
make them better... such as swimming pools.
Velo's crazy. Not the stupid kind of
crazy either. No. Velo is the crazy kind
of crazy. He's the smartest of the dinos,
and also the cruelest. Velo is not a nice
guy. He often lulls people into a false
sense of security before eating them,
and he makes a point of making things
better in places MAYBE dinosaurs
shouldn't be, such as nuclear reactors
and weddings. It's very important that
you never call him "clever girl" . He
really hates that.

Ptero is sensitive. He's wiry and weedy.

Sticks and stones AND words can all
break his bones. That said, he has
everything he needs to make things
better: initiative, speed, cunning, and
wings. Ptero vastly improves things in
the sky by being near them, such as
clouds, planes, birds... That sort of
thing. You have to be careful about the
way you pronounce his name, though.
The T is silent.

Tricy's ambitious, perhaps too much so. She

never turns down opportunities to get
exclusive access to some sort of private or
powerful thing in order to make it better, as
is her duty. Tricy's been known to take on all
sorts of roles in society, from primary school
teacher, to military master-at-arms, all the
while whilst holding a smile, of course. She
even helps the police with criminal
investigations, although she's secretly...
kiiinda responsible for some of the uh... homicides... It's not her fault! Those horns just get
in the way sometimes...

The Script is below

EVERYTHING'S BETTER WITH DINOSAURS

by
Niall Mahon

Flat 9, Studio 58, Dighton Street

Bristol, BS2 8AU
07772510524

FADE IN:
EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY
Some quick establishing shots on the orphanage as a pleasant
flute track plays. We zoom in and see inside, where some
children are playing and wandering, aimlessly. A narrator
starts to speak.
NARRATOR
Look at all these sad
little orphans. Say, little
Jimmy, do you know what
would make this place
better?
The camera zooms slightly upon a child
JIMMY
My real parents?
NARRATOR
Ha ha ha... No Jimmy.
Something far, far better
A guitar track starts to slowly play. The orphans are
intrigued, and they head before the camera, staring and
listening. The Narrator starts to sing.
NARRATOR
There's just one simple rule in life
Don't let it slip your mind.
It can be the greatest
comfort
When that smile is hard to
find.
So heed me, make a note
Please listen, I implore
Because, Jimmy, I am
telling you..
That everything is...
Unequivocally, undoubtedly,
inexplicably...
Better...
With a dinosaur...
JIMMY
[Pause]

...What?
Dinosaur explodes through the wall, roaring. The orphans all
start screaming and running for cover. A lively guitar track
starts playing. The camera starts to cut away rapidly to new
shots that fit the theme of each line of lyrics.
NARRATOR
There's a rumour going
'round That they're just
fossils in the ground
But if you listen close and
dare to dream
You might just hear a sound

So don't you just take a

pass
When there's that ripple in
your glass
Because the situation you
are in's
improving very fast
If something is going to
bore us
Throw in a tyrannosaurus
The gospel according to
John
Improved by an iguanodon
And even if it's something
you abhor
Everything's better with a
dinosaur.
We cut back to Jimmy briefly. He's pointing and screaming. The
track continues to play in the background
JIMMY
OH GOD! IT'S KILLING
EVERYONE!
NARRATOR
Now you're getting it!
The song resumes.
NARRATOR
Let's set the fossil record

straight
At this quite specific date
One hundred million years
BC 9
The world was in a better
state.
Giant monster lizard fiends
Stretched out as far as eye
can see
It took two extinction
events
To wipe them out
permanently
To make an instant classic
Just add something Jurassic
To make something audacious
Just add something
Cretaceous.
And even if it's something
you adore
Everything's better with a
dinosaur!
We cut back once again. Jimmy is hiding behind a chair. The
dinosaur's shadow passes over
NARRATOR
So, how many extinction
events have you survived,
Jimmy?
JIMMY
[Sobbing]
Uhrghhbubbllagegh...
NARRATOR
Stop crying. He'll hear
you.
The music kicks back in again, building up toward the ending.
NARRATOR
There's no exception to the
rule
The military, a primary
school
Icecream trucks on summer
days

Or an Olympic swimming
pool.
Some surgery to help the
sick
And every Stanley Kubrick
flick
Murder trials in courts of
law
A birthday party's magic
trick
A nuclear reactor
Needs a velociraptor
A show about a pair of cops
Improved by a triceratops.
An aquarium or zoo
Could use a theropod or two
If things come to a
standstill
Give us a pterodactyl!
And eThe song is interrupted by a new voice
STRANGER
The P is silent
Music stops. The pterodactyl is left standing awkwardly on the
screen. Looking from left to right as the two voices argue.
NARRATOR
What?
STRANGER
The P is silent. It's
pterodactyl.
NARRATOR
...The P is silent?
STRANGER
Yeah.
NARRATOR
...That's the stupidest
thing I've ever head.

Pterodactyl looks highly upset. Music immediately kicks back

in, interrupting the conversation, and the camera cuts back to
new shots.
NARRATOR
And even if it's something
you deplore!
Even if it's something you
fall for!
Even if it's something you
ignoooore...
We cut back to pterodactyl, who still looks very sad. The
music holds a note
NARRATOR
Don't look at him.
The music kicks in, climatically.
NARRATOR
Everything is better with a
Diiiiiinnoooooossaaaaaauuur
r!
The final shot displays all the dinosaurs on screen, looking
triumphant, although not pterodactyl. The music stops, and
narrator starts to speak.
NARRATOR
You see now, Jimmy?
Everything's better with
dinosaur- Oh...
The camera cuts back to the orphanage. Jimmy is dead on the
floor. He's been savagely brutalised by the dinosaur.
NARRATOR
Oh no.... What am I gonna
tell his parents?....
There's a short pause, before the narrator starts laughing,
hysterically. The end credits then pop up, with cheerful music
playing.