Dinosaurs are big.

    And they're everywhere these days. They inhabit the public consciousness more than ever before, in virtually every media format and venue, including movies, books, computer games, comic books, cable specials and IMAX spectacles.  And then there’s the merchandising: toys and games, scale models and action figures, cereals and candy, bedspreads and pajamas, wallpaper and wall lamps, vitamins and band-aids... the list is endless.  

    It's no great mystery why kids (and adults) love dinosaurs. They're monsters. And they look cool. They came in all shapes and sizes – some awesomely gigantic. On land, sea and air, they could kick ass.  And best of all, nobody made them up.  Dinosaurs were the real deal.  And they provide a cast of characters in perpetual "development".  The more fossils paleontologists discover, the more it seems as if evolution was playing the role of a primeval "Industrial Light and Magic", giving us a virtually endless array of fantastic and colorful creatures waiting to be unearthed. 

    SAURHEADS are a breed apart from other dinosaur-themed characters.  Sure, they live in a savage primeval world where without warning any creature can be gored, slashed, scorched, crushed, trampled or devoured.   And yes, they have all the usual dino-accessories like teeth, horns, spikes, fins, tails, claws and bony armor.   But SAURHEADS have an extra edge, a secret weapon that wins out over everything else: attitude.
  

    The appeal of dinosaurs is truly universal, spanning all ages and nationalities. Hard to believe that, even though the Age of the Dinosaur ended sixty-five million years ago, in all that time there never been a cutting edge humorous animated dinosaur property!     

   Until now
.

  Although our characters and concepts could easily be adapted to any number of plot scenarios or formats, our ideal vision for our film (our treatment) could be summed up this way:

      "The world of SAURHEADS The Headlands is an Epic Fantasy realm reminiscent of those of Tolkein, Narnia or Guardians of Ga'Hoole books, combining the feel of classic monster and jungle adventure films like King Kong and Tarzan — while simultaneously satirizing both genres. Within this dinosaur world-that-never-was unfolds our tragicomic tale of “two star-cross’d lovers” whose forbidden union will alter the destiny of the entire SAURHEAD race."

 
 
  It might seem, at first, that a straight-on animated franchise about dinosaurs — without human cultural references like cars, hamburger stands or Hawaiian shirts, might be limited, hard to sustain, and run out of steam fairly quickly. This is most likely one of the reasons that no one has done a truly successful comical dinosaur film or TV series (along with, perhaps, the inherent violence factor of dinosaur existence).

   In SAURHEADS, we believe we’ve developed the magic formula: the right balance between kid-friendly and bite; humor and horror; action and comedy; spectacle and satire. But most of all, we’ve developed strong, lovable and funny central characters in a classic comedy trio form, à la The Three Stooges or the Marx Brothers.


  Our three main characters belong to the species known as Deinonychus a close cousin of the fearsome Velociraptors made famous in Jurassic Park.  Still in their teens in dino years, these saurian siblings may look cute and cuddly at first glance but make no mistake, even adolescent raptors are lethal carnivores…

  ... with one exception, that is ..


  GRODO is a speed freak. Even for a Deinonychus (which could reach speeds of 55 mph) he’s very fast so fast at times he can be reminiscent of Speedy Gonzales or The Roadrunner.  And because of his high-speed metabolism, GRODO has an insatiable appetite which is why he's nearly always on the prowl.

   For sport (and when he can't score any real meat), he enjoys chowing down dragonflies, snapping them from the air like a dog catches Frisbees.  Though he finds his dreamy brother exasperating and incompetent, and their sister the very definition of high maintenance, they're still family and despite his couldn't-care-less bravado, he'll defend them to the death.

   All three Deinonychus siblings can make exaggerated, 15-foot high leaps, (which they can utilize when being chased by some large predator) making for extra-exciting fast-paced action sequences.


   "Vanity, thy name Is VUMP!”  Terminally self-absorbed and eternally glamour-obsessed, (think Miss Piggy), VUMP is in madly in love with herself. But for all her narcissism egocentricity, she's also a portrait of desperation: she’s in perpetual heat (think Pepe le Pew) and since the trio believe they're the last of their kind, she’s forced to go "looking for love in all the wrong species".

    To that end, she's constantly looking for any way to enhance her attractiveness; for example, she rolls in flower beds to give herself a perfumed scent which is doubtless the reason she has a perpetual entourage of butterflies attending her. Her Prime Directive to find a mate causes her to resort to more extreme measures; to achieve her trademark “bee-stung lips”, for example, she starts her day by poking her nose into a beehive.

   And last but not least our star:

   Born with a broken tail and a missing claw, SLOMO has always been “predatorily challenged”, which sets him apart from other Chompers. In our SAURHEADS world, it’s implied that the coloration of their tribe (Deinonychus) is red for males, and “hot pink” for females. It's also inferred that SLOMO's bright-blue hide and polka-dotted spots are an evolutionary aberration ( or perhaps, an indication of some new mutation ...)

   His clownish appearance also denotes his extra-comical nature; he would be “The Fool” in terms of mythic archetypes. Unlike his absurdly self-important siblings GRODO and VUMP, SLOMO is virtually egoless, and good-natured to a fault, making him possibly the most endearing of our “Terrible Trio”.

   In keeping with his march-to-the-beat-of-his-own-drum outlook, he falls in love with TULIA, a member of the rival Muncher (herbivore) clan—and his momentous decision to give up meat and become a plant-eater has profound implications for both families—and the future of the Saurhead race.   

 

 In addition to our three stars, we've developed a virtual pantheon of strong supporting characters, with the aforementioned unlimited potential to expand our cast for sequels and TV series spinoffs.

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Thematic 'Hooks'

 

Strange Bedfellows, Hopeless Love  

    SAURHEADS' thematic ‘hooks’ are, we believe, very strong: the primary one being the time-tested Romeo & Juliet/West Side Storyformat: Forbidden Love that overcomes all obstacles the 'strange bedfellows' theme also present in modern classics like Shrek, Lady and the Tramp, My Fair Lady or Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

  "The Heart of The Headlands"
   Love and heartbeak are the most universal of human emotions. And even though the idea of vegetarian and carnivore dinosaurs in love is comically absurd on the face of it, and can be played for many laughs, the romance between Slomo & Tulia also offers equal opportunities for heartfelt emotional impact and poignancy not unlike the just-released mega-hit (about another unlikely pairing of predator and prey) Zootopia.

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The X-Factor  

  Our lead character, SLOMO, is not your average loser/klutz turned winner/hero. He is in fact a mutant on the evolutionary cusp between dinosaur and bird. When strange, fuzzy stems keep sprouting from his arms, he plucks them out to hide his strange condition from others, at first ashamed, assuming they’re yet another sign that he’s defective freak.

   But when mentors TYGA and DOOL show him the light, and convince him to ‘let his freak flaps fly’, his rudimentary wings ultimately give him the power of semi-flight and gliding —which he uses as a fighting tool see THUMPING"). The X-Men and Twilight Saga franchises are two prime examples of the proven appeal of alienated misfits with hidden powers, especially with young audiences.

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Saur-ing  

  Inherent in SLOMO's 'mutant power' is the theme of flying and all that it symbolically implies: freedom, reaching for the heights, spiritual evolution, evolution itself, or just the age-old human dream of soaring through the air. The fact that SLOMO and TULIA's unlikely union produces, in effect, the first birds, opens up innumerable plot possibilities for sequels (“SAURHEADS II: Spawn of Slomo”) featuring offspring who will be the first raptors to reach "Full Flight".

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Dances With Dinosaurs  

   There are prime possibilities for groundbreaking music and dance numbers throughout, two examples being the scenes featuring Tulia’s ‘jazzersize’ classes for overweight herbivores ('THE LADIES'), who make music by huffing and puffing and honking on their horn-flutes; and SLOMO’S ‘raptor rap’ love ballad.

   Unique opportunities for clever choreography also abound, especially with the flamboyantly hued TYGA and DOOL, who are masters of their own bizarre and dizzying ‘ritual dance’ – as well as a strange form of dino-style martial arts known as THUMPING.
(You can see some hints of the potential of their 'ritual dances' above, and in our experimental "music video" Teaser Reels.)

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Giant Monster and Jungle Films 

    Another genre we would mine (and spoof) would be 'Giant Monster' films – from King Kong to 1950’s atomic sci-fi and Japanese nuclear offspring like Godzilla, or the giant creatures in the recent film Pacific Rim. Our heroes would be operating in a world of frequent, ludicrously exaggerated mayhem, with creature battles on land, sea and sky – providing extra excitement, spectacle and fun for dinosaur and monster fans alike.

   Still another big part of the draw of SAURHEADS would be who (or what) they will encounter next:  what famous – or strange new ('undiscovered') – species will appear this time?  What exotic locales?  We would of course explore all usual the colorful dino habitats – swamps, mountains, volcanoes, mesas, caves, forests, deserts, hot springs, oceans, lagoons, and of course jungles – utilizing them to full effect as seductive eye-candy backdrops.

   In addition to 'undiscovered' species, we would add fantastical 'Lost World' creatures: giant carnivorous plants, huge insects, and perhaps the occasional ridiculously huge dinosaur.  Presenting these thrills and chills while simultaneously satirizing the genre, we’d add over-the-top horror/suspense soundtracks and faux classic jungle adventure movie music to the mix. Ideally, the music would have a "retro" feel, in the same way the soundtracks for Star Wars and the Indiana Jones films evoked classic Hollywood genre films. This would be another element that would make SAURHEADS unique among modern animated features.
(See our experimental 'music video' teaser reels.)

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The Fantasy Factor

   "Epic Fantasy" the genre created and nurtured by such legendary luminaries as Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, E.R. Edison, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein and George R.R. Martinis more popular than ever, as evidenced by the success of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and the current mega-hit Game of Thrones TV series, among others. An Epic Fantasy world populated by dinosaurs is bound to be a winning combination.

    Tolkein's Middle Earth was populated by various races (Hobbits, Elves, Orcs, Ents, Goblins, etc.) who lived in various realms. In the topography of the Saurhead world, each of The Four Tribes has their own 'realm'; for example, WINGDINGS (pteranodons and pterodactyls) reside in lofty natural-formation castle aerie/fortresses (above); the HUMPBACKS (marine reptiles) rule the ocean and its lagoons; and SAURHEADS (dinosaurs) dwell in the more varied terrains of The Headlands. The HAIRBALLS (mammals) are primarily tree-dwellers and are universally despised by everyone.

  Thanks to PBS and cable, life-and-death struggles in the animal kingdom have become daily TV fodder. A flick of a remote and we can see a hundred baby sea turtles plodding toward the sea as a grim narrator remarks that only two or three will survive. Another channel, and there's a boa constrictor gorging on a squirming rat halfway down its throat. Another channel, and we're on the African savanna watching a hapless wildebeest being torn apart by a pride of hungry lions. TV specials featuring these eternal conflicts of the animal kingdom are drawing big ratings: "Shark Week". "Monster Bug Wars".  And of course, "Clash of the Dinosaurs"

    No one ever said survival was easy.

    But who says it can't be funny?

  DEATH is usually a taboo subject in cartoons, but SAURHEADS provides a safe and humorous way to broach the subject, completely removed from actual human experience. We all like dark humor, because it allows us to laugh in death’s face – from a safe distance. (The Simpsons and Futurama are masterful at this kind of thing.)  Recently Disney's blockbuster Zootopia also broached the subject of "The Circle of Life" in a more direct way than has been seen before. We believe we can push that envelope still further, giving SAURHEADS just the right amount of 'bite' to make it stand out from the animation herds.


ABOVE: The 200 year-old KRUDD, the dino version of Mel Brooks' 2,000 Year-old Man


   In the prehistoric world, disaster and calamity can strike anywhere, anytime. As we said, it's a jungle out there and although our regulars have a foreseeable future, other members of the cast may not. But when it comes to SAURHEADS, death is just nature's way of saying "lighten up". And none of our Cretaceous creatures get to meet their maker unless they can get a laugh or two along the way.

    With SAURHEADS, our primary intent is to lampoon the brutality of the dinosaur world (and, by extension, our world as well). In the time-honored irreverent satirical tradition of Looney Tunes, Mad magazine, Mel Brooks, and The Simpsons, the pitfalls and pratfalls of prehistoric life will provide ample fodder for slapstick humor and gross-out gags aimed to please young audiences. 

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   At the sme time, our tale is also a straight-ahead love story, and a spectacular Epic Fantasy adventure. Ideally (as with the all the best animated features), SAURHEADS will always be working on multiple levels straddling comedy, spectacle, suspense, adventure and romance and will appeal to viewers of all tastes and ages.

CONSUMER DEPARTMENT

 

 The tremendous success of dinosaur-related merchandising is a matter of record. Here too, we believe GRODO, SLOMO and VUMP could be major contenders, especially in the toy arena. They share a simple shape, but each one has specific body language, coloring and facial design unique to his or her distinct personality.

   As we said above, the possibilities for supporting characters, of a multitude of dinosaur species, known and unknown (“undiscovered”) are virtually endless. Consider the Pokemon craze of the 90’s, with its six hundred-plus characters to collect as trading cards, plush toys etc., generating billions. Now consider a similar line of collectible SAURHEADS characters: cards, plush toys, prehistoric diorama play-sets with dozens of SAURHEADS action figures, etc. And of course, dinosaurs are ideal for chase-based, obstacle course computer games. With the right promotion and marketing, SAURHEADS has the potential to become a household brand-name and a licensing powerhouse.


 


 

                   
   
THUNDER / DINO SOUNDS
                


                


All SAURHEADS characters ©2020 by Joseph Barney and Cary Bates
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