Updated: June 09, 2024

The Animal World ( 1956 )

Having won an Academy Award for his documentary-style study of ocean life called The Sea Around Us, producer Irwin Allen decided to make a similar film about the history of animal life on the planet Earth. For a segment dealing with prehistoric life, the stop-motion special effects were created by Willis O'Brien ( King Kong ) and Ray Harryhausen ( Mighty Joe Young ). In it, we see dinosaurs walking, fighting, eating, and even laying eggs including the birth of a baby dinosaur!

The stop-motion models were highly-detailed, and their prehistoric environment was beautifully designed. Unfortunately, The Animal World was never released to theaters and except for a few clips there and there the entire film has rarely been seen by Harryhausen fans.