Prehistoric Beast is a ten-minute-long experimental animated film conceived, supervised and directed by Phil Tippett in 1984. This sequence is considered as being the first film produced by the Tippett Studio, founded by Tippett himself in 1984. Made with the go motion animation technique, scenes from Prehistoric Beast were included in the 1985 full-length documentary Dinosaur!, first aired on CBS in the United States on November 5, 1985.
Content
This short film depicts the chase and predation of a Monoclonius (or Centrosaurus which it also was named as) by a Tyrannosaurus. A Tyrannosaurus is busy eating a dead dinosaur that night and finishes. Next morning, a herd of Monoclonius is seen grazing. One member wanders into the forest to find more food. It finds a field of flowers and begins grazing. It wanders in further and starts to be hunted by the same Tyrannosaurus. The Tyrannosaurus steps on a twig, which makes the Monoclonius wary. The Monoclonius lets out a trumpet to signal the herd, then, possibly curious, keeps walking deeper into the forest. It soon stumbles upon the remains of the last dinosaur killed by the Tyrannosaurus. While the Monoclonius ponders over the carcass, the Tyrannosaurus sneaks up from behind. Tyrannosaurus attacks and bites hard on the Monoclonius' back. The Monoclonius breaks free and stabs the Tyrannosaurus in its shin, enraging it. The Tyrannosaurus manages to corner the Monoclonius near some trees. The herbivore lets out one last cry before it is presumably killed. The Monoclonius herd start to call out for their missing member, not knowing that it has been killed. The Tyrannosaurus is next seen trying to find a place to sleep and digest its meal.