About 235 million years ago, on the sun-blasted supercontinent of Pangaea, a tiny, fleet‑footed creature known as Marasuchus emerged from its egg. Standing on two legs, with advanced lungs, light bones, and warm blood, this unassuming animal carried the blueprint for a lineage that would become nature’s greatest empire: the dinosaurs, who held dominion over Earth for 150 million years.  

Now, from executive producer Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment, in collaboration with the creators of Our Planet, comes a four-episode documentary series charting the rise and fall of the dinosaurs — where they came from, why they mattered, how they evolved, and how they met their ultimate fate.

The Dinosaurs builds on the groundwork laid in Life on Our Planet, which blends nature cinematography with photorealistic visual effects to tell the history of life on Earth from 4 billion years ago to present day. Showrunner Dan Tapster, who also worked on Life on Our Planet, saw the new series as an opportunity to go deeper and finally give the dinosaur story the space and scale it deserved.

“We had eight 50-minute episodes to tell the entire story of life on Earth [in Life on Our Planet], so there were lots of things where we could only scratch the surface — and the dinosaur story was absolutely one of them,” Tapster says. “With The Dinosaurs, we finally get to tell that story in full and celebrate it like no one has ever done before.”

“It was a natural progression,” series director Nick Shoolingin‑Jordan adds. “Life on Our Planet was almost a little tease for this series — here, we really tell the full chronology all the way through and take the audience on a rip‑roaring adventure.”

Get a first look at the awe-inspiring world of The Dinosaurs — as narrated by the unmistakable voice of Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman — in the trailer at the top of the page. Then read on for everything to know about the docuseries, including standout dinosaurs from each episode, plus a breakdown of potentially scary moments for families watching with young children.

Parents looking for an educational companion to the series can download The Dinosaurs activity guide here. Created for kids ages 6–10, the guide invites young explorers to discover the world of dinosaurs through hands-on activities and fascinating facts.

When is The Dinosaurs’ release date?

The Dinosaurs premiered on Netflix on March 6 — stream it now. 

How is the world of The Dinosaurs filmed?

The Dinosaurs reunites executive producer Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment with Silverback Films and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) — who previously collaborated on Life on Our Planet — to bring the age of dinosaurs to life with cutting-edge visual effects.

Watch How The Dinosaurs Created T. Rex’s Ankylosaurus Kill

Watch How ILM Crafted Prehistoric Life For The Dinosaurs

How The Dinosaurs Filmed Long-Extinct Creatures In Real Locations

Who narrates The Dinosaurs?

Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, who previously lent his voice to nature documentaries Life on Our Planet and Our Universe, narrates the docuseries.  

What species are featured in The Dinosaurs?

Across four episodes, The Dinosaurs packs in a deep roster of prehistoric stars and many lesser-known species drawn from the latest fossil research. From tiny proto‑dinosaurs like Marasuchus to giants like Plateosaurus and Mamenchisaurus, The Dinosaurs runs the gamut, illustrating how dinosaurs evolved across millennia in response to a volatile world. Armored icons such as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus square off against apex predators like Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex, while leviathans from Pliosaurus to Mosasaurus prowl the oceans, and Spinosaurus (whose jaws are shown in the key art) traverse both land and sea. Early feathered fliers, including Anchiornis and Longipteryx, point toward the dinosaurs still with us today: birds.

Here are the highlights from each episode:

Episode One: “Rise” (Beginning around 235 million years ago, Triassic period)

This episode explores how dinosaurs first emerge and begin to outcompete other reptiles in the Triassic. Key creatures include:

• Marasuchus – A small, bipedal proto‑dinosaur with feathery fuzz that possessed the early blueprint for later dinosaur evolution.
• Rhynchosaur (not a dinosaur, but a key contemporary reptile) – A beaked, chunky plant eater that thrived across Pangaea before a cascade of ecological changes led to its extinction, clearing space for dinosaurs.
• Plateosaurus – One of the first truly gigantic dinosaurs, whose long necks evolved to help them reach high-lying vegetation. Their size represented the evolutionary leap that would lead to colossal sauropods to come.
• Liliensternus – A large predator, roughly twice the size of a grizzly bear, whose sharp instincts and formidable hunting skills exemplified the power of early meat-eating dinosaurs.

Episode Two: “Conquest” (beginning around 201 million years ago, Jurassic period) 

The second episode follows how dinosaurs diversify and dominate new environments in the Jurassic. Key creatures include:

• Heterodontosaurus – In an era dominated by larger, more menacing creatures, this small herbivore dinosaur with a beaked mouth and varied teeth was a quirky counterpoint.
• Dilophosaurus – Though a formidable predator known for its deadly hunting skills, the male Dilophosaurus is thought to have shown a surprising gentleness during courtship.
• Stegosaurus – The well-known armored herbivore returns with a new look informed by updated science on its coloration and appearance — while its unmistakable towering plates and spiked tail remain.

Episode Three: “Empire” (beginning around 125 million years ago, Cretaceous period) 

This episode looks at the height of dinosaur power as brutal winters, rising seas, and rapidly changing ecosystems force species to adapt or disappear. Key creatures include:

• Yutyrannus – One of the earliest members of the tyrannosaur family, this feathered terror was perfectly camouflaged for snowy environments, and stalked its prey with chilling precision.
• Longipteryx – The smallest dinosaur in the series, this species made up for its size with the extraordinary gift of flight. Its descendants, today’s birds, are its greatest legacy — bringing the dinosaur story to modern times. 
• Hatzegopteryx – While not a dinosaur, this terrifying pterosaur was the size of a small plane. An apex predator in its island domain, it used its crushing beak and towering height to swoop down like death from above. 
• Spinosaurus – The largest carnivore to ever walk the earth, the semi-aquatic Spinosaurus dominated rivers and deltas. It used its long jaws and powerful build to target large prey, including sharks.

Episode Four: “Fall” (beginning around 72 million years ago, late-Cretaceous period)

The final episode traces the cataclysmic end of the story of the dinosaurs, who are thriving across land, sea, and sky like never before — all the while unaware that a colossal asteroid is about to bring their reign to a violent close. Key creatures include:

• Hesperornis – Clumsy and awkward on land, this “prehistoric penguin” transformed into a sleek, powerful hunter in the water. But Hesperornis’s world takes a terrifying turn when the monstrous Mosasaur appears.
• T. rex – The series reveals the strange duality of dinosaur parenting as the iconic apex predator drags its kill — a tank‑like Ankylosaur — back to the nest to feed its hungry hatchlings.
• Pachycephalosaur – With a skull like a battering ram, this head‑butting herbivore throws itself into bone‑crunching showdown with rivals in breeding season — and keeps popping up in sneaky cameos throughout the episode.

Is The Dinosaurs scary for young kids?

While the TV-PG series unfolds like a nature documentary — with plenty of awe‑inspiring and even playful moments — it also doesn’t shy away from the harsher side of prehistoric life. Some sequences feature animal predation, peril, and gore that may feel scary for kids under 6 years old. Here’s a breakdown of the series’ most intense moments to help families decide what to watch with younger children.

Episode One: “Rise”

• 4:55 – A T. rex suddenly emerges and cracks the skull of a rival Pachycephalosaurus.
• 14:27–15:45 – Newly hatched Marasuchus are hunted by Luperosuchus on a beach; at least one is snatched up. 
• 39:59 – A tense hunting scene begins where Liliensternus stalks a pterosaur.
• 42:37– 43:18 – Liliensternus pounces on and kills the pterosaur. 

Episode Two: “Conquest”

• 41:19 – 43:56 – In a prolonged battle, Allosaurus bites off one of Stegosaurus’s plates before being impaled by its tail spike. Then another Allosaurus feeds on the fallen predator in a brief moment of cannibalism. 

Episode Three: “Empire”

• 3:13 – 4:23 – Yutyrannus targets and takes down the smallest sauropod in a herd.
• 27:12 – 31:30 – Hatzegopteryx chases and eventually kills a much-smaller sauropod in an extended sequence of intense predation. 
• 37:59 – 38:37 – Spinosaurus lies in wait for a shark, ending in a bloody takedown.

Episode Four: “Fall”

• 8:01–10:16 – Mosasaurs hunt Hesperornis; one bird is caught, bitten, and dragged underwater.
• 13:54 –16:03 – A pterosaur raids sauropod nests and swallows a hatchling; a charging parent eventually intervenes and slams the pterosaur to the ground, but the initial attack may be upsetting.
• 18:50 – 23:53 – A showdown between T. rex and the armored Ankylosaurus magniventris includes a jump scare moment at 21:56, but the drawn-out confrontation ends in a stalemate.
• 29:23 – 31:32 – Asteroid sequence: The build‑up begins around 29:23, impact hits at 30:03, and the first clear dinosaur casualty — a sauropod falling into a canyon — appears around 31:32. The extinction sequence concludes around the 38-minute mark.

What’s this doc like? 

This informative, captivating, and exciting documentary series plays like an evolutionary epic, using cutting-edge visual effects to chart the rise and fall of nature’s greatest empire. Blending scientific insight with cinematic set pieces, it follows the dinosaurs’ 150‑million‑plus‑year journey as they adapt to an ever‑changing environment and reach astonishing heights of diversity and power — before ultimately facing a cataclysmic extinction.

• Watch out for sequences of animal predation, peril, and gore that may feel scary for kids under 6 years old. 
• Could be described as a dinosaur-centric expansion of Life on Our Planet’s epic tale of evolution on Earth, with even more ambitious prehistoric recreations and high‑impact visual effects.