Diplodocus aka The Green Dinosaur aka Diplo. The Mighty Dinosaur is a spectacular feature for family audience, combining animation and live-action. The project, first of its kind in Poland, was in development since 2012, completed in 2024. Inspired by classic comic books from the 80′, created by Tadeusz Baranowski. The film, written and directed by Wojtek Wawszczyk, has been sold for theatrical distribution in over 100 countries!
UK Trailer
Stills
The movie concept was presented to the international audience for the first time at the Cartoon Movie 2014 conference.
Also created at the time was the first screenplay draft of Diplodocus, which was the result of the collaboration of several authors in writers room. The team included Polish filmmakers and comic book artists: Wojtek Wawszczyk, Rafał Skarżycki, Tomasz Leśniak, Jakub Tarkowski and Michał Śledziński, as well as American writer Mark Palmer. The story was fine-tuned by experts Phil Parker (Aardman), Richelle Wilder (DreamWorks) and director Kris Pearn (The Willoughbys, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2).
The final version of the script was written by me in 2019.
Script 2014-2019
The movie concept was presented to the international audience for the first time at the Cartoon Movie 2014 conference.
Also created at the time was the first screenplay draft of Diplodocus, which was the result of the collaboration of several authors in writers room. The team included Polish filmmakers and comic book artists: Wojtek Wawszczyk, Rafał Skarżycki, Tomasz Leśniak, Jakub Tarkowski and Michał Śledziński, as well as American writer Mark Palmer. The story was fine-tuned by experts Phil Parker (Aardman), Richelle Wilder (DreamWorks) and director Kris Pearn (The Willoughbys, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2).
The final version of the script was written by me in 2019.
Concept design 2012-2019
Some of the designs that were created during the development stage (2012-2019). Images created by Janusz Ordon, Mariusz Arczewski, Tomasz Leśniak, Michał Śledziński, Sławek Fedorczuk, Wojtek Wawszczyk.
Draft storyboard 2017
Before I completed the final version of the screenplay we had drawn a draft storyboard of the entire plot – 300 pictures of the most important moments in the movie. The frames were created by Janusz Ordon, Michał Śledziński, Kuba Tarkowski, Tomek Leśniak and me.
Tadeusz Baranowski 2017
at Human Ark animation studio
The original comic books that are being an inspiration for the movie were created by Tadeusz Baranowski in the 80′. The comic book author visited the Human Ark animation studio in October 2017 where I guided him through the draft storyboard of the movie.
Animation Test 2017
first Teaser Poster 2018
final storyboard 2019-2020
The first version of the storyboard is about 650 pages long and was completed in summer 2019. The storyboard was revised several more times. In 2020, its last, sixth version was created, along with a story reel.
here we go... 2020
Maks Sikora (producer), Wojtek Wawszczyk (writer, director)
The Polish Film Institute awarded us the grant for the production of the film in 2016, but signed the production contract with us in March 2020 – the production started at the very beginning of the covid pandemic…
PRODUCTION IS RAMPING UP 2021
After many years of waiting, the production of “Diplodocus” has started in full swing. In July 2021 we hosted Ania and Tadek Baranowski and showed them the final version of the animatic.
WORKING ON ANIMATION 2021-2023
The animation work was done at the Human (formerly: Human Ark) studio with a wonderful, talented and fun team.
Making of Diplodocus: Animation
After working hours, over the course of three years, with the art director of “Diplodocus”, Tomasz Leśniak, we created our joint comic book “Fungae”, which was published in Poland by Kultura Gniewu in 2023.
Fungae
After working hours, over the course of three years, with the art director of “Diplodocus”, Tomasz Leśniak, we created our joint comic book “Fungae”, which was published in Poland by Kultura Gniewu in 2023.
Making of Diplodocus: Brno Shoot
Making of Diplodocus: Live-action Shoot
Making of Diplodocus: Foley
MAKING OF DIPLODOCUS: BEFORE AND AFTERS
Official Teaser 2023
Official Trailer 2024
The film had its world premiere at the Annecy 2024 festival in France.
Reviews
“I’m grabbing Diplodocus by the tail and ear and set off on an adventure!”
Kaja Kajutex Klimek
“It stands out from the stereotypical animations flooding cinemas. It delights with fresh, absurd humor and incredible worlds.”
Rzeczpospolita
“Thanks to films like Diplodocus, you want to pick up that magical pencil and redraw the world anew.”
film.org.pl
“One of the best Polish children’s films in years.”
Polityka, Jakub Demiańczuk
“A truly inventive film.”
Filmweb
“For fans of Baranowski’s comics and beyond.”
Vogue, Adriana Prodeus
“Animation at a completely non-Polish level.”
Remigiusz Różański
“A new chapter for Polish animation.”
Film w Szkole
“Inspiring cinema for young audiences.”
Interia
“Finally, we get an animation that not only entertains but also dazzles with its form.”
Na ekranie
“It holds a world-class standard and remains original.”
Radio Ram
“A unique display of fantasy, saturated with a spectrum of colors, inhabited by ambiguous characters (…) It should be written in golden letters in the history of Polish animation and family cinema.”
Pan Animacja
“Such an animation has never been made in Poland.”
Wyborcza, Radosław Czyż
“A bold and original adaptation of a comic, offering both moments of fun and moments of reflection.”
Qlturalnik
“A very good film for a wide range of audiences.”
Zespół Edukatorów Filmowych
“It feels like a mosaic constellation, where its meaning can be reduced to simple truths: everything is fleeting, let’s cherish what we have.”
Fdb
“Too good to believe it’s Polish (…) A film with an extremely impressive, logical, and well-crafted script.”
Immersja
awards and nominations
AWARDS:
- Main Award at the 11. Young Horizons International Film Festival.
- Best Polish Film Award at the 11. Young Horizons International Film Festival.
- Best Script ZAIKS Award at the 11. Young Horizons International Film Festival.
- Film Experts Jury Honorable Mention at the 11. Young Horizons International Film Festival.
- Best Animated Feature Award at Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival.
- Best Feature Film for Children at Ale Kino! International Young Audience Film Festival in Poznań, Poland.
NOMINATIONS:
- Annecy Festival 2024: world premiere.
- Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, Poland.
- 57 SITGES Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya.
- Schlingel International Film Festival.
- Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia.
- Athens International Children’s Film Festival, Greece.
- Ajyal Film Festival, Qatar.
- Młodzi i Film 2025, Best Debut.
Art of Diplodocus
In spring 2025, Timof Comics published two spectacular collectible books showing behind-the-scenes work on the film: The Art of (340 pages) and Storyboard (640 pages).
MORE THAN 100 COUNTRIES!
The film has been sold for theatrical distribution in more than 100 countries! Here are some of the posters. It’s known in the US under “The Green Dinosaur” title, distributed by Viva Pictures. The title in the UK is “Diplo. The Mighty Dinosaur”.
Written and directed by
- Wojtek Wawszczyk
Art director
- Tomasz Leśniak
Produced by
- Studio Human Film (Maks Sikora)
- Dorota Woropaj, Katarzyna Zyg – production management
Co-produced by
- PFX (Jiri Mika)
- Marketa Sprenclova – production management
Department Leads
- Modeling Department – Łukasz Derda
- Rigging – Kamil Salem
- Layout Department – Kuba Tarkowski
- Animation Department – Rafał Schubert
- LookDev – Agata Wacławiak
- Editing – Wojtek Włodarski
- Cinematography – Jacek Podgórski and Piotr Sobociński jr.
- Set Design – Iza Cieszko
Music
- Mikolai Stroinski
- LXMP (Macio Moretti, Piotr Zabrodzki)
Sound
- Mateusz Adamczyk
- Sebastian Witkowski
Global sales
- Gebeka Films / Goodfellas