Among The Primitive

Among The Primitive is an American adult fantasy/action/drama/adventure television series produced for the Paramount Network and starring Harrison Ford as the narrator. The series is set in a fantasy version of the Cretaceous Period where bird-like dinosauroids and barbaric Ape-Men go to war. A lone Yutyrannus protects an orphaned Ape-Man and Dinosauroid, going on adventures across the prehistoric wilderness. The series was created by Ridley Scott and Noam Murro.

The series premiered on March 10, 2022 and concluded on August 10, with a second season premiering on July 1, 2023. The series received critical acclaim for it's visuals, depiction of prehistoric life and music by Harry Gregson-Williams and Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Premise
According to the series' mythos, the god of creation, simply called "father," created the earth and animals, such as dinosaurs. In the Cretaceous Period, two of the earth's sapient beings, Dinosauroids, hunter-gatherer sapients and Ape-Men, barbaric, fierce sapients, go to war over territorial conflicts. During a raid on a dinosauroid village, a dinosauroid is orphaned. A day later, a ape-child is also orphaned. The two meet, and become friends while being protected by a Adult Yutyrannus.

Meanwhile, a pregnant Ape-Woman surprisingly seeks shelter in a Dinosauroid village, and gives birth to an Ape-Child, who instantly walks upon birth, a dinosauroid shaman believes that this shocking moment could lead the baby, when he's an adult, could become a god, and begin the "impact cataclysm." She then flees with the child so she won't prompt a witch hunt because of the child's possible true, god-like powers. The main characters eventually find the mother and child, and they defend themselves from the ape-king and ape-queen's army.

Characters
· Snjókorn - The Main protagonist, who is a Yutyrannus. His name means "Snowflake" in Icelandic.

· Lauf - The second protagonist. He is young and orphaned Dinosauroid. His name means "Leaf" in Icelandic.

· Sá villti - The third protagonist, who is a young Ape-Man. He's also orphaned. His name means "Wild One" in Icelandic.

· Blod - An Ape-Woman, her name means "Blood" in Norwegian. She is the mother of Ensom sterjerne.

· Ensom stjerne - The child of Blod whose life is the subject of an old prophecy among prehistoric society which states that possibly he could go into Godhood. His name is Norwegian for "Lone Star."

· Scar-Snout - A male Dakotaraptor with a scar running across his snout hence his name. He is the Alpha Male of his pack.

Creatures featured
· Dinosauroid

· Ape-Man

· Yutyrannus

· Dakotaraptor

· Tyrannosaurus Rex

· Pachyrhinosaurus

· Parasaurolophus

· Dire Wolf

· Smilodon

· Triceratops

· Sauroposeidon

· Kronosaurus

· Woolly Mammoth

· Gigantopithecus

· Megalodon

· Stegosaurus

· Allosaurus

· Carnotaurus

· Edmontonia

· Centrosaurus

· Beelzebufo

· Nanuqsaurus

· Pachycephalosaurus

· Megaloceros

· Troll

· Dragon

· Titanoboa

· Iguanodon

· Styracosaurus

· Pteranodon

· Elasmotherium

· Embolotherium

· Zuul Crurivastator

· Anzu

· Argentavis

· Brontoscorpio

· Giant Spider

· Doedicurus

· Agathaumas

· Anurognathus

· Deinosuchus

Season 1 (2022)

 * 1) In The Beginning
 * 2) Survival of the Fittest
 * 3) The Prophecy
 * 4) Leader of the Pack
 * 5) Siege
 * 6) Rituals
 * 7) Lunch
 * 8) Alpha
 * 9) Premonition of the Gods
 * 10) War

Season 2 (2023)

 * 1) Rage
 * 2) The Holy and the Cursed
 * 3) Return of the Dragons
 * 4) To Victory
 * 5) Fire and Ice
 * 6) Tears
 * 7) Migration
 * 8) The Destroyer
 * 9) Reunion
 * 10) Twilight of the Gods

Season 3 (2024)
Season 4 will release on February 2024 and will conclude in July 2024.

Development
(Tba)

Influences
Influences to this series include Primal (2019-), Berserk, See (2019-2022), Watership Down, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Conan The Barbarian (1982), The Dark Crystal (1982), One Million Years B.C. (1966), When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth (1970), Warriors (2003-), Dinosaur (2000), Bambi (1942), The works of C. M. Kosemen/Nemo Ramjet and The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918). However, the biggest influence was the films of Akira Kurosawa, especially the use of "axial cuts" in serval episodes to give the series both a modern and classic look.

Filming
Filming began in late 2019, but was halted by the COVID-19 Pandemic in March 2020, but continued in late 2020. Filming locations included the Allegheny Mountains, British Columbia, the Adirondack Mountains, Northern Ireland, Dettifoss, Redwood forests in California and Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath.

Music
Harry and Rupert Gregson-Williams both composed the score for the series. The soundtrack featured Japanese Taiko drumming and chanting, a talharpa/tagelharpa, a langspil, a Gong, Indonesian Gamelan, a Celtic Flute, Bagpipes and a traditional Orchestra performed by the Sinfonia of London.

Release
(Tba)

Reception
The series revived critical acclaim upon release. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% "fresh" approval rating with an average rating of 8.9/10, based on 25 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Land Before Time meets Berserk in the form of a prehistoric dark fantasy epic featuring fantastic visuals and narration by the great Harrison Ford."

The series also received praise in The Guardian, Common Sense Media, The New York Times and IGN.

Video Games
A video game of the same name was developed by Creative Assembly and Square Enix and published by Sega. It is an action role-playing game like the Final Fantasy and Elder Scrolls series and was published on September 17, 2022 on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Novel
A Novel series for the show was written by Stephen L. Brusatte.

Comics
Boom! Studios published a comic series based on the show, as well as a prequel comic titled "Among The Primitive: Link of the Beginning."

Manga
A manga adaptation of the series was published in January 2023, being illustrated and written by Koyoharu Gotouge, who was well known for his earlier work on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2016-2020).

Anime Anthology Series
Among The Primitive: Savage Tales was announced along with Seasons 2 and 3 or the main series. It will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ in 2024 and will feature 10 short episodes animated by MAPPA, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, Shaft, Kinema Citrus, ENGI, Madhouse, J.C.Staff, OLM, Inc. and Tatsunoko Production, with music by Susumu Hirasawa, Kow Otani, Michiru Oshima, Cécile Corbel, Yoko Shinomura and Kensuke Ushio. Harrison Ford will return as the narrator.