The South Korean ‘Armored Saurus’ remake blends live-action, CG animation and visual effects into a new series about a team of heroic teen pilots and their armored dinosaurs fighting to save humanity; debuts February 18 on Disney+.
The South Korean show Armored Saurus, featuring humans riding dinosaurs with mechanized armor to fight an alien invasion, came out in 2021. Two years after the Daewon Media series aired in South Korea, MGA Entertainment decided American audiences needed access to this Jurassic and futuristic battle royal.
“It’s wild,” admits Kevin Yi, producer of Armorsaurs, a CG animation and live-action hybrid remake of Armored Saurus releasing on Disney+ today, February 18. “It’s great. It's fantastic. And it’s very complex. We knew that we wanted to utilize some of the animation that was a part of the original show but making sure that it would fit with a completely different universe and a completely different storyline was very complicated and very challenging. I think we were able to pull it off in droves.”
Produced by Yi and directed by David Feiss, Armorsaurs is developed by MGA Entertainment and distributed by CAKE Entertainment. Taking place millions of years after an advanced alien race took the dinosaurs away, the dinosaurs have returned and a heroic team of teen pilots and their armored dinosaurs are humanity’s last line of defense against the aliens intent on replenishing their army of prehistoric fighting dinosaurs.
Chosen for a rare genetic marker, the five young heroes are trained in the top-secret Armorsaurs Initiative Program to bond with these creatures and operate the sophisticated battle armor that turns these prehistoric beasts into a formidable fighting force. Together, these young heroes and the dinosaurs must lead the fight to defend the planet in a heroic battle of survival.
The show stars Jailen Bates (“Liam”), Jacob Makabi (“T.J.”), Derrick Kwak (“Joon”), Avianna Mynhier (“Paloma”), Sade Louise (“Prisca”), and Andrew Russell (“Dr. Chandler”). This March, MGA will launch a new collection of action-packed toys inspired by the series.
Check out the trailer and an exclusive clip:
“The original show’s animation studio, Studio EON, is actually one of our animation partners,” shares Yi. “We worked together to make sure that our new animation sequences would be completely seamless with the old ones. This was not a case where we took what was already done and just transplanted it into our show. The lighting and the rendering and the compositing was all redone.”
He adds, “But, coming mainly from an animation background, the hybrid aspect of the show was fairly intimidating. But the first day on set, when all of the cast came together, when they met each other, there was that sense of ‘We're going to be okay.’ And that feeling persisted all the way into post-production.”
For many of the actors – including Bates, Mynhier, and Louise – this was their first virtual and hybrid production, especially one this size. But they went into the project with ample enthusiasm.
“There was so much imagination involved in this filming process,” shares Mynhier. “That was a completely new challenge, but so rewarding when you see the show now. All of us have flashbacks to really relying on our imagination in the moment and then seeing what’s been made by all the artists, who spent years on making the world, is truly mind blowing.”
Bates adds, “This is the most challenging project I've ever taken on, and it was so rewarding at the end of it to see the first pilot lounge scene. Seeing that completely done, seeing the set and the universe really establishing us in the resource base was the most incredible moment for me because I was like, ‘Oh, this is a show. This is really happening.’”
Armorsaurs – filled with CG-animated dinosaurs, VFX-heavy action sequences, futuristic holograms and suiting-up transformation sequences – was, unsurprisingly, difficult to pull off on a TV production timeline.
“Actually, one of the things that drew us to the project was the armoring up sequences,” notes Yi. “Those have been floating around on social media for some time, and it shows the dinosaurs running and then leaping into the air, with their armor coming up on top of them.”
But aside from the obvious challenges that come with creating feature-level visuals for a television series, there are lesser-known difficulties that could make or break a show. One of those details was building metallic armor on realistic, CG-animated dinosaurs. It’s one thing to transform the dinosaurs into “Armored Sauruses.” It’s another thing to convince viewers that armor is truly part of these CG animals and not just one animated asset layered on top of another.
“And it takes an incredible amount of work to do that because you have to design each part individually and each part has to function individually,” explains Yi. “Bringing dinosaurs to life in a way that feels true to the world required us to not take shortcuts and make sure that there was a real breathing dinosaur underneath all of the armor. So, when you see the T-Rex, for example, you see the armor plates moving and adjusting to the skin and the textures that are underneath. Unreal Engine helped us animate at such a high level, but all credit goes to the animation studios we worked with, including Australia's Pixel Zoo. Everyone did a phenomenal job paying attention to those details and really selling the idea that these are organic, living, breathing creatures.”
Seeing the dinosaurs come to life was a favorite post-production moment for Louise. “I really loved also seeing the dinosaurs come to life because that part took probably the most imagination to try and gauge what they looked like and where they were within our eyesight,” she shares. “And seeing how the kids have reacted to that has been so amazing.”
At New York Comic-Con this past season, the cast and crew got to show guests first looks of Armorsaurs and the reactions were all they’d hoped for. “That's when it hit me,” says Mynhier. “Seeing it through the kids' eyes who are watching this for the first time on a giant screen, it was immersive to a degree that I did not expect.” Bates agrees, “Like all of the media that comes from South Korea, the show’s animation and the live-action sequences are so punchy and powerful, and kids are so engaged and even enamored. We're bridging this gap between you know US audiences and South Korean audiences as well.”
The series release follows the break-out animated feature film phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters, which busted open the floodgates of Korean media fandom in America. So, it’s the perfect time for Armorsaurs to find a place in the hearts of American children. “I actually live and work in South Korea doing different K-dramas and things like that, so to now take that sort of element into this production was honestly such an incredible honor to me,” says Louise. “We’re really bridging a gap between American audiences and Korean audiences.”
Mynhier adds, “When we were filming in South Korea, I fell in love with the language, the food, the people. Being steeped in that culture was just the greatest luxury. I’m obsessed with KPop Demon Hunters, and it's been this beautiful explosion, globally. I feel so lucky to witness it and to now work in that world.”
Even for Yi, Armorsaurs is a childhood dream come true. “Growing up as a Korean American, I really do feel the Korean part of my identity was something that I wasn't necessarily proud of in terms of the ways that I grew up and the things that I've experienced in my life,” he shares. “But being a part of the show and seeing how the world has embraced K-culture has been super healing and redeeming in a lot of ways. Now, in addition to K-pop, we have K-dinos and I'm really grateful and excited that we get to introduce millions of kids around the world to our show. Obviously, every production has its challenges. And, to some degree, every TV show making it to air is a miracle. But when you have really amazing people that you love working with, it changes everything.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
