I recently obtained a VHS copy of Journey To The Beginning Of Time from E-Bay and was certainly pleased I did.

4 boys visiting the dinosaur exhibit in New York Natrual History Museum hire a boat and they end up going back in time. This takes them through Prehistoric times and then to the time when Earth began. After their most interesting journey, they end up there they had started...

The dinosaurs in this movie include a Brontosarus, Stegosaurous, Styracosaus and Creatosaurus. We also get to see several prehistoric mammals including Wolly Mammoths. All the creatures were done in stop-motion and look excellent.

Journey To The Beginning Of Time is certainly worth checking out. Excellent.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

Four young boys are magically transported back in time to a magical prehistoric world. Director Karel Zeman does a nice job of astutely capturing a lovely sense of child-like awe and wonder as our likeable protagonists encounter all kinds of cool creatures from the long distant past. Moreover, the neat matte paintings, nifty puppets, and funky stop-motion animation all possess a certain quaint old school practical charm. Better still, this film proves to be quite educational as it provides a wealth of illuminating information on the assorted exotic ancient creatures. A sweet and charming little treat.

Digging into the pile of Czech flicks waiting to be viewed,I decided to look for a title with a short and sweet run time. Recently viewing his The Deadly Invention (1958-also reviewed) I was pleased to find another Karel Zeman title,which led to me travelling to the beginning of time.

View on the film:

Flickering illustrations of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth over the opening,co-writer(with William Cayton and J.A. Novotný)/directing auteur Karel Zeman continues the distinctive blending of live action with animation,in this case well designed,detailed stop-motion animation of dinosaurs. Whilst the animation is smoothly done, the blending of live action/animation never fully clicks,partly due to the camera being angled to place the dinosaurs on the corner of the screen to the cast, and also Zeman giving the live action elements a flatness,highlighting the interest solely being in the stop-motion. Leaving Jules Verne from the opening to go for a Boys Own Adventure, the writers disappointingly give little to make each boy stand out,or to spend time building the relationships, instead going for dry read-outs of facts relating to dinosaurs encountered on this uneventful journey to the beginning of time.