- Joined
- Nov 28, 2014
If you don't know, mocumentaries are just fake documentaries. They take on the format of real documentaries but tell a fictional (or realistic, but highly speculative) story. Mockumentaries can range from comedy films to serious speculation backed by scientific evidence. I've been a big fan of the format for years and figured I might as well share what I've watched in case anyone might be interested.
Since I have so many to share, I'm going to break them down into categories. I also included descriptions and links where to watch each series.
That's all I can think of right now, although I have more. Hopefully this will give some people a lot to marathon. If you have any other suggestions, please add them!
Since I have so many to share, I'm going to break them down into categories. I also included descriptions and links where to watch each series.
The Walking With…. Series:
As the phenomenon that jumpstarted interest in dinosaur documentaries as well as serving as the template of those to come, of course WWD deserves a special mention. There are also two companion series that are equally great and deserve to be listed here. In order of natural history:
Dinosaur Planet: Don’t be confused by the name; Dinosaur Planet is completely different than Planet Dinosaur (although their similar names make it really annoying to make a Google search, haha). Dinosaur Planet came out in 2003 on the Discovery Channel and consists of four episodes: White Tip’s Journey (centered around a female Velociraptor), Pod’s Travels (about a male Pyroraptor), Little Das’ Hunt (about a young male Daspletosaurus), and finally Alpha’s Egg (which focuses on a female Saltasaurus and actually walks you through her entire life). This was actually one of the very first dinosaur documentaries I ever saw and is what sparked my interest in them; when I was around nine or ten or so I had a VideoNow player and the Dinosaur Planet series was one of the first discs I got.
Jurassic Fight Club: Now, I’m going to say right off the bat that this series isn’t in the same caliber as WWD, Planet Dinosaur, or even Dinosaur Planet. It’s not something you’d watch for educational purposes but rather because dinosaurs are badass and you want to see them fight (and who doesn’t?). As the name implies, Jurassic Fight Club features prehistoric fights between animals (usually dinosaurs, but there are also some mammal fights and even an episode that focuses on the monster shark Megalodon) and spends a lot of time going into the background of the discovery of each featured species and the evidence that points to how they may have died. It’s a very speculative series, but I really do love it.
Animal Armageddon: An Animal Planet series that aired in 2009, Animal Armageddon is unique in that it doesn’t focus that much on prehistoric life, but rather the mass extinction events that have shaped Earth’s history. It features the iconic K-T extinction (which was responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs) as well as the Permian extinction event (which, while not nearly as well-known as the K-T extinction, is the single most devastating event in Earth’s history; over 90% of all life on Earth died out and it took the world millions of years to recover its biodiversity). I’ll be honest here, the CGI isn’t as pretty as the others on this list, but it’s a very good series and something worth looking into if you’re interested in mass extinctions.
Last Day of the Dinosaurs: A documentary movie that, as the name implies, covers the K-T extinction event and offers a look at how these majestic animals went extinct.
How the Dinosaurs Died: Same idea as the documentary above.
When Dinosaurs Roamed America: As the title suggests, this film covers dinosaurs that were native to the land that eventually became the United States. Some species include Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and, of course, Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Dinosaur Revolution: It comprises of 4 episodes, each of which covering a different era in dinosaur history.
Monsters Resurrected: The program reconstructs extinct animals of both the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Actually, all but one episode focuses on animals other than dinosaurs.
Prehistoric Predators: Very similar to Monsters Resurrected (although this one came first). However, all episodes are focused on the post-dinosaur age, with the earliest era featured being 32 million years ago and the latest being 10,000 years ago.
As the phenomenon that jumpstarted interest in dinosaur documentaries as well as serving as the template of those to come, of course WWD deserves a special mention. There are also two companion series that are equally great and deserve to be listed here. In order of natural history:
- Walking With Monsters: Monsters covers the millions of years of life that flourished before the dinosaurs, covering everything from the first vertebrate to the last mammal-like reptile. While it’s quite a bit more speculative than the other two entries (which is understandable, given how the further you go back in time, the less you know), it’s still fascinating. Pre-dinosaur animals are given the least amount of attention of any prehistoric life, but they’re just as impressive as everything that came after them. Also, unlike the other two Walking With entries, Monsters is only three episodes long as opposed to six.
- Walking With Dinosaurs: Of course, WWD doesn’t need much of an introduction, but I’ll give it one anyway. WWD consists of six episodes, ranging from the dawn of the dinosaurs (covered in first episode, “New Blood”) over 220 million years ago to the cataclysmic event that caused their extinction 65 million years ago (which is portrayed in the aptly named sixth episode, “Death of a Dynasty”). Not only dinosaurs are featured; WWD also makes a point of examining other prehistoric reptiles, like pterosaurs and marine reptiles (which, although commonly thought of as dinosaurs, are of a different class altogether). Everything about this documentary is just mind-blowing and I can’t recommend it enough.
- The Ballad of Big Al: This special gets a mention because it’s sort of a spinoff of WWD. The special focuses on Big Al, the most intact Allosaurus skeleton ever discovered (with over 95% of his bones still in place), and how he may have lived his life. It’s basically just an extra WWD episode, so be sure to give it a look!
- Walking With Beasts: Beasts covers all of the prehistoric life in the post-dinosaur world, but mostly focuses on mammals. After the dinosaurs died out, mammals were given the opportunity to become the dominant lifeforms on Earth, and they did just that. Like Dinosaurs, it has six episodes, and the last episode is placed just 30,000 years ago, when we humans had already established ourselves as a species. Beasts is every bit as spectacular as Dinosaurs is, and features iconic prehistoric mammals like the Smilodon (or the saber-toothed cat) and the Woolly Mammoth.
Dinosaur Planet: Don’t be confused by the name; Dinosaur Planet is completely different than Planet Dinosaur (although their similar names make it really annoying to make a Google search, haha). Dinosaur Planet came out in 2003 on the Discovery Channel and consists of four episodes: White Tip’s Journey (centered around a female Velociraptor), Pod’s Travels (about a male Pyroraptor), Little Das’ Hunt (about a young male Daspletosaurus), and finally Alpha’s Egg (which focuses on a female Saltasaurus and actually walks you through her entire life). This was actually one of the very first dinosaur documentaries I ever saw and is what sparked my interest in them; when I was around nine or ten or so I had a VideoNow player and the Dinosaur Planet series was one of the first discs I got.
Jurassic Fight Club: Now, I’m going to say right off the bat that this series isn’t in the same caliber as WWD, Planet Dinosaur, or even Dinosaur Planet. It’s not something you’d watch for educational purposes but rather because dinosaurs are badass and you want to see them fight (and who doesn’t?). As the name implies, Jurassic Fight Club features prehistoric fights between animals (usually dinosaurs, but there are also some mammal fights and even an episode that focuses on the monster shark Megalodon) and spends a lot of time going into the background of the discovery of each featured species and the evidence that points to how they may have died. It’s a very speculative series, but I really do love it.
Animal Armageddon: An Animal Planet series that aired in 2009, Animal Armageddon is unique in that it doesn’t focus that much on prehistoric life, but rather the mass extinction events that have shaped Earth’s history. It features the iconic K-T extinction (which was responsible for wiping out the dinosaurs) as well as the Permian extinction event (which, while not nearly as well-known as the K-T extinction, is the single most devastating event in Earth’s history; over 90% of all life on Earth died out and it took the world millions of years to recover its biodiversity). I’ll be honest here, the CGI isn’t as pretty as the others on this list, but it’s a very good series and something worth looking into if you’re interested in mass extinctions.
Last Day of the Dinosaurs: A documentary movie that, as the name implies, covers the K-T extinction event and offers a look at how these majestic animals went extinct.
How the Dinosaurs Died: Same idea as the documentary above.
When Dinosaurs Roamed America: As the title suggests, this film covers dinosaurs that were native to the land that eventually became the United States. Some species include Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and, of course, Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Dinosaur Revolution: It comprises of 4 episodes, each of which covering a different era in dinosaur history.
Monsters Resurrected: The program reconstructs extinct animals of both the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Actually, all but one episode focuses on animals other than dinosaurs.
Prehistoric Predators: Very similar to Monsters Resurrected (although this one came first). However, all episodes are focused on the post-dinosaur age, with the earliest era featured being 32 million years ago and the latest being 10,000 years ago.
The Future is Wild (TV series): A thirteen-part documentary television miniseries. Based on research and interviews with several scientists, the miniseries shows how life could evolve in the future if humans were to disappear from the Earth altogether through extinction (a later broadcast instead stated that humans had abandoned the Earth and took refuge on another planet, later sending probes back to their home planet to see how life had developed while they were gone). The show takes the form of a nature documentary. There are three sections, each looking at a different era in Earth's future history: 5 million years in the future, 100 million years in the future, and 200 million years in the future. I really can’t recommend this series enough, it’s what jumpstarted my love of mockumentaries. Just don't take it too seriously, some of the stuff in 200 million years gets a little crazy.
Life After People: This documentary explores what would happen to Earth if mankind were to suddenly disappear. Over thousands and thousands of years, the Earth begins to reclaim lost territory until almost nothing of human civilization is left. Life After People also went on to become a TV series with two seasons (most of the episodes can be found on YouTube)
Aftermath: Population Zero: Very similar to Life After People, although it instead posits a scenario where humans literally disappear into thin air (leaving cars, planes, and other transportation to crash and for nuclear power plants to melt down). It was later followed up by a series, which looks at what would happen if planetary conditions changed drastically within our lifetime. These episodes can be found on YouTube if you search for the titles.
Life After People: This documentary explores what would happen to Earth if mankind were to suddenly disappear. Over thousands and thousands of years, the Earth begins to reclaim lost territory until almost nothing of human civilization is left. Life After People also went on to become a TV series with two seasons (most of the episodes can be found on YouTube)
Aftermath: Population Zero: Very similar to Life After People, although it instead posits a scenario where humans literally disappear into thin air (leaving cars, planes, and other transportation to crash and for nuclear power plants to melt down). It was later followed up by a series, which looks at what would happen if planetary conditions changed drastically within our lifetime. These episodes can be found on YouTube if you search for the titles.
Alien Planet: A futuristic mockumentary that follows the journey of two robot probes (Leo and Ike) that are sent to the alien planet Darwin IV in order to investigate it and look for signs of life. Amazingly, Darwin IV proves to be teeming with life, all of it totally unique and like nothing ever seen by human eyes. Much of the documentary is devoted to these strange alien creatures, describing them and showing their life cycles.
Extraterrestrial: Similar to Alien Planet but cheaper (although I still enjoyed it). Instead of just focusing on one planet, the series looks at two: Aurelia, which orbits a red dwarf star; and Blue Moon, a moon orbiting a gas giant which itself orbits a binary star system.
Extraterrestrial: Similar to Alien Planet but cheaper (although I still enjoyed it). Instead of just focusing on one planet, the series looks at two: Aurelia, which orbits a red dwarf star; and Blue Moon, a moon orbiting a gas giant which itself orbits a binary star system.
The Day After and Threads: These movies are fucked up. They very realistically shows what would happen in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The Day After focuses on Kansas City and its surrounding areas whereas Threads looks at the city of Sheffield in Northern England. Out of everything on this list, these two films had the biggest impact by far because they made politicians really consider the consequences of nuclear weapons.
The Last Dragon: A Fantasy Made Real: This film puts forward a speculative evolution that dragons may have undergone from the Cretaceous period up to the 15th century, and also features ideas about what dragon life and behavior might have been like if they had existed and evolved. It follows two storylines; the first is about the dragons themselves, showing them in their natural habitats throughout history. The second is about a modern-day scientist who believes in dragons and investigates the frozen remains of an unknown creature in order to try and identify it as a dragon and save his reputation.
Megalodon: The Giant Shark Lives: Megalodon was one of the most terrifying creatures in Earth’s history; in essence, it was a 50-foot-long Great White Shark. Thankfully, it’s thought to have gone extinct at least 1.5-2 million years ago. However, this documentary posits that Megalodon never went extinct and is still swimming around to this day (spoiler: It isn’t. Or, at least there’s no evidence that it is).
Mermaids: The Body Found: In 2012, Animal Planet released this fake documentary that tells the story of a team of scientific investigators that try to uncover the source behind mysterious underwater recordings of an unidentified marine creature.
What if the Earth Stopped Spinning?: Well, we'd be fucked. Like, really fucked. There's fortunately no chance (we hope) of that happening for billions of years, but this speculative documentary is still fascinating to watch.
The Last Dragon: A Fantasy Made Real: This film puts forward a speculative evolution that dragons may have undergone from the Cretaceous period up to the 15th century, and also features ideas about what dragon life and behavior might have been like if they had existed and evolved. It follows two storylines; the first is about the dragons themselves, showing them in their natural habitats throughout history. The second is about a modern-day scientist who believes in dragons and investigates the frozen remains of an unknown creature in order to try and identify it as a dragon and save his reputation.
Megalodon: The Giant Shark Lives: Megalodon was one of the most terrifying creatures in Earth’s history; in essence, it was a 50-foot-long Great White Shark. Thankfully, it’s thought to have gone extinct at least 1.5-2 million years ago. However, this documentary posits that Megalodon never went extinct and is still swimming around to this day (spoiler: It isn’t. Or, at least there’s no evidence that it is).
Mermaids: The Body Found: In 2012, Animal Planet released this fake documentary that tells the story of a team of scientific investigators that try to uncover the source behind mysterious underwater recordings of an unidentified marine creature.
What if the Earth Stopped Spinning?: Well, we'd be fucked. Like, really fucked. There's fortunately no chance (we hope) of that happening for billions of years, but this speculative documentary is still fascinating to watch.
This Is Spinal Tap/Best In Show/A Mighty Wind: A trio of films by director Christopher Guest, all known for their improvisational humor and reoccurring cast. Guest himself is credited with jumpstarting the mockumentary genre. This Is Spinal Tap follows the fictional British heavy-metal band Spinal Tap and their various misadventures. Best in Show is follows five entrants in a prestigious dog show and focuses on the interactions among the various owners and handlers as they travel to the show and compete, and after the show. A Mighty Wind is about a folk music reunion concert in which three folk bands must reunite for a television performance for the first time in decades. Special mention goes to Best In Show, my personal favorite.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes: When police raid a house in a city north of New York, they discover a profoundly disturbing record of one man’s ugly crimes. Investigators find over 800 videotapes shot by the killer which present a visual record of his murders in all their horrifying details. Both state and federal law enforcement teams sift through the gruesome images, looking for clues of his identity, the identity of his victims, and where he could have gone. Repeated viewings of the materials reveal little beyond the terrible facts of the crimes, and as the authorities comb through the madman’s images, they find the tapes have had a disquieting effect on them.
Lake Mungo: Lake Mungo is about a grieving family seeking to uncover their dead daughter’s secrets, which may be the cause of why she has seemingly been unable to move on. Along the way, they unveil horrifying secrets about their daughter that may have been better off left untouched.
Incident at Loch Ness: This mockumentary (starring, written, and directed by acclaimed director Werner Herzog) is about Herzog himself traveling to the Scottish Highlands to make a documentary, Enigma of Loch Ness, which will explain the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. Meanwhile, another documentary film crew is making a film about Werner Herzog himself, and we see the production of Enigma from their point of view. Shooting on a rented boat, tensions begin to rise as director Herzog and his producer, Zak Penn, find themselves at cross-purposes on the black surface of Loch Ness. Things get very edgy when the film crew starts seeing shapes below the murky water…
Lovely Monster (short film): The “true” story of Sophia, a young woman dealing with a rare and very dangerous condition. Despite only clocking in at 5 minutes, Lovely Monster manages to pack in a lot of suspense and an ending that will definitely catch you off-guard.
Metalosis Maligna (short film): A short film about a fictitious disease called “Metalosis Maligna.” The disease occurs when a metal implant has a bad reaction with human tissue, causing the metal to grow tendrils that eventually puncture the skin from within and destroy it. The short film covers all of the disease’s stages, from the beginning to the horrifying and gory end, when the infection has become so severe that entire sections of flesh have rotted off, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton of scrap metal.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes: When police raid a house in a city north of New York, they discover a profoundly disturbing record of one man’s ugly crimes. Investigators find over 800 videotapes shot by the killer which present a visual record of his murders in all their horrifying details. Both state and federal law enforcement teams sift through the gruesome images, looking for clues of his identity, the identity of his victims, and where he could have gone. Repeated viewings of the materials reveal little beyond the terrible facts of the crimes, and as the authorities comb through the madman’s images, they find the tapes have had a disquieting effect on them.
Lake Mungo: Lake Mungo is about a grieving family seeking to uncover their dead daughter’s secrets, which may be the cause of why she has seemingly been unable to move on. Along the way, they unveil horrifying secrets about their daughter that may have been better off left untouched.
Incident at Loch Ness: This mockumentary (starring, written, and directed by acclaimed director Werner Herzog) is about Herzog himself traveling to the Scottish Highlands to make a documentary, Enigma of Loch Ness, which will explain the myth of the Loch Ness Monster. Meanwhile, another documentary film crew is making a film about Werner Herzog himself, and we see the production of Enigma from their point of view. Shooting on a rented boat, tensions begin to rise as director Herzog and his producer, Zak Penn, find themselves at cross-purposes on the black surface of Loch Ness. Things get very edgy when the film crew starts seeing shapes below the murky water…
Lovely Monster (short film): The “true” story of Sophia, a young woman dealing with a rare and very dangerous condition. Despite only clocking in at 5 minutes, Lovely Monster manages to pack in a lot of suspense and an ending that will definitely catch you off-guard.
Metalosis Maligna (short film): A short film about a fictitious disease called “Metalosis Maligna.” The disease occurs when a metal implant has a bad reaction with human tissue, causing the metal to grow tendrils that eventually puncture the skin from within and destroy it. The short film covers all of the disease’s stages, from the beginning to the horrifying and gory end, when the infection has become so severe that entire sections of flesh have rotted off, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton of scrap metal.
That's all I can think of right now, although I have more. Hopefully this will give some people a lot to marathon. If you have any other suggestions, please add them!
