The Future Is Wild


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The Future Is Wild
Format Speculative fiction, Science fiction
Starring See Scientists below
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time 20 – 25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Animal Planet/Discovery Channel/BBC/Discovery Kids (2007-present)
Picture format Unknown
Original run 2003 – 2003
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

The Future Is Wild was a 2003 joint Animal Planet/ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany) co-production, which used computer-generated imagery to show the possible future of life on Earth. The seven-part television series was released with a companion book written by geologist Dougal Dixon, author of several "anthropologies/zoologies of the future" such as After Man: A Zoology of the Future, in conjunction with natural history television producer John Adams.

Based on research and interviews with dozens of scientists, this documentary was put together to show how life could evolve in the future if Homo sapiens became extinct; the Discovery Channel broadcast softened the harsh outlook by stating the human race had completely migrated from the Earth and had sent back probes to examine the progress of life on Earth. The show was played out in the form of a nature documentary. For a time in 2005, a theme park based on this program was opened in Japan. In 2008, a special on the Discovery Channel about the development of the video game Spore was combined with airings of The Future is Wild.

Contents

Ecosystems

Twelve ecosystems were chosen at three points in time:-

5 million years' time

The world is in an ice age and there are giant seabirds and carnivorous bats. The ice sheets extended to as far south as Paris in the northern hemisphere and as far north as Buenos Aires in the southern hemisphere. The Amazon Rainforests dried up and opened into grasslands. The North American plains shrivelled to become cold desert. Africa collided with Europe and closed off the Mediterranean Sea again. With no water to replace it in the dry climate, the Mediterranean dried out into a giant salt flat dotted with brine lakes, as it has been in the past. Most of Europe became frozen tundra. The part of Africa east of the African Rift Valley has broken off of Africa. Asia has dried up and is now mountainous. The once dry area of Central America has now been transformed into warm dry tropical forests. Australia has moved north and collided with eastern Indonesia.
Denizens
Babookari, a ground-living New World monkey, descended from the present-day uakari.
Carakiller, a giant flightless bird of prey, descended from the present-day caracara.
Cryptile, a frilled lizard that inhabits salt flats and has a sticky frill.
Deathgleaner, a giant carnivorous bat.
Gannetwhale, a seal-like seabird, descended from the present-day gannet.
Gryken, a slender terrestrial mustelid, descended from the present-day pine marten.
Rattleback, an armoured rodent, descended from the present-day agouti.
Desert Rattleback, another type of rattleback, which lives in deserts. Herbivorous, unlike other species
Scrofa, a rock-dwelling wild boar.
Shagrat, a giant rodent which lives in herds and migrates with the seasons in northern Europe,descended from the present-day marmot .
Snowstalker, a giant saber-toothed mustelid, descended from the present-day wolverine.
Spink, a small mole-like burrowing bird, descended from the present-day quail.

100 million years' time

The world is very hot, octopuses have come onto land, and there are enormous tortoises. Much of the land is flooded by shallow seas. The surrounding land has become brackish swamps. Antarctica has drifted towards the tropics, and once again it is covered with trees, as it was 300 million years before. Australia has collided with North America and Asia, forcing up an enormous, 10-kilometre-high mountain plateau taller than the modern Himalayas. Greenland has been reduced to a small, temperate island. While low lying land is warm shallow seas, cold deep ocean trenches form. Africa's Sahara Desert has once again become Rich Grasslands as it was millions of years ago.
Denizens
Falconfly, a giant predatory wasp.
Grass Tree, a species of plant in the Great Plateau that is harvested by Silver Spiders to feed the Poggles,descended from bamboo.
Great Blue Windrunner, a giant four-winged bird: its legs have flight feathers on and can act as gliding surfaces,descended from the present-day crane.
Lurkfish, a giant big-mouthed electric fish.
Ocean Phantom, a giant jellyfish.
Poggle, the last mammal, descended from the present-day hamster.
Reef Glider, a swimming sea slug.
Roachcutter, a swift jungle bird.
Silver Spider, a large colonial spider.
Spindle trooper, a giant sea spider. They live in Ocean Phantoms, which they defend against enemies.
Spitfire Bird, a species of flutterbird which spits corrosive liquid.
False Spitfire Bird, a species of bird that resembles the Spitfire Bird, but is harmless.
Spitfire Beetle, a cooperative predatory beetle which preys on Spitfire Birds.
Spitfire Tree, a flowering tree that makes two chemicals collected by the Spitfire Birds, which in the process pollinates the tree.
Swampus, a terrestrial octopus.
Toraton, a giant tortoise, grows to 120 tons.
Map of the potential layout of the future world (~200 million years hence)

200 million years' time

The world is recovering from a mass extinction caused by a flood basalt eruption almost as large in size as the one that created the Siberian Traps. Fish have taken to the skies, squid to the forests and the world's largest ever desert is filled with strange worms and insects. All the continents have collided into one another and fused into a single supercontinent, a second Pangaea. Due to one single current system and one large global ocean, deadly hurricanes smother the coastlines of the continent all year long. The northwestern side of Pangaea II, drenched with an endless supply of rain, has become a temperate forest. Mountains resting at the end of the coast block most of the rain's moisture from reaching a long line of scrubby rainshadow deserts. The very center of the continent does not receive rain at all and has become barren plantless desert. At this time most of the common life forms such as Mammals, Reptiles, Birds and Amphibians are extinct, leaving fish and mollusks to populate the Earth.
Denizens
Bumblebeetle, a flying insect which lives and breeds inside the carcasses of dead Flish.
Deathbottle, a carnivorous plant, residing in the Rainshadow Desert.
Desert Hopper, a hopping snail with a modified single foot.
Forest Flish, a bird-like fish that no longer lives in the oceans, but instead flies like birds.
Ocean Flish, another type of Flish that relies on the ocean more than the Forest Flish.
Garden Worm, an algae-filled worm that feeds only on sunlight.
Megasquid, an elephant-sized omnivorous terrestrial squid. Its 8 arms have evolved into walking legs like an elephant's. It uses its two long tentacles for feeding.
Rainbow squid, a giant chameleonic squid.
Sharkopath, a bioluminescent pack-hunting shark.
Silverswimmer, fish-sized neotenous crustaceans.
Slickribbon, a cave-dwelling predatory worm.
Slithersucker, a giant slime mold.
Squibbon, a terrestrial tree-swinging squid. Relatively intelligent; the likeliest ancestor for future sapient life.
Terabyte, a colonial termite that has become highly specialized.
Gloomworm, a primitive bacteria-eating worm.

Episode List

Although there are presumably many thousands of different species around at each point in the future, each episode generally focuses on just one food chain.

  1. Welcome to the Future (a brief summary of the coming episodes)
  2. Return of the Ice (5 million years time, in the new frozen wastes of Europe)
  3. The Vanished Sea (5 million years time, in the Mediterranean salt desert)
  4. Prairies of Amazonia (5 million years time, in the grasslands where the Amazon Rainforest once existed)
  5. Cold Kansas Desert (5 million years time, in North America)
  6. Waterland (100 million years time, in the swamps of Bengal)
  7. Flooded World (100 million years time, in the shallow seas)
  8. Tropical Antarctica (100 million years time, in an Antarctica which is now on the equator)
  9. The Great Plateau (100 million years time, at the spot where Asia, North America and Australia have collided)
  10. The Endless Desert (200 million years time, in the vast desert of central Pangaea II)
  11. The Global Ocean (200 million years time, in, the ocean of the world)
  12. Graveyard Desert (200 million years time, in a rainshadow desert)
  13. The Tentacled Forest (200 million years time, in the rainforest)
  14. The Future Is Wild and the Making of Spore (a special on the Discovery Channel about the development of the video game Spore was combined with airings of The Future is Wild.)

DVD release

The series was released on three DVDs. The first DVD in the series includes episodes 1-5, the second includes episodes 6-9, and the third includes episodes 10-13. The three DVDs have also been released together as a set.

Both the DVD singles and the 3-DVD set are available for DVD regions one and two. Although the singles are available for region four, the 3-DVD set is not. Magna Pacific, the company contracted to market the Future is Wild series to Australasia, originally planned to release the 3-DVD set in May. When asked in December 2005, the Executive Director of Magna Pacific stated, "We have this scheduled for a May release." However, when asked again in August 2006, the National Marketing Manager of Magna Pacific announced, "Unfortunately the 3-DVD set of Future is Wild has been withdrawn from release, the singles will continue to be available but plans for the release of the 3-DVD set have been placed on hold with no future date set at this stage."

Scientists

Scientists involved in the project

Children's Series

The Future is Wild (2007 series)
Format Animated
Starring Ashley Peters
Taylor Abrahamse
Marc Donato
Miranda Jones
Richard Binsley
Cedric Smith
Country of origin Canada
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 26
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Discovery Kids
Original run October 13, 2007 – present

An animated children's version of the show was developed by Nelvana Animation, and directed by Mike Fallows, with characters and creatures designed by Brett Jubinville. It is made in CGI animation. It airs in Canada on Teletoon and in the US on Discovery Kids where it made its debut on October 13, 2007. It features four teenagers (CG, Luis, Emily and Ethan) who study the future of the earth to find a new habitat for humanity, while learning about the futuristic creatures who inhabit it. The show is set for 26 episodes and as of July 5, 2008, it had finished its first season.

Episodes of the series have been made available on: http://www.veoh.com/channels/tfiw

Arsenal

Time Flyer - A vehicle that transports to different eras of time through vortexes, the navigation system tells what the era is, C.G. is the one who pilots it.

InfoStation - A larger, more thorough version of the holodat that is contained in the Time Flyer

Holodat - A portable device that shows the species of an animal and other information.

Chameliograhpic Helmet - A device that C.G, Luis, Emily, and Ethan use for turning into other animals, it scans the animal first and then creates a holographic image around the user to mimic the animal.

Communicator - The crew wears them on their wrists to communicate to each other. In "Sweet Home Pangaea II" it revealed that it also has a force field function.

Dune Skimmer - A jetski-like vehicle used for fast travel over harsh conditions like sand, snow, and water.

Molecular Compressor - A device that can alter an object or person's size. The effects wear off in about an hour.

Cameras - compact, disc-shaped cameras.

Pump and Hose

Solar Sequencer- Traps solar energy for later use.

Glacier Sampler- Sucks up sticks of ice for study.

Hyper-solidifying Polymer Dispenser- shoots out a substance that surrounds a target and hardens into a glass-like material.

Characters

Character Voice Actor Character Info
C.G. Ashley Peters The Time Flyer's captain. Her original time is 12,000 A.D. She is often cautious and robotic in nature, but as she spends more time with Emily, Luis, and Ethan, she becomes more open and expressive. She is arachnophobic. Her full name is Cassiopeia G. She may possibly like Luis.
Emily Miranda Jones The motherly animal lover of the crew, she tries to see the best qualities in both animals and people. She takes care of Squibbon most and they both adore each other. She may possibly like Ethan.
Ethan Marc Donato Ethan is adventurous and daring, he is willing to do most of the more dangerous tasks that the crew's mission provides, taking them as a challenge. Ethan often cracks bad jokes and teases Luis of his overly-cautious attitude. In the episode "Phantom Fear!" it is shown he is claustrophobic. Ethan possibly likes Emily too.
Luis Taylor Abrahamse Luis is arguably the smartest in the crew and prefers to stay in the ship to avoid the future's hostile environments and dangerous creatures. He often overreacts and is slightly obsessive over hygiene and germs. His full name is Luis Calabasas. Luis possibly likes C.G.
Squibbon Richard Binsley Sometimes called Squibby. He stowed away on the Time Flyer on C.G.'s first mission. As shown in the episode "A Ghost in the Machine " he is much smarter than he looks.
C.G.'s father Cedric Smith The father of C.G. He informs C.G. of what the crew's mission objectives are in each environment. He doesn't know that Squibbon is with them, until "Sweet Home Pangaea II". It is often shown he doesn't approve of C.G. bringing Ethan, Emily, and Luis along, often calling them "primitives".

Animal Characters

5 million years Gannetwhales- Beaker, Doop and Tooby- seen in episode 20. Unamed gannetwhales seen in episode 26.

Shagrats- Art, herd leader and herd- seen in episode 12

Snowstalkers- seen in episodes 12, 20, and 26, unamed.

Babookaris- Dex and Alpha- seen in episode 11. Unamed babookaris seen in episodes 18,25 and 26.

Rattlebacks- seen in episodes 11,25 and 26, unamed.

Carakillers- Subo, Zodek and Zobo- seen in episode 18. Unamed Carakillers seen in episodes 11,25 and 26

100 million years Lurkfish- Gill and Butch- seen in episode 1.Unamed lurkfish seen in episode 6.

Toratons- Tica, Tonk (infants), and their mother- seen in episodes 5 & 17 Unamed toratons seen in episode 4

Swampus- unamed,seen in episodes 1, baby and parent seen in episode 6. Another are seen in episodes 5 and 17 and are unamed.

Spitfire Beetles- Max- seen in episode 2

False Spitfire Birds- Simile and Beaky- seen in episode 16

Spitfire Birds- unamed, seen in episodes 16 and 22.

Falconflies- unamed, seen in episodes 2, 16 , 17 and 22.

Roathcutters- unamed, seen in episodes 2,17 and 22.

Poggles- Geb- seen in episode 7. Unamed poggle seen in episode 17

Great blue windrunners - seen in episode 3.

Reef Gliders- Bloatus and Bobber- seen in episode 8

Ocean Phantoms- unamed, seen in episodes 8 and 15.

Spindletroopers- unamed spindletrooper and troop leader seen in episode 15.

200 million years Slickribbons- Philo and female friend- seen in episode 19

Terabytes- Torq (rock borer) and Tog, his transporter. Triad (warrior)-all seen in episode 13.Unamed terabytes seen in episode 9.

Garden Worms- unamed, seen in episodes 9, 13 and 19.

Gloomworms- unamed, seen in episode 19.

Squibbons- Squibby- seen in all episodes, Ooly- seen in episode 14, Buzzy- seen in episode 25 parts 1 & 2.

Megasquids- Unamed seen in episodes 10 and 14. Mega and male friend seen in episode 21. Unamed seen in episode 25 parts 1 and 2.

Forest Flish- unamed flocks seen in episode 14. In episode 23 one is named Flare. Unamed seen in episode 21.

Slithersucker- unamed, seen in episodes 14,21 and 23.

Episode list

Season 1

# Title Air date
1 "Electric Fisherman" October 13, 2007
The crew must lure and use two lurkfish, Gill and Butch, to jump start the Time Flyer or be stuck in the Bengal swamp, 100 million years in the future. 
2 "Extreme Bird Watching" October 13, 2007
Ethan goes alone bird watching in an Antarctic rain forest, and is attacked by falconflies. Max, an overconfident spitfire beetle, is trying to find his friends when they are separated. 
3 "Sky High Anxiety" October 20, 2007
CG tries to launch a weather station 100 million years in the future, but a great blue windrunner crashes into it and now they must find a way to take care of both her and her chicks. 
4 "Toratonnage" October 27, 2007
While the crew's time flyer is stuck in mud, Luis stays to try to fix it while the rest of them investigate an unusual heat source. 
5 "Think Big" November 3, 2007
The crew accidentally knock a Toraton mom on her back and Luis becomes a de-facto parent to a pair of Toraton infants. 
6 "Squibbon See, Squibbon Do" November 11, 2007
While the crew is in the Bengal swamp 100 million years in the future, the always playful Squibbon runs off with the telecommunicator key which is the only way CG can communicate with her father. Squibbon tries to get the key back from a Swampus, or what he calls "Creature that is not a Squibbon". 
7 "A Poggle's Not a Pet...Yet" December 1, 2007
Emily attempts to do some girl bonding with CG in the Great Plateau 100 million years in the future, but they wind up in a situation where they're really going to be closer than ever. A poggle nammed Geb is suspicious about the Silver spiders who look after him and his friends after a few go missing. 
8 "Phantom Fear" December 15, 2007
Ethan must confront his claustrophobia and C.G. her arachnophobia when the Time Flyer becomes stuck under an ocean phantom and the crew has to deal with the ocean phantom's tentacles and hungry reef gliders. A cautious reef glider named Bobber is reluctant to chow down on the ocean phantom after hearing tales of their various weapons and defenses. 
9 "The Future Is Underground" January 19, 2008
When blasting forward 200 million years in the future, The time flyer crash lands in a desert wasteland and loses most of its water. Luis shrinks Emily, C.G. and Ethan so they can search a terabyte mound for water. A transporter terrabyte tries to gain equality with a warrior terabyte. 
10 "Be True to Your Crew" February 2, 2008
The team discovers that C.G. is secretly trying to reactivate her former robot crew members. In this episode, we learn how C.G. met Ethan, Emily, Luis and Squibbon. 
11 "Sign of the Time Flyer" February 16, 2008
The kids encounter the last primate on Earth: the Babookari. Also, Dex, a Babookari is showing some interest in Emily and the Other "No-Tails", much to the displeasure of the troop leader,Alpha. 
12 "De-Tour de France" March 1, 2008
The kids land on the North European Ice in search of an alloy to repair the time flyer. Also, Art, a lazy shagrat herds up with Luis and Ethan after he is separated from his real herd. 
13 "Night Crawlers" March 15, 2008
The kids disagree with C.G.'s decision to leave Pangaea 2. C.G. feels she is not a capable leader. Also, Torq, a rock borer terabyte is curious about the big open outside his home. 
14 "Sweet Home Pangaea II" March 29, 2008
CG's dad tells her to study Squibbons unaware that they hid one. While visiting the Northern Forest in 200 million AD, the crew finds that Squibby has forgotten his basic survival skills and consider teaching him and then releasing him. Squibby makes friends with other Squibbons after one of them saves him from a Megasquid. 
15 "Shallow Pals" April 5, 2008
C.G. gives herself, Luis,and Emily food poisoning so Ethan and Squibbon go to investigate an ocean phantom they think is someone's boat. Also, a spindletrooper is unsure of what to defend his ocean phantom from, and so is his leader! 
16 "Parent Trap" April 12, 2008
C.G. tests a fast growing crop in the Antarctic Forest, 100 million years in the future. Simile, a false spitfire bird must defend her eggs from spitfire birds and (so she thinks) Emily and Ethan! 
17 "Around the World In 80 Minutes" April 19, 2008
Luis leaves behind geocaches for other time travelers. He doesn't however, know that he made them out of a toxic material! The crew must find one in all the environments of 100 million AD in 80 minutes! 
18 "Monkey Brains" April 26, 2008
Ethan dares C.G. to use the chameliographic helmet to spend time with the babookari and prove she can be silly and wild. After an accident with some carakillers, C.G.'s brain is implanted with babookari behavior patterns! Zodek, the carakiller hunt leader is demoted after being afraid of the "lightning monkey" (C.G. with the chameliographic helmet) that zapped him and Subo, the new hunt leader, tries to rekindle his spirit. 
19 "Swimming With Slickribbons" May 10, 2008
The kids can't leave the Central Desert until they wash the Time Flyer. Also, a tough slickribbon named Philo who wants "a meal with a challenge" gets more than he bargained for when he chases a miniaturized Luis in the flooded Time Flyer. 
20 "Scared Safe" May 17, 2008
After an accident on a glacier 5 million years in the future, C.G. becomes overly protective of the crew. Also, a curious gannetwhale named Tooby investigates the Time Flyer and gets himself, Emily, Ethan, Luis and Squibbon cornered by a snowstalker. 
21 "He Might Be Giant" May 24, 2008
A tree falls on the Time Flyer and the crew uses the molecular compressor to make Ethan large enough to move it. Then, Ethan (still a giant) befriends a megasquid. 
22 "Ghost in the Machine" May 31, 2008

The kids test a falconfly repellent. All compounds are unsuccessful, except for a mystery mixture found by C.G. Also, things are being lost and the Time Flyer is moving on its own. What's more, the crew are seeing ghostly copies of themselves! Later it is found that Squibbon has learned to control the Time Flyer and chameliographic helmet and mixed the successful falconfly repellent! He also finds an egg in an unknown era that begins to hatch!

Note: The egg Squibbon brought on board was the same egg from the show's logo. 
23 "Cure For The Common Megasquid Cold" June 7, 2008
Luis believes he has a megasquid disease. Squibbon helps a forest flish from a slithersucker, and the flish tries to convince his friends that Squibby is a good Squibbon. 
24 "Queen of the Squibbons, Part 1" June 21, 2008
During a trip to the Northern Forest of 200 million years A.D., Emily discovers a baby squibbon who's been orphaned during a Megasquid attack. 
25 "Queen of the Squibbons, Part 2" June 28, 2008
The crew is trying to get back to the Northern Forest of 200 million years A.D where they left Emily, but they are facing some problems. 
26 "Snowstalker in a Strange Land" July 5, 2008
After counting the populations of animals of The Great Northern European ice the crew heads to the Amazon Grasslands not knowing that a Snowstalker has snuck on board! 

See also

External links

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