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* DeathByIrony: Al both witnesses, and is ultimately on the receiving end of this.
** He is "saved" from being trapped in [[QuicksandSucks quicksand]] when a larger ''Allosaurus'' scares him away from a trapped ''Stegosaurus''. The larger ''Allosaurus'' proceeds to become trapped and die there in his place.
** Al's final fate is also quite ironic. It's during a failed attempt to hunt a flock of ''Dryosaurus'', (which due to being a small herbivore without any of the bulk of the sauropods or the armour of ''Stegosaurus'' is one of the ''easiest'' prey items to kill) that he trips on a log and falls, giving him the [[AgonyOfTheFeet broken toe]] that prevents him from ever hunting again and eventually kills him.
** He is "saved" from being trapped in [[QuicksandSucks quicksand]] when a larger ''Allosaurus'' scares him away from a trapped ''Stegosaurus''. The larger ''Allosaurus'' proceeds to become trapped and die there in his place.
** Al's final fate is also quite ironic. It's during a failed attempt to hunt a flock of ''Dryosaurus'', (which due to being a small herbivore without any of the bulk of the sauropods or the armour of ''Stegosaurus'' is one of the ''easiest'' prey items to kill) that he trips on a log and falls, giving him the [[AgonyOfTheFeet broken toe]] that prevents him from ever hunting again and eventually kills him.
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* AgonyOfTheFeet: Breaking his right middle toe by tripping over a log is what ultimately causes Big Al’s death. Said toe becomes infected and later undergoes necrosis — that is, ''the tissue inside the toe dies and starts rotting while Al is still alive''.
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->"''In death, Big Al represents a frozen moment in the fast and furious life of a carnivorous dinosaur.''"
-->-- '''Creator/KennethBranagh''''s final line in the special.
-->-- '''Creator/KennethBranagh''''s final line in the special.
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* ArtEvolution: Nearly every dinosaur's model and textures were given much more detail in the special, including ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus''. And of course the ''Allosaurus'', being the stars of the show. Just compare the new ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' model to the old one from ''Time of the Titans''.
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* AnimalsNotToScale: The episode portrays ''Allosaurus'' as regularly reaching far larger sizes than what is known in real life (average size for adults is about eight metres, maxing out at just under ten metres). Big Al in particular is depicted as dying at ten metres in length, and is still not full-grown, but the real Big Al fossil is of an animal just over seven metres in length.
* ArtEvolution: Nearly every dinosaur's model and textures were given much more detail in the special, including ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus''. And of course the ''Allosaurus'', being the stars of the show. Just compare the new ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' model to the old one from ''Time of the Titans''. In particular, they fixed the anatomical error of the crests above the eyes, correctly placing them in front this time.
* ArtEvolution: Nearly every dinosaur's model and textures were given much more detail in the special, including ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus''. And of course the ''Allosaurus'', being the stars of the show. Just compare the new ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' model to the old one from ''Time of the Titans''. In particular, they fixed the anatomical error of the crests above the eyes, correctly placing them in front this time.
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* MuckingInTheMud: In one scene two Allosaurus are lured into a mud trap by a Stegosaurus carcass and by the end of the day, both of them are dead and being eaten by tiny Pterosaurs. Al avoids the same fate because he learned to avoid carrion and the large carnivores it attracts.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved for paleotologists to get best idea of an ''Allosaurus'''s life, and becoming one of the most completed specimen on display.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved for paleotologists to get best idea of an ''Allosaurus'''s life, and becoming one of the most completed specimen on display.
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* MuckingInTheMud: In one scene two Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' are lured into a mud trap by a Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' carcass and by the end of the day, both of them are dead and being eaten by tiny Pterosaurs.pterosaurs. Al avoids the same fate because he learned to avoid carrion and the large carnivores it attracts.
* PaletteSwap: There are two "new" animals in the special, the ''Dryosaurus'' and the ''Apatosaurus''. Both are clones of previously existing animals from "Time of Titans", the ''Othnielia'' and ''Diplodocus'', respectively. The ''Dryosaurus'' is given a sandier colouration, while the ''Apatosaurus'' has a shorter neck, darker colouration, and no spines.
* PerspectiveFlip: While "Time of Titans" had ''Diplodocus'' as the main character and ''Allosaurus'' as the main antagonist, the special flips it by having an ''Allosaurus'' as the protagonist, and ''Diplodocus'' as one of their prey.
* RandomEventsPlot: Since this is just chronicling the life of a non-anthropomorphic animal, there's no actual plot, it's basically just a series of vignettes set over the course of Big Al's life with little connection between them outside of having the same main character.
* SerendipitousSurvival: At one point, Al comes across a quicksand pit with the carcasses of dinosaurs that have become mired in it and died of exposure. Two ''Allosaurus'' attracted by the smell are caught in the muck and die, while Al only avoids the same fate because he's a juvenile and learned that the high likelihood of encountering larger predators exceeds the risk taken by scavenging.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved forpaleotologists paleontologists to get best idea of an ''Allosaurus'''s life, and becoming one of the most completed specimen on display.
* PaletteSwap: There are two "new" animals in the special, the ''Dryosaurus'' and the ''Apatosaurus''. Both are clones of previously existing animals from "Time of Titans", the ''Othnielia'' and ''Diplodocus'', respectively. The ''Dryosaurus'' is given a sandier colouration, while the ''Apatosaurus'' has a shorter neck, darker colouration, and no spines.
* PerspectiveFlip: While "Time of Titans" had ''Diplodocus'' as the main character and ''Allosaurus'' as the main antagonist, the special flips it by having an ''Allosaurus'' as the protagonist, and ''Diplodocus'' as one of their prey.
* RandomEventsPlot: Since this is just chronicling the life of a non-anthropomorphic animal, there's no actual plot, it's basically just a series of vignettes set over the course of Big Al's life with little connection between them outside of having the same main character.
* SerendipitousSurvival: At one point, Al comes across a quicksand pit with the carcasses of dinosaurs that have become mired in it and died of exposure. Two ''Allosaurus'' attracted by the smell are caught in the muck and die, while Al only avoids the same fate because he's a juvenile and learned that the high likelihood of encountering larger predators exceeds the risk taken by scavenging.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved for
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* TheKlutz: In the Making Of... documentary, one of the paleontologists speculates Al may have been this, explaining over ''nineteen'' different bone injuries he suffered during his life.
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''The Ballad of Big Al'' (''Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special'' in America) is the 2000 spinoff special to the BBC documentary series ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''. Taking place in the Jurassic plains of Wyoming 145 million years ago, the special follows the life a young ''Allosaurus'' named "Big Al". Considered to be one of the most complete ''Allosaurus'' fossils, Al's bones reveal many aspects of his life and the challenges he faced as one of the apex predators of the Jurassic.
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''The Ballad of Big Al'' (''Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special'' in America) is the 2000 a two-part special released in 2000, and a spinoff special to of the BBC documentary series ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''. Taking place in the Jurassic plains of Wyoming 145 million years ago, the special follows the life a young ''Allosaurus'' named "Big Al". Considered to be one of the most complete ''Allosaurus'' fossils, Al's bones reveal many aspects of his life and the challenges he faced as one of the apex predators of the Jurassic.
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* [[CrossingTheDesert Crossing The Salt Plain]]: This trope is used for the ''Diplodocus'' attack, as well as towards the end near Al's death.
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* [[CrossingTheDesert Crossing The Salt Plain]]: CrossingTheDesert: This trope is used for the ''Diplodocus'' attack, as well as towards the end near Al's death.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/23ea4758eb99b0c3ffa7baf8a8dd9bc14d8729c5.jpg]]
''The Ballad of Big Al'' (''Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special'' in America) is the 2000 spinoff special to the BBC documentary series ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''. Taking place in the Jurassic plains of Wyoming 145 million years ago, the special follows the life a young ''Allosaurus'' named "Big Al". Considered to be one of the most complete ''Allosaurus'' fossils, Al's bones reveal many aspects of his life and the challenges he faced as one of the apex predators of the Jurassic.
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!Tropes present include:
* AffectionateNickname: "Big Al" was the name given to the complete allosaur skeleton that was found, partly because the paleontologists felt a little wistful Al lived fast and died young.
* ArtEvolution: Nearly every dinosaur's model and textures were given much more detail in the special, including ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus''. And of course the ''Allosaurus'', being the stars of the show. Just compare the new ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' model to the old one from ''Time of the Titans''.
* BalladOfX
* [[CrossingTheDesert Crossing The Salt Plain]]: This trope is used for the ''Diplodocus'' attack, as well as towards the end near Al's death.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''The Ballad of Big Al'' serves as this for ''Allosaurus'', which originally only featured as an "antagonist" in "Time of the Titans".
* DeathOfAChild:
** One of Al's baby siblings is killed.
** Technically Al himself, who died as a maturing juvenile.
* HadToBeSharp: Allosaurs lived in an extremely harsh world, and getting to adulthood was not an easy task -- Al failed.
* MuckingInTheMud: In one scene two Allosaurus are lured into a mud trap by a Stegosaurus carcass and by the end of the day, both of them are dead and being eaten by tiny Pterosaurs. Al avoids the same fate because he learned to avoid carrion and the large carnivores it attracts.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved for paleotologists to get best idea of an ''Allosaurus'''s life, and becoming one of the most completed specimen on display.
* ShownTheirWork: The second part of the special, which deals with how we learned all this stuff about Al and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' in general.
* SpecialEffectsEvolution: When compared to the original series, the dinosaur models are more detailed, the puppets are more convincing, and most notably the shots are far more dynamic with a lot of camera movement, something the original series was keen to avoid. There's also a lot less use of composited bushes and shrubs to hide foot contacts.
* {{Spinoff}}: ''The Ballad of Big Al'' is a spinoff of ''Walking With Dinosaurs'', and ''Big Al'' itself came with a Making Of... documentary that took a look at the basis of the show and the science behind it.
* TemptingFate: Al's a horny teen, but the mature female he approaches is in a ''real'' bad mood, and he finds out quickly that female ''Allosaurus'' are more vicious than any other dino he'll ever come upon.
* TraumaCongaLine: Summarizes Big Al's later life. First, he winds up with broken ribs and a torn claw after an attempt to mate ended with the female violently rejecting him. Later, he breaks his right middle toe after a failed hunting attempt and it gets infected. Too weak to hunt, he slowly dies from starvation and dehydration.
----
''The Ballad of Big Al'' (''Allosaurus: A Walking with Dinosaurs Special'' in America) is the 2000 spinoff special to the BBC documentary series ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs''. Taking place in the Jurassic plains of Wyoming 145 million years ago, the special follows the life a young ''Allosaurus'' named "Big Al". Considered to be one of the most complete ''Allosaurus'' fossils, Al's bones reveal many aspects of his life and the challenges he faced as one of the apex predators of the Jurassic.
----
!Tropes present include:
* AffectionateNickname: "Big Al" was the name given to the complete allosaur skeleton that was found, partly because the paleontologists felt a little wistful Al lived fast and died young.
* ArtEvolution: Nearly every dinosaur's model and textures were given much more detail in the special, including ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Diplodocus''. And of course the ''Allosaurus'', being the stars of the show. Just compare the new ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' model to the old one from ''Time of the Titans''.
* BalladOfX
* [[CrossingTheDesert Crossing The Salt Plain]]: This trope is used for the ''Diplodocus'' attack, as well as towards the end near Al's death.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''The Ballad of Big Al'' serves as this for ''Allosaurus'', which originally only featured as an "antagonist" in "Time of the Titans".
* DeathOfAChild:
** One of Al's baby siblings is killed.
** Technically Al himself, who died as a maturing juvenile.
* HadToBeSharp: Allosaurs lived in an extremely harsh world, and getting to adulthood was not an easy task -- Al failed.
* MuckingInTheMud: In one scene two Allosaurus are lured into a mud trap by a Stegosaurus carcass and by the end of the day, both of them are dead and being eaten by tiny Pterosaurs. Al avoids the same fate because he learned to avoid carrion and the large carnivores it attracts.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: Big Al struggles to survive the harsh Jurassic world, often failing more hunts than succeeding and barely escaping death that have claimed other ''Allosaurus''. He manages to live long enough to reach sexual maturity, but his life is cut short when he suffers a fatal injury on his middle toe, preventing him from hunting during the worst part of the dry season. With no food or water to sustain himself, Big Al dies without reaching his full potential or passing on his genes to the next generation. The only bright spot in his brutal short life is that his skeleton will be well-preserved for paleotologists to get best idea of an ''Allosaurus'''s life, and becoming one of the most completed specimen on display.
* ShownTheirWork: The second part of the special, which deals with how we learned all this stuff about Al and ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Allosaurus]]'' in general.
* SpecialEffectsEvolution: When compared to the original series, the dinosaur models are more detailed, the puppets are more convincing, and most notably the shots are far more dynamic with a lot of camera movement, something the original series was keen to avoid. There's also a lot less use of composited bushes and shrubs to hide foot contacts.
* {{Spinoff}}: ''The Ballad of Big Al'' is a spinoff of ''Walking With Dinosaurs'', and ''Big Al'' itself came with a Making Of... documentary that took a look at the basis of the show and the science behind it.
* TemptingFate: Al's a horny teen, but the mature female he approaches is in a ''real'' bad mood, and he finds out quickly that female ''Allosaurus'' are more vicious than any other dino he'll ever come upon.
* TraumaCongaLine: Summarizes Big Al's later life. First, he winds up with broken ribs and a torn claw after an attempt to mate ended with the female violently rejecting him. Later, he breaks his right middle toe after a failed hunting attempt and it gets infected. Too weak to hunt, he slowly dies from starvation and dehydration.
----
