“It is like the Jurassic Park for preschoolers…” — Matthew Fernandes
Become an explorer! Come along with the Cassidy Family on their action-packed adventures in the fantastical ‘pre-westoric’ location. Tumble and dive into behind the scenes of your child’s new favourite show!
Dino Ranch: Island Explorers is an accelerated spin-off, filled with adventure, life lessons and most importantly, cute relatable dinosaurs. Life on the ranch has branched out and expanded with brand new experiences and company, giving children the perfect show to wonder and roam.
Dino Ranch: Island Explorers expands the “pre-westoric” world of Dino Ranch with an adventure of a lifetime. The Cassidy Kids are trading their cowboy hats for explorer hats as they travel to the legendary Dino Island, a mysterious, exotic world brimming with undiscovered dinosaurs and high-stakes excitement. Joined by their Uncle Jack, a renowned dino explorer, the siblings must rely on teamwork and bravery to run a dino conservation refuge and protect the island from a devious new villain. The series continues to celebrate family bonds and problem-solving, promising non-stop fun for kids aged 4-6 and their families.
Insight Interview
ParentingHub is here to give you the inside scoop through an exclusive interview with the creators behind this magical world. We had the privilege to speak with:
- Creator & Co-Founder of Industrial Brothers: Matthew Fernandes
- Executive Story Editor & Writer: Alan Gregg
- Director: John Lei
- Art Director & Production Designer: Ken Golden
- Director: Trevor Deane-Freeman
These creators have outdone themselves in building a cute, adventurous world for your children to be a part of. Not only are they brilliant at bringing stories to life, but they are also the perfect interviewees. An absolute pleasure!
We asked the creators: “If you guys were moving away from the Cassidy’s family ranch into a tropical island, what dinosaur would you hope to encounter?”
Trevor Deane-Freeman’s immediate response was, “The friendliest one!”
Matthew Fernandes said, “I think I would say the Mosasaurus, which is the big underwater dinos. That was one of the underwater dinos that we really wanted to explore in the prehistoric underwater world. It was one we had not done previously, and we are really excited to do, so that would be a good one.”
Alan Gregg interjected saying, “I want to see Stegosaurus, that’s my favourite.”
But would you want to encounter any?
We asked Alan Gregg, “There are many educational themes spread out throughout the episodes. Is there any particular scene that you hope is reflected through the show and resonates with kids everywhere?”
Without hesitation, he answered, “I think there is a number of themes but individual to episodes. The overall theme is about family sticking together. The three kids are adopted kids and they come together. Despite being different both ethnically and personality wise. It is the way they always come together to save the day, so I think it is family first. It is an adventure show, and it is exciting and funny, but it is really grounded in the power of family to stick together.”
Turning to Matthew Fernandes we asked him, “What would you say was the biggest challenge in making the spinoff feel fresh, while keeping the original heart of the series?”
Matthew replied, “The original series, we had done 150 episodes. There were a lot of stories. We really wanted to maintain the characters, but we wanted them to grow. We wanted to put them in settings that challenged them. So, the biggest challenge is ‘how could we up the stakes?’ How could we bring in the same level of charm, but have everything feel really fresh and feel really new? By doing that, I think we were upping the action, the level of jeopardy and the adventure.”
He continued, “A lot of it was in response to what the kids were responding to. When you are telling a story about dinosaurs, you really need to deliver on the dinosaurs, so we wanted to do a spin off that really focused on dinosaurs. It is like the Jurassic Park for preschoolers and we wanted to go into a world where it felt like we were stepping back in time and really feeling like it is prehistoric. So, I think that was the biggest challenge. How can we up the level of action and how can we go bigger?”
Speaking to Ken Golden, we asked, “Is there a dinosaur design that you’re especially proud of?”
Ken’s answer was, “One of my favourites is the Mosasaurus or any underwater dino. I really like the croc and the baby croc, in the episode where Clara steals the little baby from the mom. It was nice getting a different type of shape and variety from what we had done on Dino Ranch. So, I would say any of the water dinosaurs or the croc, which is mostly in the jungle.”
We asked John Lei, “What is it about exploration that you think resonates so strongly with kids?”
John replied, “I think it is just not knowing what is around the corner. It is an exciting thing when you are dropped into an almost alien environment, an environment you are not familiar with and getting to explore and discover. That for me is two of the big things and I think kids can relate to that and really look forward to that excitement because kids love to be excited. Kids love to be on the edge of their seat when they’re watching any of our shows, right? Having that elevated action and the stakes being fairly realistic in a sense and then feeling and aspiring to what these characters are doing, being on this tropical island, they are exploring and discovering either these new dinos or just new areas around the island, so it is a very exciting thing to do.”
We asked the creators, “If you guys had unlimited budget and no production limits, what’s one adventure you’d love to create for Dino Island?”
Ken Golden said, “I immediately picture a stormy sea or something.”
Matthew Fernandes said, “I think like big stampedes and hurricanes. The challenge of the budget with the show is just the amount of assets on screen all at once. What makes this show challenging is that we have our three main heroes that each ride a dinosaur. So, you are having six characters all on screen who are all performing and interacting. Then you throw in more dinos that could get up to eight or ten different characters all in a scene, which is what the show needs and deserves. We always wanted to push it more and have more dinosaurs and more assets. So, I think it is really trying to put as many assets and characters and new characters on screen. We would definitely add more characters coming to the island and more dinosaurs.”
John Lei said, “I think obviously we continually push the cinematic feel which is what Dino Ranch is all about. But even obviously if we had an unlimited budget, it would be something more Journey to the Centre of the Earth, where we have gigantic set pieces where they travel everywhere. They can be in the ocean, on the water or be in these new undiscovered ancient civilisations. I think anything like that, that really expands our world is what would be ideal too.”
Focusing on the characters in the show, we asked, “From the characters that are in the show, who would you pick to be stuck with on a dino-ridden island?”
Matthew Fernandes proclaimed, “Uncle Jack’s my favourite character!”
Alan Gregg answered, “I am closest in personality to Miguel, so I’d probably say Miguel. I think Jon would annoy me after a while.”
Trevor Deane-Freeman replied, “Jon would be a fun one because you know you would see all of the islands. He makes a good tour guide.”
John Lei explained, “I love all of them, I think naturally I would agree with Alan and say Miguel because I relate to Miguel quite a bit. But my truthful answer is I would probably pick Min, because I could probably do a lot of stuff Miguel would do, but I cannot do what Min does. I would love to explore too. So I have a part of Jon in me, but Min, I think she’s a really great character and we can certainly push her more. She is a character that would save my butt 100 times out of 100 times!”
We asked, “Which dino do you think would make the best pet?”
Trevor Deane-Freeman’s answer was, “Well, surprisingly, Big Rex would make a pretty good pet from episode 108. Not all the time, but sometimes.”
Matthew Fernandes said, “Maybe a micro raptor, a little tiny micro raptor.”
John Lei’s response was, “That is a tough one because I like a lot of them for different reasons as well. If I had to choose one, I don’t know why, but the Rhino Rex, even though it farts a lot.”
But which dinosaur would make the best pet for your child?
Parenting Hub is excited to be showcasing this amazing new action-packed adventure for all kiddies aged 4 – 6. An exciting world where your child can be drawn into the fantastical ‘pre-westoric’ location, full of roaming dinosaurs and exciting life challenges. One where life-long friendships, strong family bonds, animal care and many more exciting experiences await in every episode.
Prehistoric and still relevant, catch Dino Ranch: Island Explorers Premiering on Cartoonito Africa (DStv Channel 302) on Monday, 14th September
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