“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: 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
