The Future Is Wild

Hot from Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel comes this computer-animated look at what surprises evolution might have in store long after humans have shuffled offstage. Given the mandate to "imagine a world far, far into the future," scientists have ideated conditions at five million, 100 million, and 200 million years on, and then set about populating it with the likes of the Slithersucker (a giant slime mold), tree-dwelling squids, and the Toraton, a tortoise bigger than any dinosaur. Every so often one of the scientists pops up (the scientists are live action, by the way, not animated) on the screen to further describe characteristics of future creatures. Sort of a pastiche of the BBC/TLC series Connections, Jurassic Park, and Wild Kingdom (although sadly lacking Marlin Perkins' personal flair), this set (featuring 13 episodes on three volumes) sports solid computer animation (though probably not jaw-droppingly so to video game aficionados), with occasionally interspersed footage of real animals for contrast and comparison, for a quasi-scientific, quasi-entertaining zoological survey of some pretty weird-looking creatures. Both informative and entertaining, this is recommended. Aud: I, J, H, C, P. (M. Tribby)