The Future Is Wild

The Future Is Wild
Official logo of The Future Is Wild
GenreSpeculative evolution
Nature documentary
Created byJoanna Adams
Written byVictoria Coules
Directed byPierre de Lespinois
Narrated byChristian Rodska (UK/Europe)
Tim White (US, Discovery Channel)
ComposersNicholas Hooper
Paul Pritchard
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producersJoanna Adams
Daniela Bagliani
Walter Köhler
Ruth Omphalius
Dawn Sinsel
Emanuela Spinetta
ProducersSteve Nicholls
Paul Reddish
Jeremy Cadle
Clare Dornan
Running time20–25 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC, Arte, ZDF, ORF, Mediaset, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel
Release2 April (2002-04-02) –
25 June 2002 (2002-06-25)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Future Is Wild (also referred to by the acronym FIW)[1] is a 2002 speculative evolution docufiction miniseries and an accompanying multimedia entertainment franchise. The Future Is Wild explores the ecosystems and wildlife of three future time periods: 5, 100, and 200 million years in the future, in the format of a nature documentary. Though the settings and animals are fictional, the series has an educational purpose, serving as an informative and entertaining way to explore concepts such as evolution and climate change.

The Future Is Wild was first conceived by independent producer Joanna Adams[a] in 1996 and developed together with various scientists, including Dougal Dixon, best known as the author of the 1981 book After Man, which also explored future wildlife. The 2002 series was an international co-production, involving the British BBC, the Franco-German channel Arte, the German ZDF, the Austrian ORF, the Italian MFE - MediaForEurope (via their Mediaset division), and the American Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. Wildly successful, The Future Is Wild continues to be broadcast to this day and has been shown on TV in more than 60 countries.

The success of The Future Is Wild spawned a large multimedia franchise, including books, children's entertainment, exhibitions, theme park rides, educational material, and toys. There have also been cancelled projects, such as a potential movie adaptation, as well as a sequel series, The Future Is Wild 2. From 2016 onwards, there has been talk of "relaunching" the franchise through various projects, such as an action-adventure TV series and The Future is Wild VR (a virtual reality videogame), though no new media has yet materialized.

  1. ^ Adams, Joanna (21 March 2016). "How to expand IP beyond TV: 5 lessons from The Future Is Wild". miptrends. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference scientificamerican was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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