[4] The series was built around several short- and long-form stories taking place in a number of distinct environments spanning the Mesozoic era.

[5] Each episode was to be instead followed by one of a companion series, called Science of Reign of the Dinosaurs, which would feature scientists explaining the basis for the preceding story, and pointing out which parts were speculative or imaginary.

Due to cuts and changes in marketing strategy by the network and production company, the series was eventually renamed Dinosaur Revolution, and divided into a more traditional format inter-cut with "talking heads," or brief explanations from scientists.

[5] Of the four finished episodes, the first was originally planned to feature the Triassic Chinle Formation of the southwestern United States, and to include Coelophysis, Placerias and Postosuchus in the storyline.

[7] The second episode, titled "The Watering Hole," was originally intended to highlight the Jurassic Morrison Formation of western North America, which has been featured in numerous dinosaur documentaries.

At the suggestion of science consultant Tom Holtz, the setting was changed to the contemporary Lourinhã Formation of Portugal, and like the first episode, some species were swapped for equivalents in the new location.

[8] Some of the events of "The Watering Hole" were based on Holtz's own research, such as the scenes featuring an Allosaurus whose lower jaw was wounded by the tail of a sauropod.

[11][14] A press release by the Discovery Channel initially led to some confusion about the production of the series, leading some to believe that the project had been produced by Pixar rather than Creative Differences.

[17] Stories which were cut or not completed during production were to have featured animals such as Spinosaurus, Megapnosaurus,[18] Placodus, Mixosaurus, Nothosaurus,[19] Iguanodon, Agilisaurus and Prenocephale.

[20] A segment featuring an unknown pterosaur (which was suggested by biology professor Michael Habib) was also planned but could not be prepared in time for the Discovery Channel airing.

In Von Sholly's opinion, some of the best sequences were left unproduced; cuts were made not based on the quality of the story, he claimed, but on how far along in the production process the segments were.

For example, the mosasaur in the first episode lacked a tail fluke, the discovery of which came immediately after the CGI model was completed, according to director David Krentz.

[25] Finally, on September 14, Von Sholly commented on another Dinosaur Revolution review, confirming the existence of a new version consisting of the material from the show, without any narration, that would be released on Blu-ray.