Diplodocus: A 12-Year Journey Comes to an End with New Making-of Documentary

27 October 2026 // Featured

Aaron Wood

Marketing Director & Writer

Diplo The Mighty Dinosaur © Signature Entertainment

Polish filmmaker Wojtek Wawszczyk has released a 90-minute making-of documentary exploring the extraordinary 12-year journey behind his animated feature Diplodocus, known to UK audiences as Diplo. The Mighty Dinosaur.

The documentary follows the film’s development and production, with a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges involved in bringing one of Poland’s most ambitious animated features to the screen.

Inspired by the comic books of Polish artist Tadeusz Baranowski, Diplodocus follows a young dinosaur whose world is erased, sending him on an adventure through different stories and worlds as he attempts to reunite with his family.

Development began in 2012, but it wasn’t until 2020 that production began, with animation taking place at the Warsaw-based studio Human Film. Combining 3D animation, 2D elements and live action, the film premiered at the Annecy in 2024 before securing distribution in approximately 100 countries, including a UK theatrical release in September 2025.

A Final Chapter

The documentary’s release takes on added meaning following the passing of Tadeusz Baranowski in July 2026. For Wawszczyk it represents an opportunity to honour Baranowski’s legacy and a chance to bring his own 12-year journey with Diplodocus to a close.

Speaking to Skwigly in our previous interview, Wawszczyk recalled discovering Baranowski’s comics as a child and their profound influence on his creative ambitions.

“I wanted to draw my own comic books, and that’s what I did.”

Reflecting on their relationship, Wawszczyk describes knowing Baranowski first as a childhood inspiration, then as a creative collaborator and finally as a close friend. They both remained in contact throughout and beyond the film’s production.

“First, I knew him as the Master. I was six or seven years old when I first encountered his comics. As a child, I didn’t understand everything, but I could feel that his work was something special. It made me want to create my own stories.”

Completed in 2026, the making-of documentary was edited from approximately 100 hours of footage that had been gathered over film’s development and production stages.

Tomasz Leśniak, Tadeusz Baranowski, and Wojtek Wawszczyk with storyboard in 2019 (Image credit: Wojtek Wawszczyk)

The retrospective accompanies the release of a longer director’s cut, restoring more than ten minutes of material removed from the theatrical version. Available on region-free DVD and Blu-ray, the release also includes the making-of documentary with English subtitles. The Blu-ray features separate Polish and English versions of the film, with live-action sequences filmed in both languages.

Two companion publications, The Art of Diplodocus and Storyboard, explore the film’s extensive visual development and are available to purchase through Gildia. You can buy The Art of Diplodocus and Storyboard separately, while the film’s director’s cut is also available on DVD and Blu-ray through DVDmax.

Looking to the future

While Diplodocus represents the end of a chapter in Wawszczyk’s life, he is now turning his attention to a number of new projects. One of these is Socks Odyssey, a 2D animated feature directed by Tomasz Leśniak that will be created using Moho, and is scheduled for release in 2029, with Wawszczyk working as script consultant, animatics artist and animation supervisor.

Wawszczyk is also developing an animated adaptation of his graphic novel Mr. Lightbulb, a surreal autobiographical work published by Fantagraphics in 2022. Having received a screenwriting grant from the Polish Film Institute, he is currently developing the screenplay and visual style alongside Leśniak.