First released on November 13, 1973, in local "Egyptian Theater" in Delta, and subsequently aired on several USA TV channels, The Great Dinosaur Discovery was originally planned to be trimmed to about 30 minutes for educational use. Indeed, to obtain a shortened educational version, the full-length documentary was reduced to a 24-minute-long mini-film which started airing on American television channels throughout the USA as of 1976.
The initial release of The Great Dinosaur Discovery was intended as a 30-minute educational documentary. A shorter, 24-minute version was produced for television broadcast in the United States starting in 1976.