BACKGROUND
In the year 2000, the world celebrated a new millennium.
After the panic of the “Millennium Bug” and the impact that might have had on computers and technology – but didn’t – we saw the year 2000 as a chance for a more hopeful future, and a fresh start. Sadly, that wasn’t exactly the case for Disney with their first release of the millennium: Dinosaur.
It’s not like Dinosaur has been labelled as a terrible film, because it actually did quite well at the box-office with critics praising the visuals of the film, but it did not commence a new era of brilliant movies. Instead, Dinosaur began Disney’s “Post-Renaissance Era”. Not a particularly exciting name to match a not particularly exciting era of Disney’s films, basically saying that anything released during this time period does not measure up to the wonders of those Disney movies of the 1990s.
Not only that, but Dinosaur is not considered a beloved Disney animated classic. I personally don’t know many people who have seen the movie, and I only hear it mentioned in the context of the theme park attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
I hadn’t watched Dinosaur in years, having filed it away in my mind as “one of those boring Disney films I can say I’ve seen but never want to watch again”. I was ready to hate Dinosaur again after re-watching it, since I’m not a massive fan of dinosaurs, though I do quite like the Jurassic Park films, but that’s mostly because of the scenes of dinosaurs chasing and eating people, and not for a fascination with dinosaurs themselves.
I remember the opening sequence of Dinosaur only too well, where we follow a dinosaur egg being flown all across the world and being fought over by multiple species of animal. This sequence was used as the trailer for the movie on so many VHS tapes. At least that’s what it felt like. Maybe it wasn’t on all of them, but it was at least run as the trailer before Toy Story 2’s theatrical release in 1999, and on the Tarzan VHS tape[1].
Anyway, the point is I had always found that sequence long and boring. It is around five-minutes long with no dialogue, though I will say the music is good and the visuals are impressive, but I don’t want to see a nature documentary at the best of times. Because of that, and memories of dusty, desert landscapes and many scenes of dinosaurs walking with seemingly no result, I’d never been interested in watching Dinosaur again, and I was not excited to watch it. But once again, shockingly – or not shockingly, because this seems to happen a lot with me – I actually quite liked it…Luckily, where the critics raged in fury around the story and anthropomorphised dinosaurs, they are the reason I liked the movie.
PLOT
Dinosaur follows an Iguanodon called Aladar, whose story starts when he is still an egg. His mother is keeping her nest of eggs safe when a Carnotaurus starts to attack the herd of dinosaurs; Aladar’s egg is the only one not crushed by the Carnotaurus. However, this then sparks a fight over the egg between different dinosaurs. The egg travels through water and over cliffs whilst in the mouth of a flying dinosaur – probably a pterodactyl or something, but I’m no dino expert so I’m not sure exactly what species. Eventually, the egg falls onto Lemur Island and promptly hatches, where the lemurs, after some discussion, decide to raise the baby dinosaur as their own.
One night, several years later, the lemurs and Aladar witness a meteor shower, which destroys their island. Aladar manages to swim across to the mainland with the lemurs on his back, where they see that the mainland has become a deserted wasteland, full of rocks and sand. After an attack by some Velociraptors, Aladar and the lemurs stumble upon a herd of dinosaurs, on their way to the hallowed Nesting Grounds. The herd is being led by Kron, and his second-in-command, Bruton. They do not care about the safety of the other dinosaurs, and push them to continue walking in relentless heat without water, deciding that those who do not survive deserve to perish for being weaker than the others. Deciding there’s more safety in numbers against hungry dinosaurs, Aladar and the lemurs join the trek, where they befriend the older female dinosaurs, who are left at the back of the herd, struggling to keep up with the rest of the group.
They keep pushing until they reach a lake, however, it has dried up. Kron orders the others to keep walking. Aladar and the older dinosaurs, Baylene, a Brachiosaurus, and Eema, a Styracosaurus, stay put and manage to extract water from the dried-up lake, by pressing their hooves into it firmly, bringing the water up to the surface. Kron, annoyed at Aladar’s clear leadership skill and intellect, reluctantly allows the group to stay for water, after he selfishly gets plenty for himself first! Also, at this time, Aladar becomes close to Neera, a fellow Iguanodon, and sister of Kron.
While resting at the lake, Bruton informs Kron that two Carnotaurus are following the herd after his scouting party was attacked. Kron immediately orders everyone to leave quickly. Aladar tries to push Baylene and Eema to move faster but they cannot. Reluctantly, Aladar slows down with them, losing sight of the herd ahead. They take shelter in a cave one night, finding an injured Bruton who has been left to die by Kron. After some persuasion by Aladar to join them in the cave, instead of lying out in the rain, Bruton relents. Unfortunately, the Carnotaurus find them and start to attack. Aladar ushers out Baylene and Eema, and finds that Bruton has sacrificed himself to the Carnotaurus to start a rock slide in the cave, which separates the Carnotaurus away from the others. The rock slide kills Bruton and one of the two Carnotaurus, leaving the remaining Carnotaurus to retreat.
Aladar and the others continue walking through the cave, but come to a dead end. Baylene and Eema, with a sudden burst of energy, not wanting to have come all this way for nothing, smash through the wall, and the group find they are at the Nesting Grounds; the first ones there. They discover that the entrance to the grounds, where the rest of the herd will be trying to enter, has been completely blocked off by a landslide. Aladar quickly goes back to warn the others, where he finds that Kron is instructing the group to climb up the dangerous wall of rocks. Aladar tells him there is another way to get there, but having spent too much time arguing with Kron, the remaining Carnotaurus arrives. Aladar encourages the group to stand together and roar at the dinosaur. The Carnotaurus seems to back off, until he sees Kron, alone, pulling himself over the rocks. The Carnotaurus rushes to attack Kron, with Aladar and Neera running to help him. Aladar successfully pushes the Carnotaurus off the ledge, and it falls to its death. Unfortunately, Kron does not survive the attack…Aladar leads the rest of the group to the Nesting Grounds.
The film then flashes forward a few years to a happy Nesting Grounds, where all different species of dinosaur are living together, as well as some more lemurs. They are celebrating a new generation of dinosaurs about to hatch from their eggs, including Aladar and Neera’s future children, with one of them hatching right at the end of the movie.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Clearly, Aladar is the main character of Dinosaur. Aladar is voiced by D.B Sweeney, who would go on to voice the character of Sitka in Brother Bear (2003) for Disney. He has since appeared in various television series, such as having a recurring role as Larry in Two and a Half Men from 2013 to 2014, and voicing the character of Avatar Aang in The Legend of Korra (2012-14). Currently, Sweeney narrates the reality series Mountain Men (2012-present) on the History Channel.
Aladar is an Iguanodon who is raised by a family of lemurs, which is a strange concept, but no different to Mowgli in The Jungle Book, and much like Mowgli, Aladar never considers that his family aren’t like him and that he isn’t like them, despite having no fur and being much bigger than all of them. Luckily, Iguanodons were herbivores so there was no fear of Aladar developing a taste for lemur as he got older – that would have been a very different film! But the point is, it doesn’t matter to Aladar; the lemurs are his family, no matter what. Everything is peaceful and there are no questions in Aladar’s mind, until the meteor shower hits and Aladar meets other dinosaurs for the first time on the mainland. Despite this, he is still incredibly caring towards his lemur family, and never leaves them behind to start a new life with the dinosaurs. Aladar is very kind towards the older members of the dinosaur herd, Baylene and Eema. He wants everyone to get to the Nesting Grounds, regardless of their age or strength, and Aladar puts himself in danger multiple times to ensure this happens. He’s incredibly selfless.
Unlike Kron. Kron is also an Iguanodon, and the leader of the herd, however, he is not a compassionate leader. Kron believes that only those who deserve to survive will survive the journey, so there is no point slowing everyone else down just to help those who are too old or weak to make it. The overall theme of Dinosaur is about “the survival of the fittest”. Kron believes wholeheartedly in that, whereas Aladar doesn’t, thinking that of course everyone deserves to survive, whether they seem weak, or struggle at times. Aladar doesn’t want anyone to be cast aside for that, unlike Kron. I suppose in nature “survival of the fittest” generally wins out, but that wouldn’t be very happy for a Disney movie, so instead they have turned that idea on its head, by showing that it’s better to be kind and sympathetic to everyone, regardless of their appearance or circumstances.
Dinosaur also shows that being united against a common threat or enemy is better than being divided against it, as we see at the end with the Carnotaurus attack which is prevented by Aladar’s quick-thinking. Kron recognises the intellect and leadership qualities in Aladar and feels threatened by him, especially when Aladar openly challenges Kron’s plans and orders. Samuel E. Wright, the voice of Kron, said that he believed Kron is misunderstood as he is trying to do the right thing, by following what previous generations of his kind had done by getting to the Nesting Grounds at the same time each year[2]. I agree with this, however, Kron needn’t have been so aggressive every time his authority was questioned. It’s a real shame that we don’t get to see Kron change his ways. As he is killed by the Carnotaurus, he doesn’t get a chance at redemption. Samuel E. Wright voiced Sebastian in The Little Mermaid (1989), and many of the franchise’s spin-offs, like the television series and the two direct-to-video sequels. Wright starred as the original Mufasa in The Lion King Broadway musical cast in 1997. He sadly passed away in May 2021.
Neera, Kron’s sister, finds herself torn between her sibling loyalty to Kron and her increasing interest in Aladar. When Aladar and Neera first meet, she doesn’t think much of him, and thanks to an embarrassing encounter with Zini, one of Aladar’s overly enthusiastic, and sometimes inappropriate, lemur family, Neera thinks Aladar is a “jerkosaurus”, as she believes Aladar is wolf-whistling at her, when actually it was Zini. In the end, though, Neera likes how Aladar is looking out for the older dinosaurs, as she looks out for the younger ones. She doesn’t understand to begin with why Aladar believes everyone can survive the journey, but she soon realises it’s in Aladar’s nature to be caring. Some say that Aladar and Neera remind them of Simba and Nala in The Lion King (1994), but to me, they remind me more of Flik and Atta in A Bug’s Life (1998), because Aladar’s awkwardness reminds me of Flik and Neera has quite a royal sort of presence so that makes me think of Atta. Regardless of who they remind you of, Neera and Aladar make a cute couple.
Neera is voiced by American actress Julianna Margulies who has recently appeared in TV series such as The Morning Show (2021-present) on AppleTV+ and The Good Wife (2009-2016). She also starred as Carol Hathaway in the medical drama series ER (1994-2009), for which she won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and one Primetime Emmy. For her role as Alicia Florrick in The Good Wife, Margulies won a Critics’ Choice Television Award, a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Primetime Emmys.
For Aladar’s lemur family, they are an eclectic bunch! Zini is the awkward, unkempt, teenage member of the lemur group, who thinks he’s a bit of a ladies’ man. He’s not throughout most of the movie, though he does find some ladies who are interested in him when they meet other lemurs at the Nesting Grounds. Zini is funny, and definitely the comic relief of the film, though sometimes he is a bit too much! Zini is voiced by American actor Max Casella who has starred in the likes of Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993) and The Sopranos (2001-2007). Then, there is Suri, the sweet, fun-loving little sister of the group, voiced by a young Hayden Panettiere, who would’ve just recently voiced Dot in A Bug’s Life (1998) at the time of production on Dinosaur, and went on to appear in teen comedy films such as Ice Princess (2005) and Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) before having lead roles as Claire Bennet in Heroes (2006-10) and Juliette Barnes in Nashville (2012-18).
Rounding out the lemur group are Plio, the mother of Suri and sister of Zini, and Yar, Plio and Zini’s father. Plio is a devoted mother, and is the one to fight to keep Aladar, when Yar believes he will grow up to be a monster and they must get rid of him. Fortunately, Yar doesn’t have the heart to do that and he grows to like Aladar and see him as a member of the family. Yar is voiced by Ossie Davis, who appeared on stage and screen from the 1940s up until his death in 2005. Davis starred as Martin Luther King Sr. in the NBC miniseries King (1978), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Davis won a Tony Award for his role in the musical Jamaica (1958). He even appeared as Grandpa Dolittle in Dr. Dolittle (1998) alongside Eddie Murphy. Alfre Woodward voiced Plio. Woodward has appeared in numerous films and television series, such as 12 Years a Slave (2013) and voicing Sarabi in The Lion King (2019) remake. Woodward also appeared as Betty Applewhite in Desperate Housewives (2004-12) in the first two seasons, and as Dr. Roxanne Turner in the last three series of St. Elsewhere (1982-88). More recently, Alfre Woodward has starred as Mariah Stokes-Dillard in the Marvel Netflix series Luke Cage (2016-18).
Finally, the other main characters are Baylene, an elderly Brachiosaurus, and Eema, an elderly Styracosaurus, who also has a pet Ankylosaurus called Url, who acts like a dog. I don’t quite know why Url was necessary in this movie; I didn’t find the character useful to the story in any way, and found it was a strange addition to have a dinosaur with a “pet”. But Eema and Baylene are good characters. They seem quite weak at the start, slowing Aladar down all the time, and making him work harder, constantly having to pick them back up when they’re too exhausted to go on, and keep their spirits up when they see the herd moving further away from them, passing other dinosaurs collapsed in the dust from exhaustion. It must have been difficult for them to carry on, but luckily, they had Aladar to help them. In return for that favour, both Baylene and Eema summon up the strength to knock down that rock wall in the cave, providing the hope to the group just when Aladar and the others need it most. They ultimately are the two to get everyone to the Nesting Grounds by finding the way there, so we could say they are the heroines of the movie!
Baylene is voiced by English actress Joan Plowright, who performed in multiple stage productions early in her career before moving into film. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in the play A Taste of Honey in 1961, and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in the film Enchanted April (1991) and in the television film Stalin (1992). Eema is voiced by American singer and actress Della Reese, who played Tess in the TV drama Touched by an Angel (1994-2003) and went on to guest star in numerous television series including That’s So Raven in 2006 and The Young and the Restless in 2009. Reese passed away in November 2017.
MUSIC
The music for Dinosaur was created by James Newton Howard, who composed the score for the movie, and Lebo M., who provided the vocals for the score; there are no songs in Dinosaur, making this the third Disney animated feature film to do this, after The Black Cauldron (1985) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). I think singing dinosaurs would’ve been a step too far anyway, don’t you think? Lebo M. had previously worked with Disney on the African choir that performs on the superb soundtrack for The Lion King (1994). Dinosaur was the first Disney animated movie that James Newton Howard had worked on, but he would then go on to write the score for other non-traditional Disney animated classics, the adventure films Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002). He also composed the score for Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).
Within the Dinosaur score, there are some particularly memorable pieces of music. The piece “The Egg Travels” showcases the talents of both James Newton Howard and Lebo M. and his choir. It is the most remembered instrumental from the score, as it accompanies the long opening sequence of Dinosaur, and it actually makes you feel like you’re flying along with the dinosaur egg. The other instrumental I like is “The Courtship”, which plays during the lemurs “courting” scene in the trees of Lemur Island. I like this piece as it is as close as you’re going to get to a “dance number” in Dinosaur! It’s an upbeat piece of music to match one of the few happy moments in the film. These are my two favourite pieces from the score, but generally, the whole score is great. It does well to guide the viewer’s emotions through the various scenes, whether they are scenes of adventure, peril, wonder, or tenderness[3].
PRODUCTION
The first idea for Dinosaur as a movie actually didn’t come from anyone at Disney. It came from Visual Effects animator Phil Tippett, whilst working on the set of the movie RoboCop (1987) in 1986. Tippett was telling others working on the movie that he had an idea for a movie about dinosaurs. It would’ve been quite gory, detailing violent attacks and fights between dinosaurs, as well as the death of the species. Paul Verhoeven, director of RoboCop, liked Tippett’s idea, so they decided to pitch the idea to Jeffrey Katzenberg at the Disney studios. Their plan was to make the movie using stop-motion, and that there would be no dialogue in the movie; it was simply to be a journey through the Cretaceous period. Katzenberg was happy enough with the idea, so allowed them to hire a writer and start work on the specifics, like story and medium. Then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation Thomas Schumacher was on a trip to Eastern Europe in 1990 after the release of The Rescuers Down Under (1990) to look for traditional animators, but Schumacher also ended up meeting people to talk about this stop-motion dinosaur film.
It was from this point that the movie started to become more “Disney” and less and less like Tippett’s original idea. Disney firstly looked at making Dinosaur without dialogue, to set it apart from Don Bluth’s successful film The Land Before Time (1988), but this evolved into wanting some dialogue, but only to express what the dinosaur characters were thinking, then this turned into the dinosaurs talking and being anthropomorphised, which made them more like people, and less like real animals. The original team boycotted a meeting with Katzenberg and removed themselves from the project. Tippett even claims this event led to him being banned from the Disney lot by Katzenberg, until Katzenberg left the company in 1994. Verhoeven encouraged Tippett to forget this dinosaur movie and go work on Jurassic Park (1993), where Tippett went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects and will forever be linked to one of the best and biggest “dinosaur movies” of all time. What a good move! But it meant progress stalled for Disney, as they felt, with the success of Jurassic Park, they had to do this film digitally.
After many years of research and development into digital techniques throughout the 1990s, and with the directors Ralph Zondag, who had worked on The Land Before Time (1988), and Eric Leighton, who had previously worked with Phil Tippett, finally being confirmed, the movie could move forward. Eventually, Disney found that the best result came from doing something that had never been done before: blending computer-generated characters into live-action backgrounds. It was a crazy idea at the time but the team at Disney felt they could do it. A group went on a research trip to find locations that looked “prehistoric” to fit the scenes. They used a 3D workbook as the guide to shooting these real-life backgrounds; the workbook basically contained a mock-up of each individual scene. The locations chosen were Canaima National Park and Angel Falls in Venezuela, as well as areas such as those in Hawaii and Tahiti. The backgrounds had to be filmed as though the characters were already there, so lots of cranes and red screens were used to simulate the movements and sizes of the dinosaurs that would be put in. The locations were then created into full 3D images. They also had a “Dino Cam”, a camera on a rig about 50 feet high, which filmed the aerial shots.
While this was happening, Disney animators were sketching out the design for the characters, which were then computer-animated. After that, the voice actors came in, and they used a facial animation system on the characters so they could fully express emotions, as it was decided that the animals would talk – Michael Eisner’s decision – with some of the voice actors own facial expressions being used. Finally, they developed an intricate software to provide the characters’ muscle and skins. Then, they had to blend it altogether[4]. Specifically, for the character design, lemurs were easier to design than dinosaurs as they still exist so there were reference points, whereas thoughts on how dinosaurs looked have been improved and changed over time based on further research. But the biggest issue with lemurs was their fur, as it had to react to wind and weather, look different in different lighting, and be dusty and messed up, so Disney had to create a fur tool to make it look as realistic as possible. They then used this same tool for any grass in scenes, as it had to have the same range of motion, especially when heavy dinosaurs step on it in the Nesting Grounds scenes, so it needed to flatten and then come back up again, and be able to move in the wind, just like fur. Palaeontology experts were consulted on the dinosaurs’ designs, as well as author and artist James Gurney who had written the Dinotopia books, amongst others.
For the special effects, like the meteor shower, many of these scenes were filmed by using real explosives in real settings as part of the live-action 3D imaging of the backgrounds. They even made a miniature version of Lemur Island to blow it up and film it; it sounds like the team had a lot of fun doing that! They really managed to capture the intensity of the meteor shower with this scene, and made sure to show the explosions from ground-level, so the viewer could experience it as the animals would have. It’s certainly a very intense scene for a Disney movie. The Disney team also made some fun decisions for the sound effects, for example, the Carnotaurus vocalisations came from leopards growling and snarling, and a yappy, angry chihuahua provided the snarls of the Velociraptors. The team also found that wet shammy cloths provided a lot of useful noises for the film[5]!
After Disney-MGM Studios theme park opened at Walt Disney World in 1989, Michael Eisner wanted to build a new theme park – something around animals. This original theme was expanded to include mythological creatures – and dinosaurs. A chance for synergy was afoot.
On 22nd April 1998, the Countdown to Extinction ride opened on the same day as the rest of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. It had the same ride layout and vehicle as the Indiana Jones Adventure ride in Disneyland but the ride took guests back in time to the Cretaceous period on their “time rovers” to see dinosaurs close up and save the last Iguanodon from a meteor shower. The Discovery River Boats, another opening day attraction where guests were taken on a boat ride around the lakes of Animal Kingdom Park, passed by an animatronic of Aladar the Iguanodon. On 29th October 1999, Disney announced that their newly built digital studio would be called “The Secret Lab”, and that Dinosaur would be its first movie, using a combination of computer animation and live-action backgrounds. It was actually a merger between the award-winning company Dream Quest Images, founded in 1979, who had done some work on movies like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) before moving on to work on The Abyss (1989) and Total Recall (1990), which both won Oscars for Best Visual Effects, and Disney’s in-house computer graphics unit. It was dissolved in 2001 when it was deemed more cost-effective to outsource the work[6].
RECEPTION
Dinosaur was released on 19th May 2000, sitting between the releases of Tarzan (1999) and The Emperor’s New Groove (2000). Dinosaur became only the second Disney animated feature to be rated PG after The Black Cauldron (1985), for its violent scenes. Dinosaur was completely different and was a turning point for animation, especially in its visuals and special effects. The reported budget for Dinosaur was $127.5 million, which made it the most expensive computer-animated film of all time and the most expensive film of 2000. It beat out Gladiator (2000) in its opening weekend and brought in $350 million worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year, and Disney’s best grossing film of 2000. In 2001, Dinosaur made another $200 million in VHS sales[7].
Dinosaur was also nominated for many Annie Awards in 2001, including for Individual Achievement for Music for James Newton Howard, Achievement for Directing for Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, and Individual Achievement for Effects Animation for Simon O’Connor, losing to Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999) in all categories. Della Reese was also nominated for her voice acting; Tim Allen won instead for his voice part of Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2. At the 27th Saturn Awards, Dinosaur was nominated for Best Fantasy Film, but lost to the film Frequency (2000) and James Newton Howard was once again nominated for Best Music, losing out to James Horner’s music for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
Given these numbers, it would look like Dinosaur did incredibly well. So, what happened? Well, around 60% of the worldwide gross figure actually came from foreign markets, not the domestic market of North America, where, due to its high budget, Dinosaur was seen to have been somewhat of a failure. A documentary series produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel, Walking with Dinosaurs, had also just been released in 1999, which also used CGI. This may have caused families to be less interested in Disney’s Dinosaur, given the fact that Walking with Dinosaurs was more scientifically accurate.
The scientific element was where most of the criticism from audiences was aimed. The visuals of Dinosaur were praised, along with the opening prologue to the movie, which many critics felt was the best part of the movie. But critics were not impressed by the story, and felt that it did not match up to the look of the film. Some did not like that the animals talked, as it took away from the realism, and that overall, the movie was dull. There were also criticisms around the timelines used in the movies, as lemurs didn’t exist at the same time as dinosaurs, and many of the dinosaur species included in Dinosaur would not have co-existed, with some even long dead at the time of the film. Disney’s response to this critique was that they never set out to make a historical documentary and that they veered away from scientific fact for storytelling purposes[8]. I think the teaser prologue that was released before the movie potentially set Dinosaur up to be a documentary-style movie, and it ended up as a “typical Disney film”. I don’t think anyone should’ve been surprised by that; I think the critics were too harsh here and missed the point, that children have always been Disney’s target audience with their animated movies, and they need to be kept interested.
LEGACY
After Dinosaur was released in 2000, the ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom changed name from Countdown to Extinction to DINOSAUR, with the ride logo being changed to match the movie, and the original statue of a Styracosaurus at the entrance to the ride was replaced with a statue of Aladar. It is also clear that the last Iguanodon you are trying to save is in fact Aladar. At the same time as this rebranding, the vehicle movement was made less intense and the soundtrack less frightening for younger rides who would be excited to go on the ride having seen the movie first. A few years later, these changes would revert back to the original ones to make DINOSAUR a real thrill ride. The imagineers involved in the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, including legendary Imagineer Joe Rohde, worked closely with the Walt Disney Pictures team to ensure that the ride experience would resemble the movie[9]. DINOSAUR the ride may still remain a popular thrill ride at Walt Disney World Resort, although you’re less likely to experience a long wait anymore, but I am not sure how many people these days know that it is based on a Disney movie. Unfortunately, it looks likely that the area that DINOSAUR resides in, DinoLand, U.S.A. will soon be re-themed to Encanto and Indiana Jones, so the fate of the ride is currently in limbo.
Though no “walkaround” characters from Dinosaur have ever appeared at the Disney theme parks, there was originally a plan to have an audio-animatronics dinosaur parade down Main Street at Disneyland in an effort to publicise the film. This dinosaur may have missed out on being able to publicise the film Dinosaur in 2000, but one was developed, a dinosaur named Lucky. It took five years for Lucky the dinosaur to be fully developed. Its first appearance was at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles on 28th August 2003, and then went to Disney’s California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort a few days later. Lucky later returned to Walt Disney Imagineering and made some appearances at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and at Hong Kong Disneyland around 2005. Lucky has made some brief appearances at special events before but nothing too recently[10].
FINAL THOUGHTS
I thought Dinosaur was a boring movie, something I’d never watch again, but having rewatched it, I found that I did like most of Dinosaur, and though I still found some parts boring, because there are a lot of walking scenes where not much happens, apart from seeing these dinosaurs becoming exhausted and fed up, generally, I liked the film much more than I’d expected to, and I was surprised at how much I cared about these dinosaur characters. I didn’t know that Dinosaur had in fact done very well at the box office on its release; I just knew that the critical reception was not particularly good.
But everyone can agree on the fact that it is visually stunning and miles ahead of what computer animation was seen to be capable of at that time. Disney put a lot of work into developing new software and using different techniques to make Dinosaur, and the result is brilliant. Unfortunately, as Dinosaur looks so much like a nature documentary, and the fact that the backgrounds look so realistic, some viewers felt that having the animals speak was the wrong move, as it took the audience out of the that world.
There are some people who love Dinosaur. I found many comments online saying that Dinosaur was one of their favourite movies growing up and that they are disappointed that more people don’t know it or remember it. It is an underrated movie in many ways.
I hope that others who hadn’t heard of Dinosaur before, or those who, like me, remember it from years ago but didn’t think they liked it, will try again, even if just to look at the amazing backgrounds and special effects that came out of a studio at the start of the new millennium. You might be surprised by your thoughts on it.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘How Dinosaur, A Movie You’ve Forgotten Existed, Shaped The Disney Landscape Forever’, Syfy.com, 19th May 2020.
[2] Credit: Disney, The Making of Dinosaur the Movie (2000).
[3] Credit: Disney, Dinosaur: Larger Than Life (2000).
[4] Credit: Disney, Dinosaur: Larger Than Life (2000).
[5] Credit: Disney, The Making of Dinosaur the Movie (2000).
[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Dinosaur (2000)’, pp. 115-117.
[7] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘How Dinosaur, A Movie You’ve Forgotten Existed, Shaped The Disney Landscape Forever’, Syfy.com, 19th May 2020.
[8] Credit: Charles Arthur, ‘Dinosaur film wrong by a few million years’, The Independent (online), 30th July 2000.
[9] Credit: Dave Shute, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: DINOSAUR and Lucky the Dinosaur’, YourFirstVisit.Net (online), date unknown.
[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: DINOSAUR and Lucky the Dinosaur’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.
The Disney Purist 