Overview

While Walt Disney Animation Studios had been supplementing their films with computer animation techniques for years, Dinosaur was the first of their films to use it entirely, in place of traditional animation. While the characters and creatures are animated, however, most of the backgrounds used in the movie are live-action, and were filmed on location. The blending of the two - the live-action backgrounds with realistic, 3D dinosaurs - makes for what is probably the most lifelike movie in the WDAS canon.

Point by Point

• The visuals really do look good. The opening sequence is a highlight, as we watch the orphaned Iguanodon egg make its epic journey far away from its destroyed nest and onto an island populated with prehistoric lemurs. The egg hatches there and the lemurs adopt the baby dinosaur into their family.

• The meteor shower that destroys the island is dramatic, and carries connotations of dread. After all, we know what wiped out the dinosaurs, right? As it turns out, this meteor shower isn't the meteor shower, but, upon my first viewing of Dinosaur, I did imagine that this might be the beginning of the end of the world.

• Aladar and the surviving lemurs end up joining a multi-species herd of herbivores on a trek across a vast, unforgiving wasteland to reach the idyllic nesting grounds. The herd's leader, Kron, is a cruel and callous master, cracking the whip constantly, and with no sympathy for the weak and infirm. He's presented as the heavy, of course, but it's hard to hold it against him. If we're talking about people, then yes, the strong absolutely should help the weak. But we all know that's not how dinosaurs managed to survive for millions of years. It's a long, hot, hazardous journey, with carnivores dogging their every step, and the herd simply can't slow down for the sake of the stragglers in the back.

In Conclusion

There isn't a whole lot to say about Dinosaur, really. While it looks great, its story and its characters are rather lackluster. Not much happens over the course of the movie, and nothing that does happen is particularly memorable. I wouldn't call it boring; I wasn't bored. It's just...it is what it is, I guess. The Land Before Time manages to be the more interesting and more emotional film about dinosaurs overcoming adversity to reach a lush valley.

Tier Ranking

Tier S (Cream of the crop)

• Lady and the Tramp

• Sleeping Beauty

• The Little Mermaid

• Beauty and the Beast

• The Lion King

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame

• Mulan

• Tarzan

Tier A (Great)

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

• Pinocchio

• Bambi

• Cinderella

• Aladdin

• Pocahontas

Tier B (Good)

• Dumbo

• Alice in Wonderland

• Peter Pan

• One Hundred and One Dalmatians

• The Rescuers

• The Fox and the Hound

• Hercules

• Fantasia 2000

Tier C (Okay)

• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

• The Sword in the Stone

• The Jungle Book

• Robin Hood

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

• The Great Mouse Detective

• Oliver & Company

• Dinosaur

Tier D (Don't really care for these)

• Fantasia

• Saludos Amigos

• The Three Caballeros

• Make Mine Music

• Fun and Fancy Free

• Melody Time

• The Aristocats

• The Black Cauldron

• The Rescuers Down Under

Yay, another post about a remake. Well not quite. Many of us have seen, or at least heard of, Disney's 2000 CGI/live action movie Dinosaur. It is a tale of a dinosaur herd migration after a massive meteor shower destroys their homeland. They story is nothing special, but what was special was the idea about how to make the movie. The idea for Dinosaur came about on the set of another family friendly tale, RoboCop. Legendary special effects artist Phil Tippet brought the idea to director Paul Verhooven and they got the greenlight from Disney to start working on it back in 1988. The original film was going to be a mixture of live-action and stop motion and would culminate in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event in which all of the cute loveable characters we had spent an hour and a half with were incinerated.

After Disney decided that was no good for an ending to a multi-million dollar kids movie, they brought in Thomas Smith, who at the time had only directed a handful of documentary shorts, but was the general manager of the industry leading visual effects studio, ILM. He had the idea of bringing in trained lemurs to act along side the stop motion/puppets. The movie fell into development hell once word got around that Spielberg was working on a digital heavy Jurassic Park, and it stayed in purgatory until Jurassic Park came out and was a massive success. This is when the idea was hatched to combine Live Action scenery and CGI animals/dinosaurs, which was completely unprecedented at the time. This was also the moment when it became much more Disney-fied and it was established that the dinosaurs and animals would talk, up until this point it would have been a completely dialogue free movie following the migration.

The movie we got is a far cry from what was originally pitched, and while it wasn't terrible it was no masterpiece either. The idea to use CGI against the backdrop of live-action dates to effects and causes them to not hold up and even at the time I remember as a 10 year old thinking it looked kind of janky. The technology was not there to make something that could stand the test of time with such intensive effects, and unfortunately it shows. But, given Disney's insistence on remaking their classic cartoons as "live action", meaning photorealistic CGI, I honestly cannot think of a better property they could use this technology with. I would love to see a new version of Treasure Planet or Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but the amazing effects shown in Lion King (2019) I think Dinosaur should be given another shot with technology up to par with the concept and would be absolutely amazing if redone.

Disney's DINOSAUR is generally deemed as nothing more than either a tech demo or a cash grab to promote Walt Disney World Resort's ride attraction of the same name. But personally, I see it as a good example of filmmakers trying to push the envelope on every level, not just in the technical departments (from visual effects, to cinematography, to score, to sound design), but also in the storytelling department; only for studios to ditch the latter for a more conventional film. And even with all that studio interference, the filmmakers' ambition is still felt through and through. Despite the comedic and lighthearted moments, it's evident that the intent was to tell a more serious story that kids and adults could follow.

Even 22 years later, this is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever seen. The insane levels of detail on these dinosaurs is mind blowing. The characters feel huge and heavy, and you can see the great care put into the physics of the flesh and muscles shaking and wrinkling whenever they move. The facial animation is also really impressive. Notice how many shots are close ups. There's so much fluidity and character in their expressions. That level of detail in CG facial animation was quite unprecedented back in 2000. So yes, this film is still a technical milestone in my eyes. The cinematography is also spectacular, as it makes the scale feel so much larger than life. There're some great landscapes beautifully shot, with a few of them being combined into one. Not to mention, the camera work is very creative at times.

One thing I really appreciate about DINOSAUR is that even though the story is very simple and the plot very straightforward, the "united we stand, divided we fall" message feels sincere. Throughout the film, we see the importance of working together and the way it builds upon that idea flows naturally. We see it exemplified through Aladar, as those are the principles he was raised on by his lemur family. And during the entire section of the dinosaurs moving, we see him trying to help others, whether it's to get some water or get everyone safe. This genuine wholesomeness, along with a no nonsense attitude and proactivity, is what makes Aladar a likable character and easy to root for. His altruism and the white savior tropes might be on the nose to some, but I like that he's still humble enough to hear others' points of view.

Baylene and Eema are instantly likable for the simple reason that they're not the usual characters a hero becomes friends with in the middle of his journey. It's really interesting how the two elderly females complement Aladar and the lemurs as a team/family, and you quickly buy their bond with these newcomers. It is specially satisfying to see how Aladar's optimism inspires them to persevere, to the point that they repay him with that same optimism when he briefly loses all hope. Going back to the theme of working together, the movie does a good job addressing the fact that every living creature, no matter how big or small (and yes, that includes the lemurs), is capable of leaving an impact on others.

Other things that make the story not bland (at least for me) are the stakes being high and the theme of survival, which is tackled in a mature yet easy to follow way. Hence, the "only the strong survive" concept that Neera, Bruton and Kron represent being challenged by Aladar's belief that togetherness guarantees the survival and growth of the herd.

Bruton is probably the character with the most interesting arc, as he's someone, much like Kron, who has clearly been leading the herd for a while. So based on their long experience doing so, both he and Kron have a hard time getting into Aladar's way of thinking. But the reason why Bruton's redemption works is because early on we see his loyalty towards Kron and their own principles. Neither of them is necessarily evil. They just want the herd to survive and they feel that any distraction might slow them down from getting to the nesting grounds. It is only when he gets to the cave that he contemplates that even all wounded, he can still get there and also be helpful to others. But once the carnotaurs start attacking Aladar, Bruton realizes that the misfits will need this newcomer more than him. So he goes back to save Aladar, fights the carnotaurs and sacrifices himself in the process. Another thing I like about his redemption and death is that they take place way before the third act begins.

Going back to the stakes being high, that's also because the action is quite intense for a family friendly film. So many characters die in it. After Bruton gets brutally (no pun intended) attacked by the carnotaurs, the cinematography doesn't shy away from showing the fresh wounds. Also, notice how towards the end of the movie, Aladar's tail still sports the marks of the carnotaur's bite. The attention to these little details from the filmmakers is very much appreciated, as it shows that every action leaves consequences. All the predators have an imposing presence and are legitimately threatening. And the "monster cloud" that emerges after the meteor is one of the most heart-pumping action sequences Disney has ever produced.

I can't talk about DINOSAUR without mentioning the musical score. James Newton Howard's work in this film is still the best he's ever done (in my humble opinion), and that man has composed so many incredible scores. Such an absolute gem from the Disney Records.

And last but not least, there's the pay-off of the characters finally achieving their goal. After the monster cloud destroys the lemurs' island, a lot of the movie takes place in deserts and canyons. And this is one complaint I've seen many people make about DINOSAUR. After watching those beautiful landscapes in the opening sequence, they don't like that a big chunk of the film has very dry and drab sceneries. But honestly, that's why it's so rewarding when the characters finally arrive at the nesting grounds.

There's a few problems I have with the film. Some of the dialogue is too modern and too weird, it just doesn't fit at all because the filmmakers are prioritizing the animalistic nature of these creatures despite the small anthropomorphic licences. I can't stand the fact that Url is literally Eema's pet and acts literally like a dog. It just brings too many questions when compared to the rest of the dinosaurs that don't speak. This character is way more useless than Spike from The land before time (great movie with a couple of annoying characters). And while the few scenes that Aladar and Neera share are good, the movie needed a little more time between them in order to really hit home their romance. But all of these problems in DINOSAUR could've been easily solved by one simple yet major change:

DINOSAUR would've greatly benefited itself if there had been NO DIALOGUE AT ALL, which is what the crew behind it originally intended. They wanted it to be a silent film, but Michael Eisner demanded that the characters talked so that the project was more commercially accessible towards children. It definitely would've been an innovative style from a studio notably known for fancy characters and musicals. Heck, maybe it would've had an impact on Disney's way of telling stories. There's a reason the opening 7 minutes are what people remember the most about the film. In fact, the filmmakers made that 5 minute teaser trailer back in 1999, hoping that it would convince the heads at Disney to ditch the talking in the film. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But nonetheless, I still think DINOSAUR is one of the most audacious projects the studio has ever made, with likable characters, a simple story and a lot more thought put into than people give it credit for.

Does Anyone Remember the Movie "Dinosaur" (2000) which is a live-action/computer-animated film by Disney? It was one of Disney's live-action and a mix of computer-animated alongside films like The Wild and so on. The story is about a young Iguanodon who was adopted and raised by a family of lemurs on a tropical island. After surviving a devastating meteor shower, the family moves out for their new home and befriends a herd of dinosaurs along the way while on a journey to the "Nesting Grounds". I remember watching this as a kid on VHS and being completely creeped out by the designs of the dinosaurs. I rarely see anyone speak about this film at all.

What are your thoughts and opinions about the film?

From its wikipedia page description "While the characters in Dinosaur are computer generated, most of the backgrounds are live-action and were filmed on location."  Roger Erbert gave the film three stars out of four, praising the film's "amazing visuals" but criticizing the decision to make the animals talk, which he felt cancelled out the effort to make the film so realistic. Ebert wrote, "An enormous effort had been spent on making these dinosaurs seem real, and then an even greater effort was spent on undermining the illusion" On the site Rotten Tomatoes it reads "While Dinosaur's plot is generic and dull, its stunning computer animation and detailed backgrounds are enough to make it worth a look." All of these points can also be assigned to The Lion King (2019) Is The Lion King live action remake another Dinosaur?

I rewatched it yesterday and i loved it as a toddler. I have to say that the plot is kinda meh but the animation aged well. Those dinosaurs and the ambient are still going strong.

Is it just me or is this movie, or at least the teaser trailer for it, a very significant piece of film history that is completely overlooked. I never hear about it these days but I remember being a kid and it was "important" during it's release.

I have been a sincere fan of astronomy since I was 7 years old. When I was 8 years old, I knew the names of all the planets in the solar system by heart. When I was 10 years old, I already knew how the "Sun" works as a star and what nuclear fusion is. At the same time, I was already familiar with the concepts of neutron stars, supernovae or quasars. It was at this time that I became interested in the epochs of Earth's history. That is, geological times. In particular, the periods in which dinosaurs were in their heyday are primarily the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. This was helped me by the picture books and encyclopedias I read at the time (i.e. in the late 1990s) and the 3D documentaries or cartoons (e.g. Land Before Time) I saw at the time.

Around this time, I saw the Disney movie Dinosaur, which had a great impact on me at the time. I have loved dinosaurs since I was a child, I even had original, hand-painted plastic dino toys. (I also saw the movie Jurassic Park during these times, but I honestly hated the movie - I don't want to explain the reasons, let's just say that Hollywood is not my friend in this matter - at the same time, the basic idea, i.e. creating a dinosaur safari with real living dinosaurs stirred my imagination.)

Well, as I pointed out, I've loved dinosaurs and astronomy since I was a kid, and I was exactly 10 when I first saw the Disney Dinosaur movie in theaters in 2000.

A lot has happened since then, I've already come off the topic of astronomy and dinosaurs (i.e. after growing up, I wasn't oriented in that direction). But to this day, I still enjoy dealing with both topics, but only on a hobby level.

However, the other day I saw a documentary on TV on an educational channel looking at the results of the impact of the asteroid Chicxulub, which supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs, and shortly after I caught that scene on Disney Channel from the movie Dinosaur where the giant meteor hits the Earth.

The size of the meteor in the film is unknown, but it can be estimated based on the existing physical and situational conditions. Its diameter can be roughly between 10 and 15 km (the size of the Chicxulub asteroid was also estimated to be roughly this).

Sight distance can be calculated as follows:

L=sqrt(2*R*h + h^2)

where: L = line of sight distance

R = mean radius of the Earth; this is 6,378 km = 6,738,000 m

h = eye height

sqrt stands for square root.

If we stay on a human scale,

h^2 is negligible next to the radius of the Earth, so the formula is It is simplified to the form L=sqrt(2*R*h).

E.g.: In the case of an eye height of 2 m, the sight distance is ~5050 m. From the top of a 10-meter-high mast, you can see for almost 12 km. (Aladar and the lemurs stood at the highest point of the island, which was probably at least 100 meters above sea level.) So these are the basic calculation data from which you can start. The asteroid crashed into the earth beyond the horizon. Therefore, it can be assumed that its size was at least 15 km in diameter.

However, the impact force of an asteroid of this size is billions of times that of WWII atomic bombs (based on Chicxulub impact data), so the island on which Aladar and the Lemurs were located should have been destroyed almost immediately by the powerful shockwave of the impact, and Aladar and the others should have been reduced to dust at that moment. Not to mention the planet-shaking earthquake, a global tsunami larger than 100 meters, and hot crustal material falling back to earth, which was ejected into the atmosphere and space at the moment of impact, and whose fall was equivalent to a global pyroclastic flood that scorched much of the Earth's surface.

And then about the Impact Winter state that follows.

Aladar survived by jumping into the water. Furthermore, there was not even further evidence of the asteroid impact in the film. The desert continent that Aladar and his family went through was not created by the impact of the asteroid (otherwise they would have been thrown into a fire-scorched, glowing wasteland with coal-black skies like Mordor in Lord of the Rings), but was already the scene of an existing global catastrophe, and that catastrophe occurred before the asteroid impacted.

I'm a complete layman on the subject, so I'd be happy if someone could correct me and provide accurate and scientific data on exactly what would have happened to Earth if an asteroid of similar size in the movie had crashed into the ground.

whenever people talk about this movie, they always say somethings along the lines of it being "the most boring Disney film I've ever seen" or "the worst Disney film I've ever seen" and nearly every video that ranks Disney films from worst to best always ranks Dinosaur at dead last. I've had just enough of this nonsense. Dinosaur is absolutely NOT the worst Disney film. Not even close. The fact that people would rank this movie lower than Chicken Little or Home on the Range is beyond hysterical. If you really think that those films are genuinely better than Dinosaur, then you need to go touch grass.

Both the dinosaur sound design & soundtrack still hold up really well here imo, I remember trying to join in roaring with them as a kid lol. It truly captured the wonder that was The Age of Dinosaurs.