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