Dinosaur
Year: 2000
Directed by: Eric Leighton & Ralph Zondag
Starring: Ossie Davis, Hayden Panettiere, D. B. Sweeney & Alfre Woodard
Runtime: 82 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/08/21
Directed by: Eric Leighton & Ralph Zondag
Starring: Ossie Davis, Hayden Panettiere, D. B. Sweeney & Alfre Woodard
Runtime: 82 mins
BBFC: PG
Published: 30/08/21
For sixty-three years Disney Animation Studios had delivered some of the most advanced and beloved animated films ever made. The new millennium brought with it new goals for studios to strive for with exciting new computer technologies available to them in which to bring their visions to life. With Pixar Animation Studios having released the first fully computer animated film in 1995 and followed it up with two more before the decade was over, the race was on for other animations studios to follow suit. All eyes were on Disney, being the market leaders in animated films, to produce not just a computer animated film, but the best one yet with visuals that far surpassed that of its competitors. A little over two decades has passed since the release of Dinosaur, how well has it held up?
After being separated from his family before birth, Aladar (D. B. Sweeney) is raised by a family of monkeys led by matriarch Plio (Alfre Woodard), and patriarch Yar (Ossie Davis). Following a meteor strike their home is destroyed along with most of their colony, and so they begin to journey across the wasteland left in the wake of the meteor’s destruction to find a new home.
Eventually they stumble across a multi-species herd of dinosaurs led by the bad tempered and selfish Kron (Samuel E. Wright). The herd is on the most to their nesting grounds, but are being followed by various carnivorous dinosaurs, so must keep a swift pace to ensure they don’t become dinner. Not allowing the elderly of the herd to fall behind, Aladar proves to the herd that being the strongest does not necessitate allowing the weak to die.
After being separated from his family before birth, Aladar (D. B. Sweeney) is raised by a family of monkeys led by matriarch Plio (Alfre Woodard), and patriarch Yar (Ossie Davis). Following a meteor strike their home is destroyed along with most of their colony, and so they begin to journey across the wasteland left in the wake of the meteor’s destruction to find a new home.
Eventually they stumble across a multi-species herd of dinosaurs led by the bad tempered and selfish Kron (Samuel E. Wright). The herd is on the most to their nesting grounds, but are being followed by various carnivorous dinosaurs, so must keep a swift pace to ensure they don’t become dinner. Not allowing the elderly of the herd to fall behind, Aladar proves to the herd that being the strongest does not necessitate allowing the weak to die.
Dinosaur’s story is good, it’s not great but it does what it needs to in order to keep you engaged. There are plenty of emotional highs and lows, and the characters are likable enough to get you invested in their struggle. But it doesn’t reach the same highs or complexities as many of the Renaissance Era Disney Classics. Dinosaur is the first true Post-Renaissance Era Animated Classic, following on from Fantasia 2000; and already we begin to see the signs that the studio was going to struggle over the next few years to maintain the same foothold it had on the industry for so long. But with Dinosaur this drop in storytelling quality can be somewhat forgiven for what the film achieves technically.
Unlike Pixar’s computer animated films which were very clearly cartoon in their visual presentation, Dinosaur strived for realism in the same vein that Jurassic Park did with its prehistoric beasts. Dinosaur is actually a live action film with CGI characters, so the term ‘Animated Classic’ is certainly stretched a bit thin here, which is likely why some regions of the world Disney don’t market the film as such. There is no denying that for its time Dinosaur was an incredible feat of technology, with highly detailed character models and realistic movement. The way fur blows in the wind, or the way that heat and water change the properties of the dinosaurs’ skin was unparalleled at the time. But these effects have not aged gracefully, as no computer animation ever does, and it is incredibly obvious today just how fake these characters are against the real-life environments. But there are moments where it becomes hard to tell even now, which is a true testament to just how much work went into making these characters look as real as possible.
Unlike Pixar’s computer animated films which were very clearly cartoon in their visual presentation, Dinosaur strived for realism in the same vein that Jurassic Park did with its prehistoric beasts. Dinosaur is actually a live action film with CGI characters, so the term ‘Animated Classic’ is certainly stretched a bit thin here, which is likely why some regions of the world Disney don’t market the film as such. There is no denying that for its time Dinosaur was an incredible feat of technology, with highly detailed character models and realistic movement. The way fur blows in the wind, or the way that heat and water change the properties of the dinosaurs’ skin was unparalleled at the time. But these effects have not aged gracefully, as no computer animation ever does, and it is incredibly obvious today just how fake these characters are against the real-life environments. But there are moments where it becomes hard to tell even now, which is a true testament to just how much work went into making these characters look as real as possible.
Whilst twenty years ago I would have said Dinosaur is simply unmissable because of its technological achievements, but now I would say that to appreciate what the film achieved at the time, all you need to see is the opening sequence. The sequence, which was actually the trailer for the film, depicts the egg containing Aladar travelling across land and sea before arriving with his new monkey family. It is without a doubt the best part of the entire film, and really shows off just how good the animation in the film is capable of being.
I think part of what makes it so good is the fact that there’s no dialogue. With all the effort put into making the animation as realistic possible, it’s somewhat perplexing that Disney undid all their hard work by making the characters talk. I certainly understand why they did it, wanting to market the film to families to entertain children, but it certainly does feel like they missed a trick by making the characters so obviously not real despite their realistic appearance. It’s also the first Disney Animated Classic to receive a PG rating in the UK, and the film was definitely aiming itself at a more mature audience. Maybe removing dialogue was just a step too far for Disney executives at the time?
Dinosaur is undoubtably a product of its time, and a quirky part of Disney animation history with it being the only Animated Classic to strive for realism. Is it worth checking out? I’d say if you’re curious about the technology at play then sure, but you’re not going to be missing out on much in terms of story.
Even if you are going in for the story, you’ll likely still have a good time with Dinosaur, but for most people the now dated visuals may be an immediate turn off.
I think part of what makes it so good is the fact that there’s no dialogue. With all the effort put into making the animation as realistic possible, it’s somewhat perplexing that Disney undid all their hard work by making the characters talk. I certainly understand why they did it, wanting to market the film to families to entertain children, but it certainly does feel like they missed a trick by making the characters so obviously not real despite their realistic appearance. It’s also the first Disney Animated Classic to receive a PG rating in the UK, and the film was definitely aiming itself at a more mature audience. Maybe removing dialogue was just a step too far for Disney executives at the time?
Dinosaur is undoubtably a product of its time, and a quirky part of Disney animation history with it being the only Animated Classic to strive for realism. Is it worth checking out? I’d say if you’re curious about the technology at play then sure, but you’re not going to be missing out on much in terms of story.
Even if you are going in for the story, you’ll likely still have a good time with Dinosaur, but for most people the now dated visuals may be an immediate turn off.