Day 39: Dinosaur

Dinosaur (2000)

Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Ossie Davis, Alfre Woodard, Max Casella, Hayden Panettiere, Samuel E. Wright, Peter Siragusa, Julianna Margulies, Joan Plowright, Della Reese, Frank Welker

Songs: score composed by James Newton Howard

Dinosaur is the thirty-ninth Disney animated film.  It tells the story of Aladar, an Iguanodon dinosaur adopted by a family of lemurs.  When a meteor strike destroys their home, Aladar and his lemur family migrate and join up with a pack of dinosaurs in search of some place with water.  Released in 2000, it wasn't considered an official part of the Disney animated canon until 2008.

The idea to make a CGI film about dinosaurs dates back to 1988.  The first idea for the story was going to be much darker and end with the meteor that would cause the death of all the main characters.  The project was shelved until the '90s, when technology began to catch up with the original vision for the film. 

I don't have a lot to say about this one.  It was nice enough, cool looking and pretty entertaining.  It's a really unique entry in the Disney canon, so I appreciate that a lot.  I did feel like there was a bit of similarity between this and stories like Tarzan and The Jungle Book where an orphan from one culture is adopted into another.  That was neat.  And though the movie was a success, reviews were mixed.  The films critics have said the plot was predictable, which sure, it probably is somewhat but that didn't bother me.  The story is told well, so I could appreciate it.  And being Disney, there are a number of inaccuracies in the way the dragons and lemurs are portrayed.  I'm not an expert in that area, so I don't really feel comfortable commenting on that.  Another complaint is that there were too many similarities between this and The Land Before Time, which was made by Disney ex-pat Don Bluth.  While I loved that movie as a kid, I don't really remember it, so again I can't comment.  Though I do plan to revisit that film soon.

This is a movie I never saw as a kid.  I actually never saw it before today!  I did enjoy it though.  I would watch it again.

What I Liked: Aladar playing with the "kids."  And actually, Aladar is pretty sweet and cool in general.  He's a good character.

What I Disliked: As cutting edge as I'm sure this was in 2000, the CGI characters stick out noticeably on the live action backgrounds.  Part of me does feel it's unfair to criticize a movie for taking advantage of then current technology, but when it serves to make the movie look dated, I think that's fair.

Should You Watch This Movie: It's an enjoyable movie, but you could probably get away with skipping it.  If you want to see them all or you love dinosaurs, go for it.  Otherwise, I wouldn't call it a must see.