A Tribute to Non-Jurassic Park Dinosaur

FILM-RELATED WRITINGS

A Tribute to Non-Jurassic Park Dinosaur Films/TV Shows

It’s no secret that I love dinosaurs! For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been fascinated by them and the new discoveries that are made every year. And, as such, there are many films (from fiction to documentary, from short to feature length, from theatrical to direct-to-video to television) that are about these great beasts. And as much as I love the Jurassic Park films and franchise, this list/essay is a tribute to some non-Jurassic Park dinosaur films and series that I enjoy now and/or as a child. And like my Favorite Documentaries List, this will be in no particular order.

Walking with Dinosaurs (British Broadcasting Corporation/Impossible Pictures, 1999, directed by Tim Haines and Jasper James) - To kick off this list, this six-part documentary mini-series from 1999 is a childhood classic. It’s done in the style of a nature documentary, where there is only a narrator (Kenneth Branagh) describing what is going on. Walking with Dinosaurs showcases the rise and fall of the dinosaurs, with each episode having a particular focus on one particular genus of dinosaur or prehistoric reptile. All in all, I think Walking with Dinosaurs holds up. For a project from the late 1990s, the visuals are impressive. Like Jurassic Park, Walking with Dinosaurs uses a mixture of animatronics (life-like robotics) and computer-generated imagery (CGI) to bring the prehistoric creatures back to life. The soundtrack by Ben Bartlett is also wonderfully composed, and helps capture the tone and mood of the scenes. And while much of our knowledge on prehistoric life has changed within the 21 years since the debut of Walking with Dinosaurs, I still consider it to be a fine piece of work. And if you enjoy this one, I recommend the other entries in the Walking with... series, like 2001’s Walking with Beasts, 2005’s Walking with Monsters, and others.
Prehistoric Beast (Tippett Studio, 1984, directed by Phil Tippett) - Prehistoric Beast is a ten-minute stop motion short directed, written, animated, and produced by special effects artist Phil Tippett. Tippett also worked on other projects, such as Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Jurassic Park. The film is short and simple, depicting a Tyrannosaurus rex hunting a Monoclonius (which is now believed to be synonymous with fellow ceratopsian Centrosaurus), a horned dinosaur related to Triceratops. The film only relies on its visuals to tell the story - the only exposition we get is a brief bit of text indicating the setting (Alberta Canada, 65 million years ago), and there is no dialogue or narration. The animation by Tippett is very well done, and the setting feels so real. If I do have to make one criticism about Prehistoric Beast, it’s that Monoclonius and T. rex did not coexist with one another (the former living about 75 million years ago, and the latter living 68 to 66 million years ago). Other than that, I highly recommend Prehistoric Beast for fans of dinosaurs and stop motion animation. The short is available for viewing on YouTube.
The Valley of Gwangi (Morningside Productions/Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, 1969, directed by Jim O’Connolly) - This classic from 1969 can very simply be described as dinosaurs vs. cowboys. But on a deeper level, it’s about T. J. and Tuck, played by Gila Golan and James Franciscus, respectively, and various other men discovering a forbidden valley where prehistoric creatures still roam. One notable resident of this valley is Gwangi, an Allosaurus which the characters capture and bring back to star in their rodeo. However, Gwangi escapes and goes on a rampage. Gwangi’s life, and the film, ends when he is trapped inside a burning building and is crushed by the falling debris. The effects for the prehistoric creatures were achieved through stop motion by the late great Ray Harryhausen, who did stop motion effects for films such as One Million Years B. C. (1966), Mighty Joe Young (1949), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), and Jason and the Argonauts (1963), just to name a few. One of the main highlights of the stop motion sequences is when Gwangi is lassoed by the men. It still very much impresses me how they were able to achieve it. While The Valley of Gwangi was not a film I watched when I was very young (having first seen it as a teenager), it is very much a dinosaur classic, and a Harryhausen classic.
Planet of Dinosaurs (Deathbeast Productions, 1978, directed by James Shea) - Planet of Dinosaurs was a film that I first saw on DVD when I was seven or eight years old. The film, set in an unspecified time in the future, follows the crew of a spaceship that crashed on an uncharted planet that is like Earth, but appears to be millions of years younger and populated with dinosaurs. The crew must survive the perils of the planet, namely a large Tyrannosaurus rex that stalks them for part of the film, and only hope that they can be rescued. Sources say that most of the budget, which was rather small, went into the stop motion dinosaurs. And it shows! The dinosaur sequences are very memorable, well animated, and fun to watch. On the other hand, the acting is not the greatest, and the dialogue is a bit cheesy at times. However, I believe that most people remember it for the dinosaur/creature effects. And, in addition to The Valley of Gwangi and other old dinosaur movies, Planet of Dinosaurs was an initial inspiration to want to be a filmmaker, with a goal of mine being to remake old dinosaur movies. While I do not have this goal anymore, I still have to credit Planet of Dinosaurs and other old dinosaur films for being an inspiration for my film career.
Dinosaur 13 (Statement Films/CNN Films & Lionsgate, 2014, directed by Todd Douglas Miller) - Although I have already discussed Dinosaur 13 on my Favorite Documentaries list, I feel that it deserves to be on this list, as well. To keep this brief, this documentary is about the discovery and great legal battle over Sue, a Tyrannosaurus rex specimen discovered in South Dakota in August 1990. Sue was found on land owned by Maurice Williams, and he agreed to let Peter L. Larson and his crew at the Black Hills Geological Institute, excavate the fossil. However, the Sioux Native American tribe, of which Williams was a member, claimed that they owned the fossil. What followed what a lengthy legal case over the ownership of Sue. The court ruled that Sue belong to Williams, who then put the fossil up for auction. The winner was the Field Museum of Chicago, where Sue is still on display to this day. As stated in my previous list, I love the cinematography and music of Dinosaur 13. Both are gorgeous and help drive the emotions home. I still highly recommend this film, especially if you are interested in paleontology, law, and all things South Dakota.
The Land Before Time (Amblin Entertainment & Sullivan Bluth Ltd./Universal Pictures, 1988, directed by Don Bluth) - The Land Before Time is definitely a childhood classic for not just me, but several other people. Directed by Don Bluth, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, this animated film from 1988 depicts the journey of five young friends - Littlefoot (an Apatosaurus), Cera (a Triceratops), Ducky (a Saurolophus), Petrie (a Pteranodon), and Spike (a Stegosaurus) - who must find their way to a lush, predator-free paradise called The Great Valley. They must find it because all of the dinosaur herds are heading there, since the land in which they currently live is suffering severe famine and drought. Plus, a large earthquake separates them from their families. During the film, Littlefoot and the others must learn to get along (as dinosaurs tend to stick to their own kind) and avoid the dreaded Sharptooth, the Tyrannosaurus that killed Littlefoot’s mother. The animation is well done, and you feel the emotions the characters go through. And the musical score by the late James Horner is great, too. However, one criticism I do have is that some of the editing is a little bit sloppy at times. There are a few scenes in which the characters speak but their mouths don’t move. The scene in which Sharptooth first attacks the characters has scenes shown in the wrong order - Sharptooth gets blinded by a thorn striking his eye during the chase, but there are scenes where he has both eyes open or one eye shut before being blinded. And last of all, there are scenes from the climax and ending that appear out of order. But other than that, I still hold The Land Before Time as a good film. And because it spawned twelve direct-to-video sequels, I think it’s fair to say it’s one of the best known children’s dinosaur films, and one of director Don Bluth’s most famous films.
When Dinosaurs Roamed America (Evergreen Films/Discovery Channel, 2001, directed by Pierre de Lespinois) - When Dinosaurs Roamed America is a two hour long documentary special that premiered on Discovery Channel in 2001. Similar to Walking with Dinosaurs, the special has segments that focus on a particular dinosaur or dinosaurs in a specific time era. In fact, both programs have some of the dinosaurs in them. And while When Dinosaurs Roamed America is like a nature documentary like Walking with Dinosaurs, there are parts where the narrative is interrupted by interviews with paleontologists who give insights on fossil finds of the settings of the segments. The special is narrated by John Goodman. He does a fine job narrating, although there are a few moments where he incorrectly pronounces certain names of creatures. The computer-generated dinosaurs look great for their time, too. And this is one of the first, if not the first, documentaries to depict raptors with feathers. All in all, I have fond memories of When Dinosaur Roamed America, and I recommend giving it a watch.
When Dinosaurs Ruled (Wall to Wall Television/The Learning Channel, 1999, directed by various) - When Dinosaurs Ruled is a short series that ran on The Learning Channel (TLC) in 1999 for five episodes, with an additional episode airing in 2000. The series, narrated by Jeff Goldblum, had different directors for each episode, hence why it says “directed by various” at the top of this entry. Each episode focuses on dinosaurs and dinosaur discoveries on a different continent. The first episode is about the dinosaurs of Africa, the second is about dinosaurs of Europe, the third is about dinosaurs of North America, the fourth is about dinosaurs of South America, and the fifth is about dinosaurs of Australia and Antarctica. The sixth episode, which was not narrated by Jeff Goldblum, focuses on dinosaurs of Asia. The dinosaurs are brought to life through specially-made computer animation, the filming of already-built dinosaur animatronics, and occasional stock footage from other shows. The series also has interviews with several paleontologists, who weigh in on theories presented in the episodes, as well as discuss discoveries relevant to the episodes’ focus. The first five episodes were released on DVD, with the sixth episode only having a television broadcast. I enjoyed the DVD release growing up. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learned of the Asian dinosaurs episode. Outdated theories and outdated dinosaur reconstructions aside, the only criticism I have with this series is the use of dinosaur footage that doesn’t match what the dinosaurs look like. For instance, some of the episodes use clips of Tyrannosaurus rex to illustrate a dinosaur that isn’t Tyrannosaurus rex. But other than that, I do enjoy When Dinosaurs Ruled, with the North American dinosaur episode being my favorite. I recommend giving the series a watch.
The Good Dinosaur (Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures, 2015, directed by Peter Sohn) - The Good Dinosaur was released in 2015, the same year as Pixar’s hit film, Inside Out. In all honesty, I like The Good Dinosaur more than Inside Out. In the film, it shows a what-if story in which the asteroid that hit the earth 66 million years ago missed the planet, and the non-avian dinosaurs never went extinct. From this premise, we follow a young Apatosaurus, named Arlo, who gets separated from his family and home. This is due to a small human child, who is later named Spot. Arlo hates Spot, blaming him for not only separating him from home, but also for the death of his (Arlo’s) father. Arlo and Spot must find their way home, eventually bonding and coming to care for each other. I like how it shows that dinosaurs became more intelligent. Arlo and his family are farmers, growing crops and raising chicken-like creatures. During the journey home, Arlo and Spot meet a T. rex family who own a large bison herd. In addition, there are plenty of emotional scenes, particularly when Arlo says good-bye to Spot, and reunites with his family. One thing that must be discussed about The Good Dinosaur is the animation. While the characters have a very stylized, cartoony look, the backgrounds are very well made. They’re so well made that it’s hard to believe that they are not live action. With that said, the cartoony characters sometimes look out of place when placed against the realistic backgrounds. And about the story, there are a few generic plot points and character arcs, such as Arlo facing his fears of the world, the fact that the film features the death of a parent, and the main character finds himself lost in an unknown area and must find his way home. But despite these elements, and though it received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, and was the first Pixar film to be a box office disappointment, I still really enjoy The Good Dinosaur. Even though the film doesn’t meet the same level of excellency as other dinosaur media and Pixar’s other films, such as Toy Story and Up, I am always happy to watch this film any day!

And now, before I end this piece, I’d like to go over a few honorable mentions, again in no particular order.

Dinosaur (Walt Disney Pictures, 2000, directed by Eric Leighton and Ralph Zondag) - Like Walking with Dinosaurs, Dinosaur is another childhood classic of mine. I distinctly remember seeing the film in theaters. The film is about an Iguanodon named Aladar, who is raised on an island by a clan of lemurs. However, Aladar and the lemurs are forced to leave their home when an asteroid strike destroys it. As Aladar and the lemurs search for a new home, they come across a large, mixed-species dinosaur herd on their way to the Nesting Grounds, the last place untouched by the asteroid’s devastation. Along the journey, Aladar’s kind, compassionate ways conflict with the survival-of-the-fittest philosophy of Kron, the herd’s leader. Like Walking with Dinosaurs, this film utilizes live action, on-location backgrounds with computer generated dinosaurs. While the computer animation on the dinosaurs may not look as good as it did 20 years ago, when the film was released, I still find the blending of the live action and CGI well done. Dinosaur is also commendable for bringing some distinctive species to the big screen for the first time, with the most notably one being Carnotaurus ( which means “meat-eating bull”), acting as the main antagonist. And probably the best aspect of the film is the soundtrack by James Newton Howard. It is breath-taking, and helps set the tone of each scene. However, Dinosaur suffers a few clichés, such as Aladar being the kind of hero who always knows what’s right, and having Kron being the harsh, arrogant leader who never changes his ways. Despite a few issues, I’m still fond of Dinosaur. As stated before, I remember seeing it in theaters, and I still consider it a childhood classic.
Dinosaur! (Phillips Mark Productions & Robert Guenette Productions/CBS, 1985, directed by Robert Guenette) - Not to be confused with the similarly titled Disney feature, Dinosaur! is a documentary that first premiered on CBS in 1985. Hosted by Christopher Reeve (best known for portraying Superman), the documentary explores the life of dinosaurs (based on the science at the time), dinosaurs in popular culture, and then-new theories and speculations about dinosaurs (including the possibilities of living dinosaurs). When discussing dinosaur life, the documentary showcases stop motion segments created by Phil Tippett, who made the aforementioned Prehistoric Beast. In fact, Dinosaur! uses some footage from Prehistoric Beast. For the documentary, the newly made sequences primarily focus on a two Hadrosaurus (duck-billed dinosaurs) who raise their baby. The new segments feature other dinosaurs, too, such as Brontosaurus, Struthiomimus, Deinonychus, Tyrannosaurus, and Monoclonius (as mentioned above in Prehistoric Beast). Though I do enjoy this documentary, there are a few errors in it. Not all of these dinosaurs coexisted at the same time and place (with Brontosaurus living in the Jurassic, Deinonychus living in the Early Cretaceous, and Hadrosaurus, Monoclonius, Struthiomimus, and Tyrannosaurus living at different times of the Late Cretaceous). The dinosaurs depicted are not accurate by today’s standards (such as the featherless Deinonychus and Struthiomimus), and Christopher Reeve states the wrong year for some dinosaur movie releases (such as saying the 1925 film The Lost World was released in 1922, the 1933 King Kong being released in 1932, and Gertie the Dinosaur being released in 1919 and not 1914). Despite these errors, I think that the documentary holds up pretty well. It’s a fun film to watch. And for another interesting fact, I was first introduced to the stop motion scenes of Dinosaur! through and old CD-ROM game called 3-D Dinosaur Adventure. Some of the segments of Dinosaur! were a part of a “dinosaur movie” section, in which players could watch video clips of dinosaurs with some of them being from Dinosaur!. So, after seeing Dinosaur!, it was nice to see where these segments came from.
Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards (AIMS Media, 1970/1986, directed by Wah Chang) - Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards is an educational stop motion animated short created by Wah Chang, a special effects artist who worked on the original Star Trek series and the 1974-1976 series Land of the Lost. In fact, some of the dinosaur models used in Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards would later go on to be used in Land of the Lost. You may have noticed that I listed two years for this film. This is because it was originally released in 1970, and a revised edition was released in 1986. The latter version was the one I watched as a kid. In Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards, we, the audience, are shown on where dinosaurs have been found, a brief history of life on Earth, and various dinosaurs brought to life via stop motion. One of the main highlights of these segments is a fight between a Tyrannosaurus and a Styracosaurus as a volcano erupts far away. The film concludes with how no one really knows for sure what happened to the now-extinct dinosaurs, but that studying their fossilized remains can help solve mysteries on how they lived. Differences between the two versions include different narrators and different scripts, different soundtracks, different depictions of Earth’s life history segment, and that some dinosaur segments are put in a different order than they were in the original, with the T. rex vs. Styracosaurus fight taking place as the climax of the 1986 version, rather than just after the middle of the film in the 1970 version. As stated before, the 1986 revised edition was the one I watched as a kid. When I watched it back then, I was both enticed by it, and scared by it. I think it was because that while I loved dinosaurs back then as much as I do now, the music and stop motion creeped me out a little. But as an adult, I now greatly appreciate both elements. There’s just a certain charm to stop motion that I can’t explain. And the soundtrack does fit the mood and tone of the film. While Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards is a rather outdated documentary, it’s still fun to watch, and both versions can be found on YouTube.
You Are Umasou (Aija-do Animation Works, 2010, directed by Masaya Fujimori) - You Are Umasou is an anime film released in Japan in 2010. I watched it on YouTube with English subtitles a few years back. Based on a Japanese children’s book, it’s about a Tyrannosaurus rex named Heart. He’s raised by a Maisaura, a Late Cretaceous hadrosaur, who finds his eggs floating down a river. Heart spends his early years with his adoptive mother and brother, Light. When Heart is still young, he learns that he is a carnivore, and runs away from home. Years later, when Heart is an adult T. rex and a full-fledged predator, he comes across a freshly-hatched Ankylosaurus, saying that he looks delicious (with Umasou meaning delicious or delicious-looking in Japanese). However, the baby Ankylosaurus thinks that Umasou is his name, and he sees Heart as his father. Though Heart initially intends to eat Umasou, the little dinosaur grows on him, and Heart learns to become a parent, just like how his adopted mother raised him. While the animation of You Are Umasou is great, the designs are extremely cartoony. Many of the dinosaur characters don’t look like the species they are supposed to be, with the T. rex characters looking a bit like a cartoony Godzilla. In addition, there are some very strange creatures in the film, such as a sloth-looking dinosaur, and what appear to be dinosaur goats. However, the story tugs at the heart strings, with a particular emphasis on how family matters, no matter what you look like. You feel Heart’s emotions, particularly as he goes from planning to eat Umasou, to seeing him as his adopted son. If you’re into anime and dinosaurs, I do recommend this one.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed reading this piece. It was fun write about these dinosaur films/TV series. And if you have any suggestions on dinosaur movies or shows I should check out, let me know in the comments. Thank you for reading!