Dinosaur

It is fitting that the first film in the Age of Pixar is Disney’s first attempt at a fully computer animated film.  Unfortunately, when compared to the films that Pixar was putting out it is lacking in quality.  The graphics are worse, the story is worse, the music is worse.  It felt like a subpar studio.

There is no real merchandising for Dinosaur.  I’m sure when it came out there were happy meal toys and such, but since the film does not utilize the hand drawn style, it would be hard to sell cute cuddly, realistic looking dinosaur plushies.  The ride Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom, originally called Countdown to Extinction, is the only real attempt at including this film in the parks even if it was a re-theme.

The film itself is not great.  There are a lot of themes that make it similar to Tarzan, but it is wildly outshined by the previous

film.  It has a lot of story revolving around a dinosaur raised by lemurs, very similar to the man raised by apes.  Then the movie takes a super dark turn with a meteorite hitting the Earth.  Way too dark for children in my view, but not in the same way Hunchback was.  This is dark because it is bleak and there feels like there is no hope.

The characters feel flat.  There is a stereotypical old lady, the hero who is brave and ready to lead, but no one will listen to him, the gruff current leader who is sort of the antagonist, and then some other animals that are less civilized for no apparent reason.

The animation as I said is not very good.  The backgrounds, which are not computer animated, look great.  But, the characters look like poor versions of Jurassic Park.  Even the quirky animals are creepy and move strange.

There is background music here, but nothing that stands out.  No big radio song to be played later. 

In the end it felt like a movie for adults, that starred talking animals, with a dark storyline that loses all sense of purpose at the ending.  As sad as it is, this one feels like a big reason Disney started to falter.

Run Time – 88 Minutes

73rd Academy Awards – 0 Nominations

Disney Animated Canon so far in order of Quality

1. Beauty and the Beast 9-29-1991

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 6-21-1996

3. Lady and the Tramp 6-22-1955

4. Aladdin 11-25-1992

5. Tarzan 6-18-1999

6. Mulan 6-19-1998

7. Peter Pan 2-5-1953

8. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 3-11-1977

9. One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1-25-1961

10. The Lion King 6-15-1994

11. Hercules 6-13-1997

12. Dumbo 10-23-1941

13. The Fox and the Hound 7-10-1981

14. Oliver and Company 11-18-1988

15. Cinderella 2-15-1950

16. The Little Mermaid 11-17-1989

17. Pinocchio 2-7-1940

18. Sleeping Beauty 1-29-1959

19. The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 10-5-1949

20. The Jungle Book 10-18-1967

21. The Great Mouse Detective 7-2-1986

22. Robin Hood 11-8-1973

23. The Rescuers Down Under 11-16-1990

24. Make Mine Music 4-20-1946

25. Fun and Fancy Free 9-27-1947

26. Dinosaur 5-19-2000

27. The Aristocats 12-11-1970

28. Pocahontas 6-23-1995

29. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 12-21-1937

30. Saludos Amigos 8-24-1942

31. The Sword in the Stone 12-25-1963

32. The Rescuers 6-22-1977

33. Alice in Wonderland 7-26-1951

34. The Black Cauldron 7-24-1985

35. Melody Time 5-27-1948

36. Bambi 8-13-1942

37. Fantasia 11-13-1940

38. The Three Caballeros 12-21-1944