Although nobody has ever seen a real-life dinosaur, the multi-million dollar, computer-generated replicas stomping and chomping through "Dinosaur" appear pretty close to what scientists imagine the actual animals may have resembled. This predictable but entertaining tale set in the late Cretaceous Period some 65-million years ago seamlessly integrates live-action footage with sophisticated, cutting-edge digital animation.
Unfortunately, all the visual special effects magic in Hollywood cannot make up for the depressing, often preachy "Dinosaur" plot that recycles elements from last summer's "Tarzan" as well as Disney's "The Land Before Time." Basically, this above-average kiddies' opus emerges as a prehistoric spin on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" TV series.
Nimbly directed by Eric Leighton and Ralph ("We're Back!A Dinosaur's Story") Zondag, Dinosaur" starts with an incredible ten-minute sequences that not only sets the story into motion but also showcases the impressive advances in computer animation since "Toy Story."
When a bloodthirsty carnivore (a T-Rex style dino with nose horns) rampages through a herd of peaceful dinosaurs that have just laid their eggs, only one egg survives the catastrophe. A variety of scaly scavengers fight over this egg like the proverbial hot potato until a Pterodactyl snags it and flies across oceans and continents before it loses the egg on Lemur Island, too.
A family of primates discovers the egg, and baby Aladar (voice of D.B. Sweeney) wins the hearts of grouchy head lemur Yar (voice of Ossie Davis) and single mom Plio (voice of Alfre Woodward). Naturally, the monkeys adopt this over-sized orphan as one of their own. Of course, Disney writers John Harrison and Robert Nelson Jacobs have taken liberties with history. Lemurs and dinosaurs didn't co-exist, but these historical errors can be condoned as long as they heighten the entertainment value. Oh, yes, Iguanadons are T-Rexes without a bad attitude, but they can swing a mean tail in close-quarters combat. All this peace and prosperity ends spectacularly when a meteor shower devastates Lemur Island, and our animal heroes must flee.
Aladar, with his lovable Lemur family clinging to his back, joins up with a herd of dinosaurs crossing an arid desert (like the Jews out of Exodus) to a fabled paradise called the Nesting Grounds. Initially, the idealistic Aladar butts heads with the bossy head dino Kron (voiced of Samuel Wright) who is willing to sacrifice the older dinosaurs, Baylene, a huge Brachiosaurus (voice of Joan Plowright), and Eema, a sluggish styrachosaur (voice of Della Reese), to keep a couple of predatory carnivore at bay. Aladar disagrees with Kron's survival-of-the-fittest strategy and fights the carnivores to save these older, slower dinosaurs.
Although the House of Mouse sank nearly $200-million into this ambitious, eye-catching epic, the Disney Studios should have anted up at least a tenth of their lavish budget on a story as creative and original as their special effects wizardry.
Unfortunately, all the visual special effects magic in Hollywood cannot make up for the depressing, often preachy "Dinosaur" plot that recycles elements from last summer's "Tarzan" as well as Disney's "The Land Before Time." Basically, this above-average kiddies' opus emerges as a prehistoric spin on "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" TV series.
Nimbly directed by Eric Leighton and Ralph ("We're Back!A Dinosaur's Story") Zondag, Dinosaur" starts with an incredible ten-minute sequences that not only sets the story into motion but also showcases the impressive advances in computer animation since "Toy Story."
When a bloodthirsty carnivore (a T-Rex style dino with nose horns) rampages through a herd of peaceful dinosaurs that have just laid their eggs, only one egg survives the catastrophe. A variety of scaly scavengers fight over this egg like the proverbial hot potato until a Pterodactyl snags it and flies across oceans and continents before it loses the egg on Lemur Island, too.
A family of primates discovers the egg, and baby Aladar (voice of D.B. Sweeney) wins the hearts of grouchy head lemur Yar (voice of Ossie Davis) and single mom Plio (voice of Alfre Woodward). Naturally, the monkeys adopt this over-sized orphan as one of their own. Of course, Disney writers John Harrison and Robert Nelson Jacobs have taken liberties with history. Lemurs and dinosaurs didn't co-exist, but these historical errors can be condoned as long as they heighten the entertainment value. Oh, yes, Iguanadons are T-Rexes without a bad attitude, but they can swing a mean tail in close-quarters combat. All this peace and prosperity ends spectacularly when a meteor shower devastates Lemur Island, and our animal heroes must flee.
Aladar, with his lovable Lemur family clinging to his back, joins up with a herd of dinosaurs crossing an arid desert (like the Jews out of Exodus) to a fabled paradise called the Nesting Grounds. Initially, the idealistic Aladar butts heads with the bossy head dino Kron (voiced of Samuel Wright) who is willing to sacrifice the older dinosaurs, Baylene, a huge Brachiosaurus (voice of Joan Plowright), and Eema, a sluggish styrachosaur (voice of Della Reese), to keep a couple of predatory carnivore at bay. Aladar disagrees with Kron's survival-of-the-fittest strategy and fights the carnivores to save these older, slower dinosaurs.
Although the House of Mouse sank nearly $200-million into this ambitious, eye-catching epic, the Disney Studios should have anted up at least a tenth of their lavish budget on a story as creative and original as their special effects wizardry.