Plot
An orphaned dinosaur raised by lemurs joins an arduous trek to a sancturary after a meteorite shower destroys his family home.

Release Year: 2000

Rating: 6.2/10 (19,310 voted)

Critic's Score: 56/100

Director: Eric Leighton

Stars: D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Samuel E. Wright

Storyline
During an attack on a pack of Iguanodon, an egg is separated and ends up with the possession of a group of lemurs. The lemurs care for this egg and the young creature born from it, which they call Aladar. When a meteor shower hits earth, Aladar and his family must leave their homeland. Away from home and as close to danger as they have ever been, they meet up with a huge group of dinosaurs, led by Kron and Bruton. All together they are trying to reach the nesting grounds, but it's not going to be easy.

Writers: Walon Green, Thom Enriquez

Cast:
D.B. Sweeney - Aladar (voice)
Alfre Woodard - Plio (voice)
Ossie Davis - Yar (voice)
Max Casella - Zini (voice)
Hayden Panettiere - Suri (voice)
Samuel E. Wright - Kron (voice)
Julianna Margulies - Neera (voice)
Peter Siragusa - Bruton (voice)
Joan Plowright - Baylene (voice)
Della Reese - Eema (voice)
Matt Adler - (voice)
Sandina Bailo-Lape - (voice)
Edie Lehmann - (voice) (as Edie Lehmann Boddicker)
Zachary Bostrom - (voice)
Cathy Cavadini - (voice) (as Catherine Cavadini)

Taglines: You have never seen anything like this.

Release Date: 19 May 2000

Filming Locations: Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $127,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $38,854,851 (USA) (21 May 2000) (3257 Screens)

Gross: $354,248,063 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 82 min

Trivia:
The plot hole pointed out by some as to why the Herd went to have their babies in the Nesting Grounds but didn't remain there (hence the desert exodus) was explained in the "Essential Guide" of the film: the land in the Nesting Grounds becomes too cold and infertile in the winter, driving the Herd to leave it and return when they begin to breed.

Goofs:
Factual errors: The Carnotaurs seen in the film were much bigger than their real life counterparts. In realty the were smaller than Iguanodon (Aladar's species) whereas here they are made as large as some of the biggest Dinosaur predators (like Tyrannosaurus). This is presumably done for dramatic effect and wouldn't be the first time such a change has been made (the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park).

Quotes:
[first lines]
Plio: Some things start out big, and some things start out small, very small. But sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all.

Wonderful

Rating: 9/10

Finally Disney has created an animation that isn't sugar-sweet!

What usually bugs me about Disney's films is the constant bursting-into-song sequences that clog up the stories, and the comic side-kicks that keep making bad jokes. No such thing in Dinosaur! It's a serious movie that is very sad and partially cruel: a wonderful tale of courage and survival, told with respect for the audience, with unpresidented animations. The dionsaurs merge seemlessly into the real surroundings, and they move and look absolutely real. Finally, computer animations have reached the stage where it doesn't look animated anymore!

I was also very touched by Aladar's attempts to save the old dinos, and although I'm a grown-up, I jumped in my seat when the carnotaurs emerged. There was violence in this film: cruel battles between carnivores and herbivores. And surging through it all there is a feeling of sadness and loss, for a world that is about to fade away into the pages of history.

Thus, it's not for the smallest children, but it's a great story that treats it's audience with respect and pays homage to that great lost Earth that was buried in the dust millions of years ago.

9/10

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