# Save your money, people: Disney's 'Dinosaurs' reeks... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 3, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042 "2001-02-03T19:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/1 "2001-02-03T19:54:46Z")
Now out on video (and, God help me, presently running on our VCR). Geez, they don’t miss a single cliche. It’s a hopeless mishmash of _Tarzan_ and _Jungle Book_ and _Lion King_ and _Land Before Time_ (which I know wasn’t Disney, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped _them_) and, I dunno, every single movie ever made where somebody made the speech during the second reel that goes, “Wait! If we all stand together…” And every single movie ever made that clubbed you over the head with a moral about “getting to know other kinds of people” and “don’t judge a book by its cover”, and finished up with a pious, “our journey’s just begun”… Gag me with a spoon. Rent it only if you have a 3-year-old who needs sedating. An _addled_ 3-year-old. P.S. Bonzo’s official movie review, delivered just now from the depths of the living room couch: **"That movie sucked."** ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/2 "2001-02-03T20:03:36Z")
Aww. Who’s Bonzo, though? I must ask. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/3 "2001-02-03T21:30:34Z")
C’mon, **DDG** – what else did you expect from a Disney movie? I liked “Dinosaurs” because of the special effects. That’s it. I expected nothing more, and got the same. “Talking” dinosaurs? A journey to a haven, where they can continue to breed like crazy, despite the environment for them about to go “boom”? Sorry you and the kids were disappointed, though. And, yeah – who’s Bonzo? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/4 "2001-02-03T23:21:39Z")
I figure the DVD will have some great extras, and the effects will come through clear and sharp - very impressive. Having said that, I avoided seeing it in a theatre as a) it’d be filled with restless kids, and b) the reviews panned it. ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/5 "2001-02-03T23:42:13Z")
I thought it’d be a cool movie when I first saw the previews. Then I found out that the dinosaurs talked. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/6 "2001-02-03T23:54:43Z")
I watched it in theater. I think if I saw it at home, I would do so with the sound off. Pity that the DVD doesn’t have channels, so I could turn off, say, voice while leaving sound effects and music active. ---
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/7 "2001-02-04T00:06:41Z")
I saw it a few nights ago on the campus movie channel. Blargh. Though I must say that I was comforted by the knowledge that the characters and all of their kind would eventually die horrible deaths and torment the planet no more. New theory: Glurge killed the dinosaurs! Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/8 "2001-02-04T00:17:18Z")
I could tell that from the previews…(insert barfing smiley) ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/9 "2001-02-04T13:48:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by oldscratch \* > \*\*I thought it’d be a cool movie when I first saw the previews. Then I found out that the dinosaurs talked. > > ☹ \*\* Indeed. The first 5 min trailer promised something grand, even epic. Then, I saw the _looooove_ monkey…_sigh_. Cheers, Hodge ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/10 "2001-02-04T16:48:35Z")
I have a three year old that loves it. Actually, my 7 and 10 year old enjoyed it as well. I thought it was ok, although it seemed like a live action Land Before Time movie. The first preview I saw for it didn’t have the talking dinosaurs, so I thought it would be better than it was, but overall, it sure beats watching Blue’s Clues all day. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/11 "2001-02-04T21:15:50Z")
I saw this for the first time yesterday, and I bitched through the whole thing. Damn was it awful!!! I could not believe my brother (28) liked it so much. I thought it was garbage. Everything in that movie had been done before. It was terrible!! ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/12 "2001-02-04T21:19:57Z")
Was that the one with the stupid talking/singing/dancing butt-ugly lemurs? I’ve had nightmares about those things. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/13 "2001-02-04T21:31:22Z")
Yup, it’s the one with the lemurs. I agree the plot was cliché ridden and cheesy, but hey… my son is 5 and loves dinosaurs. We saw it in the theater twice, and we’ll buy the DVD. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/14 "2001-02-05T02:14:28Z")
Its a kids movie people… as in for KIDS! My brother has twin boys, they are three, and fairly addled as well… they are getting it. I thought the special effects were cool, and the story wasnt any lamer than Road to Eldorado, or the Emperor’s New Groove. Hey its Disney - valium for kids. Mmmmmmmm…valium… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/15 "2001-02-05T06:51:08Z")
Just a clarification…the movie is “Dinosaur”. “Dinosaurs” was a (in my mind) pretty funny TV series. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/16 "2001-02-05T08:32:43Z")
Posting this link may be a bit self-serving, but at least I didn’t write it: [ur][http://www.mouseplanet.com/jim/jun2300.htm](http://www.mouseplanet.com/jim/jun2300.htm). A three-part series on what went wrong with this movie. As for me, I haven’t seen it yet, but “its a kid’s movie” doesn’t really fly with Disney movies. Disney expects each of their major animated efforts to make $150 million, domestic box office. You don’t do that by pleasing only the 5-year-olds. That said, word on two (_Lilo & Stitch_ and _Treasure Planet_) of the next four (those two plus _Atlantis_ and _Monsters, Inc._) is pretty darn good. Word is that the early stuff for _Monsters, Inc._ was not up to Pixar standards, but then neither were the early versions of the _Toy Stories_. We’ll see. At least they aren’t musicals (and _Lilo & Stitch_ is a completely original screenplay). ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/17 "2001-02-05T15:30:25Z")
Bonzo is 13, male, and (we think) human. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/18 "2001-02-05T15:37:29Z")
And, yeah, come to think of it, doesn’t Disney _own_ the rights to the TV series _Dinosaurs_? Wasn’t it a Jim Henson Production? How typical, then, of the money-grubbing evil dwarves down at the Magic Kingdom Corporate, to give their likely-to-fail movie practically the same title as the well-received-and-doing-nicely-on-video TV series. Not to mention the “big eye staring” cover art, which is easily confused with the _Godzilla_ “big eye staring” cover art. If we can’t make money by making good movies, then we’ll make money by selling bad movies on video to people who pick them up by mistake. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-money-people-disneys-dinosaurs-reeks/53042/19 "2001-02-08T08:25:46Z")
It took Disney 15 years to get _Dinosaur_ out the door. It had the name long before _Dinosaurs_ was on TV.