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Dinosaur 2000 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by Eric Leighton and Ralph Zondag
PG, 84 min. (intense images) |
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Starring: Voices: D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Joan Plowright, Alfre Woodard, Ossie Davis, Samuel E. Wright, Della Reese, Hayden Panettiere, Max Casella, Peter Siragusa
Producer: Pam Marsden
Screenplay: John Harrison, Robert Nelson Jacobs
Cinematography: David R. Hardberger, S. Douglas Smith
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Released: 5.19.00 (Wide) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
Disney advanced to a new level of animation with Dinosaur, combining live-action backgrounds with computer animated
characters. The result is an amazing spectacle that shows just how far animation has come with the advent of
computer-generated graphics. The story is a little thin, and the voice performances are less than spectacular.
However, we have to remember that the film is geared towards children, who will love it.
The film begins with a truly remarkable 10-minute sequence that shows the dinosaurs in their everyday life. Then,
an egg starts out on a journey that takes it far away from its origin. During this sequence, Disney goes all out to show
off their new technology. It would be difficult to not be awestruck over the realism created by the animators. Once the
relocation of the egg is complete, the characters begin to surface. The main character is the misplaced dinosaur named
Aladar, who is raised by a family of lemurs. Here we learn of Aladar's love for his family while at the same time his
yearning to find someone like himself.
The next event of the film is a another marvelous display of animation, as meteors begin to drop from space. While at
first enamored with the light show, the animals soon begin to feel a sense of danger. Aladar saves the day, as he helps his
family escape the big explosion created by the largest meteor. In fact, this part is so powerful that it might even scare small
kids. After the dust clears, the planet is in shambles, leaving the animals struggling to survive. It is at this point where Aladar
first encounters other dinosaurs.
The rest of the story is pretty typical. Aladar meets a female dinosaur, Neera, and they begin to fall for each other. The
dinosaurs must make a long journey to a greener place to survive. They face the usual obstacles such as predators and a
selfish, overbearing leader. Aladar eventually must play the part of the hero, leading the dinosaurs to the promised land
while standing up to Kron, the leader of the herd who's too stubborn to listen to Aladar. He must fight off more than one
T-Rex, all the while protecting his own family and some other struggling dinosaurs that are too old to keep up with Kron's
pace.
Again, the highlight of the film is the animation. The story and characters are meant for children, not adults. But this is a
film that adults will enjoy with their children, if only to admire the detail of the graphics. Disney avoids the typical musical
here. The characters never break out into song. However, the musical score by James Newton Howard is superb and
greatly adds to presentation of the film. The film is definitely worth seeing, for both young and old.
© 2000 Jonathan Cornwell
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 |
 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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