Landslides, meteorites, a tsunami, a cave collapse, fire, and enemies all threaten the heroic dinosaurs. The carnotaurus (carnotaur) is the main predator -- often shown in attack mode, close-up, toothy, and viciously roaring. There are many brutal one-on-one fights (and some kills) between mega-strong dinosaurs. The main, humanized characters, whom the audience has grown to like, are often in great danger.
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Heartily encourages teamwork and standing together to accomplish goals. The survivors are those who refuse to give up and decide to fight for their lives. Also promotes helping the less fortunate even when it's risky. Great leaders are those who truly care about the welfare of their followers.
Positive Role Models
a lot
The film's dinosaur-hero is loyal, generous, and very brave; he clearly shows a willingness to risk his own life to help the less fortunate. The audience roots for dinosaurs of multiple species who band together against a common enemy. Some of the prehistoric creatures speak with Southern and African-American dialects. Characters demonstrate teamwork and integrity.
Educational Value
some
The natural habitat and different species of dinosaurs are beautifully rendered. The film also reproduces many physical phenomena: landslides, meteor showers, animal migration, and prehistoric creatures' fight to survive.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Dinosaur is a Disney film set in prehistoric times that is filled with battles to the death, vicious predators, and heroes frequently in danger from both nature and enemy species. The filmmakers use spooky music, very dark settings, and ferocious roars to heighten the intensity. Alternating with survival-of-the-fittest sequences are ones set in a world of beauty and accessibility featuring warmhearted dinosaur heroes and comic, loving lemurs. It's an odd combination of scary and likeable -- not for very young or easily frightened kids. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
I watched this with my 4.5-year-old dinosaur-crazy son … and honestly, I was initially nervous about the meteorite strike, fire, running, etc scaring him. However, I think because I watched the entire movie with him the first time, he looked to me for his cues on whether to be worried. He already knew that scientists theorize a meteorite strike is how the dinosaurs went extinct, so we kind of talked through that part……we also talked through several of the carnotaurus parts (think t-rex-ish dinosaurs, if you’re unfamiliar) where other dinosaurs were injured/attacked….and I encouraged some levity by telling him some dinosaurs are LUNCH for other carnivorous dinosaurs. There are some funny parts that I laugh at, but go over his head a bit…but he loves this movie. Literally will act it out as it’s on, pretending to be the lead dinosaur, Aladar (sp?). I think you have to know your own child, how they’ll handle it …and be sure to watch along with them.
It my favorite movie as a kid I just love the movie
What's the Story?
In DINOSAUR, Aladar is an orphan iguanodon raised by monkey-like lemurs. When flaming meteors destroy their home, they join a group of dinosaurs trying to find food and water. The leader of the group, Kron, insists that stopping to help the older or slower dinosaurs is too dangerous. But Aladar shows the others that cooperation, teamwork, and kindness make more sense because then everyone gets a chance to contribute.
Disney worked very hard to make sure that the faces of the dinosaurs were expressive, but should have worked a little harder on giving them some more complex and subtle emotions to express. Aladar just is not that interesting a character. Even in a movie for kids, it's not enough for the characters to overcome some external challenge. What makes a story get into your heart is seeing the characters learn and grow and overcome internal challenges. It is a marvel of skill, but does not have half of the heart or wit of the Toy Story movies or A Bug's Life.
The technological mastery of Dinosaur is dazzling to watch, though, especially the textures. Fur, scales, eggshell, water, and goo are all so vivid you can almost feel them. It is a shame that the story and characters are not as strong as the visuals, though that will be more of a problem for adults than kids.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the narrator in Dinosaur says that "sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all." What is the "smallest thing," and what are the changes?
Families may also want to talk about how the lemurs decide to "adopt" the huge dinosaur, and about how some species are intolerant of others.
How does being treated with kindness change the way some of the characters behave? How does making Baylene feel needed change the way she behaves?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
