Many creatures come and go on the pop culture spectrum: werewolves, dragons, vampires, Nicholas Cage. Their popularity waxes and wanes by varying degrees, but perhaps one of the most endearing creatures to make their behemoth-sized stamps on the hearts of people everywhere are dinosaurs. They intrigue us because they seem wholly fantastic in spite of their current state of extinction, yet their presence on this planet is completely verified (unlike the aforementioned creatures, whom belong to the realm of myth). There have been many depictions of our pre-historic friends in television and film that range from the cheesy to the absolutely terrifying and just about everything in between. These are the must-sees/reads for anyone who makes a B-line for the Dinosaur exhibit at the Museum of Natural History.
The Land Before Time
Dinosaur movies that cater specifically to kids don’t get much better than Don Bluth’s 1988 film about Littlefoot and his friends’ search for “the Great Valley” (the multitude of sub par sequels not withstanding). What makes “The Land Before Time” so good is that like most quality children’s films it appeals but never panders. The five main characters (all different species) are diverse and likeable but the dangers the protagonists face (from extinction to the omnipresent threat of the “Sharptooth”) are real. More than anything the film captures, with great imagination, how children think of dinosaurs in their heads.
Dinosaur Comics
The aptly titled webcomic “Dinosaur Comics” always features the same six panels of a Tyrannosaurus rex, an Utahraptor, and a Dromiceiomimus, with only its characters’ dialogue ever- changing. While what any of the characters have to say rarely has anything to do with their being dinosaurs rarely factors into the content T-Rex’s frequent declarations of “frig” and “sweet” no less entertaining.
Jurassic Park
It’s cliché, but what list about dinosaurs is ever complete without at least one reference to the dinosaur movie to end all dinosaur movies? “Jurassic Park” is iconic for a multitude of reasons. It’s scary, funny, exciting, and has a tailor-made John Williams soundtrack. It asks what would we do if we had dinosaurs in the modern age and accurately answers that question with: Turn it into a capitalistic endeavor. But the film isn’t without its heart. When Laura Dern and Sam Neil step out of that jeep and see that first herd of brontosauruses, you can feel the awe (and rightfully placed awe at that) dripping off the screen that the audience can’t help but share in.
The “Rite of Spring” sequence from “Fantasia”
The “Rite of Spring” sequence from the original “Fantasia” is, without a doubt, the best depiction of dinosaurs in animation. The loose narrative begins with the creation of life in its earliest forms and ends with the dinosaurs’ eventual extinction. The animation isn’t realistic but it’s not cartoonish, either. It conveys a feeling that is at once majestic without being romantic and terrible without being maudlin. It captures their world succinctly and beautifully.
Gertie the Dinosaur
The 1914 short is the earliest depiction of a dinosaur on film. It might not have too much flash, but there’s something to be said for its pioneering spirit. Also, Gertie dances. There’s always something to be said for a film that prominently showcases a brontosaurus’ ability to boogie.
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