{"id":245844,"date":"2025-05-18T17:39:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/animation\/the-25th-anniversary-of-disneys-dinosaur\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:39:05","slug":"the-25th-anniversary-of-disneys-dinosaur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=245844","title":{"rendered":"The 25th Anniversary of Disney\u2019s \u201cDinosaur\u201d |"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\u201cI knew the job was dangerous when I took it,\u201d laughed supervisor of digital effects Neil Eskuri when discussing Dinosaur<\/em> in an interview in 2000. He also added, \u201cWe constantly had to break new bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

New bounds are what this film broke, combining computer animation with live action to bring the Cretaceous world of the title character to life.<\/p>\n

Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this month, Dinosaur<\/em> had a long road to the screen that dates back to 1986 when Phil Tippet, visual effects legend and master of stop-motion animation, approached director Paul Verhoeven (the two had worked together on Robocop<\/em>) about partnering on a dinosaur movie using stop-motion animation. <\/p>\n

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\u201cDinosaur\u201d had an attraction at Disney\u2019s Animal Kingdom Theme Park<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tippet and Verhoeven eventually left the project, but it was brought to The Walt Disney Studios, where it went into development in 1988 at the Studio\u2019s live-action division.<\/p>\n

When Jurassic Park<\/em> was a massive success in 1993, Disney decided to move away from stop-motion and make the film digitally, moving the film over to Disney\u2019s Feature Animation Studio.<\/p>\n

It underwent several changes here, including one version with digital dinosaurs and miniature sets. That idea was eventually scrapped, and the miniature sets were replaced with live-action backgrounds.
There was another version where the characters were to speak only in voice-over (audiences would hear the dinosaurs\u2019 thoughts). \u201cThat just wasn\u2019t emotional or engaging enough for these majestic animals,\u201d remembered Dinosaur co-producer Baker Bloodworth in an interview in 2000. Ultimately, it was decided to allow the dinosaurs to speak.<\/p>\n

To complete this ambitious film and compete in the expanding realm of computer-generated imagery, Disney created a complete \u201cin-house\u201d digital studio to produce Dinosaur and future digital productions.<\/p>\n

The new Studio was called \u201cThe Secret Lab\u201d and was a merger of The Walt Disney Company and Dream Quest Images, a visual effects company that had created effects for such films as 1989\u2019s The Abyss<\/em>. Disney purchased Dream Quest Images in 1996, laying the groundwork for The Secret Lab, which was formed in 1999.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWe had to do what no other filmmaking crew has ever had to do,\u201d added Bloodworth in 2000. \u201cWe had to hire three hundred and fifty artists, which took a year and a half. Then, we had to try and figure out how to make a movie that no one has ever made before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, Dinosaur<\/em> tells the story of an Iguanodon named Aladar who is rescued and raised by a family of lemurs. Growing up among the lemurs, Aladar spends time with his best friend Zini and his adopted sister Suri but can\u2019t help but feel different.<\/p>\n

A violent meteor shower causes a massive explosion and shockwave. Aladar and his adopted lemur family escape. They join a herd of dinosaurs led by the stubborn Iguanodon Kron, who are all trying to find their way to the safety of the valley and their nesting grounds. <\/p>\n

Helping to bring the characters in Dinosaur<\/em> to life was an impressive voice cast that included D.B. Sweeney as Aladar, Alfre Woodard as Plio, the lemur who adopts Aladar, Ossie Davis as Yar, Plio\u2019s father, Max Casella as Zini, Hayden Panettiere as Suri, Samuel E. Wright as Kron, Julia Margulies as the Iguanodon Neera, who becomes Aladar\u2019s love interest. And, as members of the herd: Dame Joan Plowright as Baylene, the Brachiosaurus, and Della Reese as the Styracosaurus, Eema. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The journey the characters embark on features some visually stunning set pieces, such as the opening fifteen minutes of the film, devoid of dialogue, that depict a vicious Carnataurus who attacks and knocks the egg with Aladar inside it out of the nest. We then follow the egg as it goes on its adventure, bobbing down a river and taken by a Pterodactyl, who takes it in flight, dropping it into the jungle.<\/p>\n

It was so impressive that this opening sequence of Dinosaur<\/em> was shown as a teaser trailer ahead of Toy Story 2<\/em> when it debuted in November of \u201999.<\/p>\n

Additionally, scenes such as the meteor shower were astonishing, visceral action sequences, and the dinosaurs\u2019 skin and movement had a tactile quality.<\/p>\n

The latter was the result of paleontologists who were brought in to consult on Dinosaur<\/em>, as well as time studying the movements of elephants. \u201cWe were able to reference their movements in terms of how a ten-ton character would walk, stretch, and essentially move,\u201d said Bloodworth in 2000. \u201cThat was very significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing all this to life through computer-generated imagery was quite the task. \u201cMaking this movie was like jumping off of a cliff,\u201d admitted co-director Leighton when discussing Dinosaur<\/em> just before the film debuted. \u201cI hadn\u2019t really touched a computer before this film, and I\u2019m not very good at video games, but it was a challenge and a good one. To me, that meant a potential for growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what\u2019s happened is that technology has strengthened over the years,\u201d added Zondag in a 2000 interview. \u201cAs it gets stronger, it starts attracting really talented artists, which makes it that much better. The possibilities with it then become endless. It opens up a new door for storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n