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| Buy the VHS | |
| Genre: | Family |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Rating: | PG |
| Length: | 1 Hour 22 Minutes |
| Cast: | Eric Leighton, D.B. Sweeney, Alfre Woodard, Ossie Davis |
A fittingly oversized box-office hit from 2000, Dinosaur is the computer-animated tale of an orphaned dinosaur, adopted by lemurs, who eventually joins a migrating dino herd in search of nesting grounds. As veteran Disney fans will recognize, this is not a giddy ride like the Robin Williams-fueled Aladdin. Rather, the film is more of a Homeward Bound-styled odyssey, with a voice cast (including D. B. Sweeney and Julianna Marguilies) that plays it straight. What truly widens eyes here, though, are the undeniably awesome computer-generated images, depicting dinosaurs romping and stomping in photo-realistic backgrounds. There are two DVD editions of this artistic milestone. The single-disc edition contains four segments that chronicle the painstaking production process, as well as two games, a "Dinopedia" of dinosaur facts, and DVD-ROM links to the Web. The Collector's Edition boasts two discs. The first includes audio commentaries by the directors and effects supervisors as well as other members of the creative team. Some of the tidbits here are especially fun, such as the revelation that Zini, the misfit lemur, was inspired in part by the Michael Richards Seinfeld character, Kramer. There are abandoned and deleted sequences, hidden "Easter Eggs," an isolated sound-effects-only track and a treasure trove of supplemental features -- nearly three hours worth -- that chart the film's evolution in sketches and animation tests. Young Dino-maniacs will eat this up. Donald Liebenson
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