Film Review:

Jurassinine Bastard
DINOSAUR (Disney, 2000)

Reviewed by Marlena Villers (marlenav@earthlink.net)

I really didn’t like this movie. Then I think, well maybe I’m just not looking at it from a child’s point of view. So to what aged child was DINOSAUR designed to appeal? You got me. Judging from the reaction of the kids at the screening I attended, the bad dinos are too scary for the really young, and the story is too dull & boring for the older kids. Which leads me to a most troubling conclusion. This movie wasn’t designed to appeal to any particular aged child or adult. This movie was designed to sell the items in the ancillary markets — the toys, books, cards, games, and the all important fast food tie-in. It’s Pokemon in slicker, more deceptive packaging. A pure marketing ploy all dressed up in Mouse Ears with the Disney stamp of approval.

As for the supposedly wonderful state of the art computer animation, forget it. I never for a second believed their world was real. I’ll take the TOY STORY movies any day over this soulless piece of drivel. Those movies created a totally believable and real world that was appealing to both children and adults. TS2 even has the added bonus of a Bastard storyline with Woody having to choose between returning to the boy who loves him, but who will eventually outgrow and abandon him, or staying with his newly discovered “birth” family in a safe, sterile museum environment.

DINOSAUR’s plot borrows heavily from THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and other biblical stories. In an early scene the egg carrying what will become Aladar, our hero dinosaur, is afloat in a river. This egg is eventually discovered by a couple of lemurs who adopt and raise the foundling. At first the adoptive father is resistant and wants to kill the baby dino. “Why should we save something that will turn around and eat us when he grows up?” the father asks. “We’ll teach him not to eat meat,” replies the mother. Talk about your bastard moment! A few scenes later, when all the adolescent monkeys are shimmying up a tree for their first mating season, they are all smitten by meteor fire from the sky and a tidal wave from the ocean. Thanks to Aladar, the adoptive family survives, but their home is gone. As they travel the barren land, they hook up with a wandering tribe of dinosaurs of all shapes & sizes. This is a nice twist because previously Aladar had been the only one of his kind. Just as he discovers others like himself, the adoptive family is now without kin.

While I didn’t enjoy this movie, it does have a worthwhile message for the adoption reform/open records movement. The lessons learned by the tribe while wandering the desert could come straight out of the Basic Bastard. First and foremost, leave no one behind. (In other words, don’t allow compromises that exclude some of us, i.e. discriminatory disclosure vetoes.) The tribe’s leader sets a quick pace. Those that can’t keep up are left behind and quickly become food for the predatory raptors and carnitaurs. Aladar feels that everyone is worth saving, and by doing so, we learn a second lesson regarding the power of unity. Many small voices united can defeat the mighty one.

Maybe next time Disney attempts to make an epic about an adoptee, they should look to Oregon and Alabama for their story. We’ve got plenty of Bastard heroes there.

 

Marlena Villers is a freelance film & video producer. She resides in Texas.