May 18–25, 2000

movie shorts

Dinosaur

Besides being cute as can be, the CG dinosaurs in Disney’s summer-smash-to-be are all about numbers. The film took a team of 48 animators some 3.2 million hours to make 70,000 CD-ROMs-worth of information, which includes more than 30 kinds of prehistoric creatures, from somewhere around 65 million years ago, namely, the Cretaceous Period. The tale is Tarzan-ish: an iguanodon named Aladar (D.B. Sweeney) is raised by lemurs (the parents are Ossie Davis and Alfre Woodard). After a fireball destroys their island, the family tags along on a dinosaurs’ march across brutal carnotaurs-infested deserts to the Nesting Ground, a fabulous, leafy paradise hidden away in a valley somewhere. Sweet-natured Aladar comes into conflict with dino-leader Kron (Samuel E. Wright), a stone-age Darwinist who believes that anyone who falls behind is fated to die and who happens to have a comely dino-sister (Julianna Margulies). Aladar makes it his business to defy the leader and look after a couple of aging dino-ladies, a brachiosaur (Joan Plowright) and a "loose caricature" of a styrachosaur (Della Reese). Plagued by bad weather, thirst and rockslides, the dinosaurs persevere and democratic-minded Aladar wins the day. When threatened by one of the huge red horny-toad-looking meat-eaters, he convinces the group to yell really loud in unison, and the bully turns back. Though the enhanced location background shots are so-so, the character animation is amazing, with details of scales, fur, facial expressions (which you just have to grant the dinosaurs), baggy skin and wet bodies in rainstorms.

—Cindy Fuchs