''Dinosaur'' is an animated short film directed and produced by

Will Vinton William Gale Vinton (November 17, 1947 – October 4, 2018) was an American animator and filmmaker. Vinton was best known for his Claymation work, alongside creating iconic characters such as The California Raisins. He won an Oscar for his work a ...

. In 1987 the film was extended and released on video under the title ''Dinosaurs!''. The new footage stars

Fred Savage Frederick Aaron Savage (born July 9, 1976) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Kevin Arnold in the American television series ''The Wonder Years'' (1988 to 1993). He has earned several awards and nominations, such as ...

playing a grade school student named Philip who gives a class report on

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, with the help of an animated chalkboard and

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

dinosaurs.

Background

Originally created in 1980, when it was known more simply as ''Dinosaur'', the 17-minute claymation short by Vinton Productions would later be used for this 1987 video. The popular short is also played at the

Smithsonian Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and has won numerous awards. This film is also played BOB's request in Rocky Hill,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

at the museum in

Dinosaur State Park Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a state-owned natural history preserve occupying in the town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The state park protects one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. The park was created in recognition of ...

. It is also played at the

Pacific Science Center Pacific Science Center is an independent, non-profit science center in Seattle with a mission to ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking. Pacific Science Center serves more than 1 million people e ...

(in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

) in the ''Dinosaurs A Journey Through Time'' exhibit, but cuts out the first two parts and narrows it down to the claymation dinosaur story. ''Dinosaurs!'' was designed as an

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational films ...

for young children new to the world of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

life; the video slipsleeve describes the film with "Discover the ''real'' monsters who dominated the earth for millions of years!" The cartoon animation of the chalkboard is used to elaborate on attributes such as the

extinction of the dinosaurs Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

as well as their brain capacity, while the Vinton claymation illustrates, in a colorful and simplistic manner, the brutal lives of the many dinosaurs. The movie also introduces a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song "

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

Mind" by Charmer, featuring cartoon dinosaurs performing it.

Plot

The video—with beginning scenes filmed in 1987—begins with a young boy named Phillip (played by Fred Savage) sitting in his bedroom, listening to

loud music Loud music is music that is played at a high volume, often to the point where it disturbs others and causes hearing damage. It may include music that is sung live, played with musical instruments, or with electronic media, such as Radio broadcast ...

, and struggling to find an idea for a class report on a science topic. While struggling to find some ideas, and irking his mother (who threatens to call his father if he does not turn off the music and go to bed) with his loud music, he plays a song on his

boom box A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...

(titled "Mesozoic Mind"). And the song provides him with an inspiration for his report: DINOSAURS! Philip then goes to sleep and has a dream, where he discovers that the search for the truth about these magnificent animals and their astonishing 160-million-year success on Earth is probably the most fascinating speculation there is. Phillip then finishes his report and presents it to the class. The class report is then covered through the 1980 claymation short ''Dinosaur'' by Will Vinton Productions.

Awards

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, 1980 *

Gold Hugo The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

* Gold Award, Houston International Film Festival, 1980

References

External links

MesozoicMind.com—Give me a Mesozoic Mind...
* *
Overview of the Dinosaur Documentary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinosaur (1980 film) 1980 animated films 1980 films 1987 animated films 1987 films Films using stop-motion animation Museum educational materials Smithsonian Institution publications Films about dinosaurs American animated short films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films