Here's the latest kiddie flick from the Disney machine. Dinosaur is unfortunately a very simplistic and very inaccurate film. I understand the simplicity. This is a movie that draws a lot of children. But what kills me is how wrong they got the environment.

Where shall I start? Grasslands? There was no grass 65 million years ago. Birds? There were no birds 65 million years ago. Monkeys? (You see the pattern?)

Being that this is really a glorified cartoon, all the animals talk ... except the animals that eat meat and the one stupid dinosaur who acts like a dog. Hmm ... dogs are meat eaters. Is Disney saying meat eaters are stupid? This struck me as poorly hidden Political Correctness. If you want to be real about this, all dinosaurs probably had simple minds, and if there was a relative genius, it would have been the mammals.

Dinosaur is a good movie if you are a child. But if you are a smart meat eating adult, who knows anything about the time of dinosaurs, this film is an insult to your intelligence.

What works, and it is all that works, is the special effects. There's a very good marriage here between live shot backgrounds and computer generated animals. Honestly, this is only worth your time, if you're looking for something to take your young child to.

Dust Bag Full

Film Facts

Cast
• Julianna Margulies
• D.B. Sweeney
• Joan Plowright
• Ossie Davis
• Max Casella
• Alfre Woodard
• Samuel E. Wright
• Peter Siragusa
• Della Reese
• Hayden Panettiere

Directed by
Eric Leighton
Ralph Zondag

Released in 2000

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewed by Mongo