We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
The film opens with a trio of young bluebirds harassing their youngest sibling, Buster (Blaze Berdahl). As Buster leaves his family, he meets an intelligent orange T. rex named Rex (John Goodman) playing golf. He explains to Buster that he was once a ravaging dinosaur, and proceeds to tell his personal story.
In prehistoric times, Rex was a savage, frightening creature who terrorized smaller dinosaurs. But one night, he encounters a strange spacecraft and a small green alien-like creature named Vorb (Jay Leno). Vorb captures Rex and feeds him "Brain Grain", a special breakfast cereal that vastly increases Rex's intelligence. Rex is given his name and introduced to other dinosaurs that have been fed Brain Grain: A green Parasaurolophus named Dweeb (Charles Fleischer), a blue Triceratops named Woog (Rene LeVant), and a purple Pteranodon named Elsa (Felicity Kendal). They soon meet Captain Neweyes (Walter Cronkite), the inventor of Brain Grain and pilot of the spacecraft, who reveals his goal of allowing the children of the present time to see real dinosaurs, fulfilling their biggest wishes. He plans to take them to Dr. Julia Bleeb (Julia Child), who will guide them to the Museum of Natural History in New York City. He also warns them to avoid Professor Screweyes (Kenneth Mars), his insane brother.
Neweyes drops the dinosaurs off at the East River in 1993, but they fail to meet with Dr. Bleeb. Instead, they meet a young boy named Louie (Joey Shea), who plans on running away to join the circus. Louie agrees to help the dinosaurs. Louie soon encounters a girl named Cecilia, who is miserable with her life because of her neglectful parents. She agrees to run away with Louie and help the dinosaurs.
To prevent mass panic, Louie decides that the dinosaurs need to stay hidden during their journey to the Natural History Museum. He disguises them as floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the parade, Rex hears all the children wishing to see real dinosaurs, so he starts to sing "Roll Back the Rock (To the Dawn of Time)" (the movie's theme song). When he sees the Apatosaurus balloon coming out in the parade however, Rex mistakes it for being real and hand shakes it too tight with his claws, causing its air sealer to pop open. The balloon runs out of air and falls on the dinosaurs, who are otherwise unharmed. When the audience realizes that live dinosaurs are among them, they fly into a panic. The local authorities are called in to stop the dinosaurs.
As the dinosaurs lose the police, Louie and Cecilia venture to Central Park, where Professor Screweyes is running his "Eccentric Circus". Unaware of Screweyes' sinister nature, the children sign a contract to perform in his circus troupe. The dinosaurs arrive and try to prevent this, but they are too late. Screweyes, upon meeting the dinosaurs, explains that he delights in scaring people and believes that the dinosaurs would make a great addition to his circus. He then reveals his very own "Brain Drain", pills that are the polar opposite of his brother's Brain Grain. He demonstrates the Brain Drain on the two children, devolving them into chimpanzees; however, he offers the dinosaurs a deal: if they consume the pills and join his circus, he would destroy the contract and release Louie and Cecilia. Reluctantly and sadly, the dinosaurs accept the offer.
As the kids awake the next morning, they are greeted by a circus clown named Stubbs (Martin Short). Upon seeing the dinosaurs returned to their natural savage states, Louie and Cecilia, with the help of Stubbs, plan to sneak into the night's show and save the dinosaurs. Professor Screweyes claims he can control the now-savage Rex, and proceeds to hypnotize him. Everyone watching the show gets frightened during the performance, and many run away. However, a crow accidentally activates flare lights, breaking Rex out of the trance. The savage Rex realizes he has been tricked, becomes enraged and tries to attack Screweyes. However, Louie steps in and desperately tells Rex that killing Screweyes will not be worth it; these impassioned pleas serve to return the dinosaurs to their kind and friendly natures. Just then, Captain Neweyes arrives in his spacecraft and congratulates Louie and Cecilia, who proceed to kiss in front of a whole crowd of people. Stubbs announces his resignation from Screweyes' employ. Neweyes, Louie, Cecilia and the dinosaurs board the aircraft, leaving Screweyes to be swarmed upon by the crows. When the crows take off, all that is left of Screweyes is his fake eye, in which one of the crows takes and flies off with.
The dinosaurs spend the rest of their days in the Museum of Natural History, allowing children to see live dinosaurs, fulfilling their wishes. Meanwhile, Louie and Cecilia reconcile with their respective parents, and the two become a couple.
Rex returns Buster to his family before returning to the Museum of National History, humming the movie's theme song to himself.

Review: The basic plot: Four dinosaurs (made more intelligent by a kindly scientist) are given the chance to delight children by coming into the future to live with Dr. Bleeb at the Museum of Natural History.Why it works: Kids love dinosaurs (especially big cuddly talking ones that sound like John Goodman), kindly scientists, time travel, and (when given the chance) Natural History.The animation is good quality, the basic premise is fun, the music (with a surprise by Thomas Dolby) is good and well placed (no one bursting into an annoying song every 30 seconds) and the voice talents are wonderful, featuring well known actors such as Martin Short and Rhea Perlman, voices we know from elsewhere--Walter Cronkite and Julia Child, and veteran Voicers Yeardley Smith (the unsinkable Lisa Simpson) and the remarkable Charles Fleischer (Roger Rabbit).Some characters needed a little more character...a little more explanation (such as Professor Screweyes--who went mad and turned evil because he lost his eye--??).
Jurrasic Park, The Land Before Time, (the original, not the crappy umpteen sequels), and We're Back especially were my favorite movies.Now when I look at it again, I see that the movie's plot made no sense, the characters were stereotypical, and that it was sappy at the end.But as a kid, I didn't care.
And somehow in all the critic reviews and hype and over analyzation of movies in general, I forgot what it was like to watch a movie as a kid and to just enjoy it regardless of plot and characters.I get the same feeling from watching old Saturday morning cartoons.
Kids will definitely love it and won't mind the flaws, and the adults can guess the actor behind each character and admire the subliminal messaging of the film.
Sure this film isn't perfect, and it is not as good as a dinosaur movie such as Land Before Time, but it is good fun.
well I can't remember much of this film but saying it was good movie with some corny music and silly things but its still fun to watch the story is about Dinosaur who was became a human type dinosaur after meet eating beast and meets a boy who has problens in his life and helps him suit them out and they became best friends but are taken away by a evil mad person who trys to scare people and turns the dinosaur back into a real dinosaur and the boy turns his friend back to normal this story is charming really good to watch all in all its not the greatest Animation ever made because its a little bit short but its still good to watch so if are looking for rare this is one of them you must find I am not sure if it is on DVD we will so find out.I give this movie a 6.6 out of 10 just because its not awful but great as well its alright to me..
this was a personal favorite of mine when i was young, it had everything that was great with 90's kids movies...
lovable dinosaurs, cute kids, an eccentric villain, and a few great songs (and not the typical little mermaid/beauty and the beast type songs, but ones that are atually entertaining)!
In this case "We're Back a Dinosaur Story" succeeds where other movies; which tried to jump on the Jurassic Pack media bandwagon, like the Carnosaur (goar) series, failed..
First of all, this animation movie was great, I'm having fun while watching it.
Third, in this film,making the dinosaurs good to humans was excellent.
I love the Movie We're back!a dinosaur's story!
I'm a child at heart, so I enjoy this movie every time I watch it, even now when I'm a teenager.
Just because kids love dinosaurs doesn't mean you can just slap together any old story and show it to the children.
What you find in this film could easily be substituted by a more ideal episode of PBS's Dragon Tales.The selling point (which also serves as the most surprising name on the project) is executive producer Steven Spielberg, who of course made the other dinosaur movie released in 1993 that deserves no introduction.
Our story revolves around an orange Tyrannosaurus Rex named Rex (voiced by John Goodman) and his dinosaur friends, who run into Louie (Joe Shea) when they are transported in time to present day New York City.
That's all well and good, until an evil circus owner (Martin Short) reveals his plans to kidnap the kids, leaving the dinosaurs as their only source of rescue.The plot alone makes this a very strange movie.
I love how he progresses in his character with the help of the dinosaurs (especially Rex) to not only get his wish for a friend but also find there is more to life than being a "tough guy" because the "original tough guy" chose the life of love and heart instead of teeth and claws.
Thinking of it that way, one cannot belittle that moment in the plot by saying this movie doesn't have a lot of heart.
They looked a lot like mushy balloons to me and as an artist and fan of animation I would have loved to see a film with a more realistic and anatomically substantial set of lovable, cuddly dinosaurs.
I would have loved to see Rex looking more like a friendly version of Sharptooth because I've always found these animals beautiful just the way they are.
As a child I didn't understand Screweyes was a villain because he manipulated the kids and the dinosaurs.
Yes I know he IS evil and shows this later in the film but the first thing you get from the movie as proof of his evilness is that he runs a scary circus and prefers horror to comedy.
Even Rex as a monster couldn't find a reason to eat the poor guy.Overall I love this movie.
Sometimes watching the darker animated films from that time is good for kids.
The time machine operator Captain Neweyes (wisely voiced by Walter Cronkite) informs the dinos that he has chosen them to be sent to the present day to fulfill kids wishes.
Thats when they are dropped off in New York City.Yes, I found this plot a bit strange (it's based on a children's book) but it was fun enough to enjoy.
This film has nicely done animation, the character drawings are good and James Horner's score is pleasant to listen to.
The dinosaurs were well casted with likings of John Goodman (Rex), Charles Fleischer (Dweeb), Rene LeVant (Woog) and Felicity Kendal (Elsa).
is colorful, silly and has friendly dinosaurs, things children like.
It may not be a masterpiece, but kids are going to enjoy this movie a lot if they can forgive the few scary scenes.
For the first half or so of this movie, we get the usual cartoon buisiness of some cute goofy dinosaurs befriending some annoying kids.
Then the kids get lost in the park and the movie wanders into new and very weird territory.This is when we meet Dr. Screweyes.
Let's make a dinosaur cartoon with an evil circus and nightmare scenes!"  Unbelievable.So here comes the Gremlin's lil' rant on parents who think "J.
If kids wrote all of the dinosaur movies ever made, the whole damn running time would be filled with Dinosaurs Eating Things!
"We're Back!" was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I'd already grown beyond the target audience when this movie finally came out; hence the reason it's taken me 22 years to get around to it (having a 5 year-old also makes a difference).
But I do think it's kinda sweet that Spielberg put out another dinosaur movie in '93 better suited to little kids.
After the huge success of Jurassic Park, Amblum Entertainment knew that making an animated movie about talking dinosaurs would certainly be a smash hit.
This is a strange cartoon, and sometimes, for little kids (who this is geared towards), this can be really scary.With the scarce running time of 72 minutes, or 65 without end credits, this flick moves at a brisk speed.
It has to scare the little kids with the evil Dr. Screweyes, a circus ringmaster who has a screw for an eye (hence the name), and fears the dark.
There's much more to the plot too, including a dinosaur circus, which might scare toddlers to death, and an amusing scene where the dinosaurs walk through a parade singing a catchy tune.The animation is quite good in this film, about as good as Disney animation was at the time.
The characters are likable, including the dinosaurs, all voiced by television actors, led by John Goodman as Rex, the T-Rex. The story is strange, involving rival brothers, Captain Neweyes, and Professor Screweyes.
Genre: Dinosaur, animation, New York, time travel, circus.?Main characters: Rex the Tyrannosaurus rex, Elsa the pterodactyl, Dweeb the Parasarolophus, Ooo the Triceratops, a boy called Louis, a girl called Cecilia and Captain New-eyes.
? Actors: John Goodman (Rex), Yeardley Smith (Cecilia), Martin Short (Stubbs the clown), Felicity Kendal (Elsa) etc.?What happens: Four dinosaurs (see above) are fed some "brain grain cereal" and are now cuddly, friendly dinosaurs who are going to be nice to children.
The animation of the dinosaurs when they go cuddly and friendly is a bit floppy and not-so-good, but they look pleasant all the same that way.
:-)Recommended to: People who like good children's animated films, people who like dinosaurs, John Goodman and people who think that circuses aren't always what they seem Enjoy!
If you thought, "The Land Before Time", was the only animated film with Dinosaurs, guess again.
Because on Thanksgiving Day 1993, there was an animated film called, "We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story".
The film was a box-office bomb and got a lot of negative reviews (Yes, Rober Ebert did a review of the film and he didn't like it).The animation in this film was very sloppy, the story and the plot were lame, I didn't care for any of the character's, and the movie was more of an acid trip.But I did like John Goodman and Walter Cronkite's voice acting and the song, "Roll Back the Rock (To The Dawn Of Time)"."We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story", is a lame animated film that is not worth watching at all.
If you're looking for a good animated film with Dinosaur's in it, watch, "The Land Before Time"..
A Dinosaur's Story is a childhood favorite of many people, but it's not very good at all.
Basically, Dinosaurs come aboard this ship piloted by some weird old fart named Neweyes(which I needed after I watched this movie).
By the way, does it seem weird that out of ALL the wishes of the children in the world, Neweyes grants the wish of bringing Dinosaurs to modern times?
Finally, when the Dinosaurs get to modern times they start singing, dancing and wrecking havoc(basically the kind of thing you might see on a bad LSD trip, I mean where else could you see a T-Rex playing golf and jumping on a balloon of Spider-man?).
They end up in the circus and Neweyes Brother Screweyes(???) makes the kids that have befriended the dinosaurs sign a blank contract.
Dinosaurs are taken back to our time period to fulfill the wishes of little kids in New York City who want to see real dinosaurs, and they are fed this Brain Grain cereal which makes them good-natured and intelligent.
I wouldn't recommend it for little children, so don't take the G-rating as a sign of cutesie children's movie with dinosaurs.
Don't be too fooled by the Alt.title it's still well a kids film,anyway although it's been seen as a G-rated version of Jurassic park I found it very enjoyable not just for kids but well for adults,the animation is well good,the storyline places itself in well,the relationship between Louie & Cecilia is well rather interesting,although my problems are that like many other Don Bluth films it gets a little frightening for the little ones later on(Professor Screweyes Circus),so basically not only this is a good kids film it's also a good film for people that thought "Jurassic Park" was something to pacify dino-fans..
As it is a kid's movie, one shouldn't expect too much.Even so, this "dinosaur's story" is a bit of a curious creation.
Before long, the four dinosaurs--with the names of Rex, Elsa, Dweeb, and Woog--are whisked to modern day New York City where they meet two children: tough-talking (but secretly soft-hearted) Louie and a neglected cutie named Cecilia, both of who are running away from home.
all before arriving at their destination, the Museum of Natural History, where the dinosaurs are to become real-life talking exhibits for many children.The plot, such as it is, is pretty wishy-washy, and the routine execution barely elevates WE'RE BACK above anything but your typical, average kids animated fare.
The four dinosaurs, for instance, are your typical talking animals that, while cuddly and likable, never develop into fully realized personalities, and their supporting co-stars don't get much to do either.Probably the only character who does show any depth is Louie, the freckle-faced street kid.
The voice cast includes some solid performances, too, notably John Goodman as the gruff yet gentle Rex, Walter Cronkite as Captain NewEyes (and yes, he says his trademark "that's the way it is" toward the end), and Martin Short in a cameo as a comic clown.
The musical score by James Horner is beautiful, although at times it does sound like a rehash of many of his other scores (a trait not uncommon with most of the composer's work, it seems).In short, WE'RE BACK is passable fare as a family animated film; it's cute and funny, but that's about it..
With the family friendly dinosaurs and story, it is hard to not see the connection between this film and the classic film, "The Land Before Time".
The difference between the two is that this film has no good qualities, the characters are stupid and boring, and the premise that lacks all logic--and I'm not talking about the cereal that makes the dinosaurs smart, the fact that there is time travel, or the fact that there is a circus dedicated to scaring people.The film opens up with a bird who is being picked on by his siblings and decides to leave the nest.
They learn that Professor New Eyes has chosen them to go to the future so they can make children's wishes come true.With this, the film starts it decline.
This is bad as the writers have spent tons of time basically throwing at the audience that you should like the dinosaurs and the kids and hate Screweyes and the complete opposite sort of happens.The film has two elements to it, dumb and awkward.
You were the guy who starred in timeless masterpieces such as Roseanne and Monsters Inc. Why did you have to appear in a bad kid's movie like this?!
its great i loved it ha cause i love dinosaurs they r the greatest animals but i loved the show cause it wasn't copied from another show and it was a originals ha it has a good storyline and great for little kids (if they like dinosaurs that is) i have a few downs too its not all that great cause of the dinosaurs look a little mutated so i should have had but a 7 but right now is a little late for that yay 4 more lines to go it is great for a fantasy show though warning this might spoil a part for u so if u don't want it to be spoiled don't read on plz near the end is kinda weird cause all they need to do is get dang i forgot what it was so nvm guess its not a spoiler so never mind i loved it and its my opinion and sorry for any missed spelled words if any.
It's one of the weirdest animated movies ever made and that's saying a lot given the kind of movies coming out now.The movie follows four dinosaurs in prehistoric times named Rex, Elsa, Dweeb and Woog (John Goodman, Felicity Kendal, Charles Fleischer and Rene LeVant), who have been living ordinary dinosaur lives until a futuristic ship arrives and gives them a breakfast cereal that makes them very intelligent as well as giving them the ability to talk and think.
However, before they are zapped into a present day New York City, Neweyes warns the dinosaurs to beware of his crazy evil brother Professor Screweyes (Kenneth Mars).
While watching this movie, it became very clear that the animation was scanned into a computer as I saw pixels around the characters quite a few times.
A Dinosaur's Story" is probably one of the poorest examples of an animated movie with Steven Spielberg's involvement.
The film is not horrible per say, but I don't feel it's as strong as any other animated movies he's worked on.
The story is very bizarre and strange, the animation looks a little too pixelated, and, in general, the characters are just underdeveloped.
I feel that for those that want a stronger animated dinosaur movie with Spielberg's involvement, they should instead look at The Land Before Time and leave this film as a fossil.Note: This review was originally written and published May 7, 2017 for Rotoscopers "Indie-Mation Club"..
For a kids movie this film made perfect sense!
This movie has a mixture of fun, dinosaurs, action, fear, laughs, oh and a pretty clever musical number!
The only cautionary warning about this film is that there is a moment in the movie that is dedicated to ghosts, monsters, and really scary stuff to kids.
Great kids movie, a little scary for the youngest crowd..
This is what I like the most about the movie I guess, that the main characters don't do mean things to each other halfway through...
A Dinosaur's Story is a silly cartoon about a dinosaur called Rex (voiced by the wonderful John Goodman).