Dinosaur (film)

Dinosaur is a 2000 American live-action/computer-animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation in collaboration with The Secret Lab. The 39th Disney animated feature film, it follows a young Iguanodon who was adopted and raised by a family of lemurs on a tropical island. After surviving a devastating meteor shower, the family moves out for their new home and befriends a herd of dinosaurs along the way while on a journey to the "Nesting Grounds". Unfortunately, they are being hunted down by predators such as Carnotaurus.
== Plot ==
A Carnotaurus attacks a mixed-species herd of dinosaurs, destroying an Iguanodon nest before killing a young female Pachyrhinosaurus. The lone surviving Iguanodon egg is stolen by smaller predators, and, after a series of mishaps, is dropped on an island inhabited by prehistoric lemurs. Plio, the daughter of their patriarch Yar, names the hatched unbaby Aladar and raises him alongside her daughter Suri, despite Yar's initial objections. 
Several years later, a fully grown Aladar watches the lemurs take part in a mating ritual, in which Plio's awkward teenaged brother Zini, who is also Suri and Aladar's uncle, is unsuccessful. Moments after the ritual ends, they are interrupted by a meteor crashing into the Earth, creating an explosive shockwave which destroys the island. Aladar and Yar's family flee across the sea to the mainland. Being the only survivors, they mourn the others, before moving on.
While crossing the burnt wasteland, they are attacked by a pack of Velociraptors. They escape by joining a multi-species herd of dinosaur refugees heading for the communal Nesting Grounds. Falling afoul of callous Iguanodon herd leader Kron, they retreat to the end of the line and befriend the old Styracosaurus Eema, her pet Ankylosaurus Url who acts like a dog, and her equally elderly friend Baylene, the only Brachiosaurus in the group. They travel for days without water to the site of a lake, only to find it seemingly dried up. Kron orders the herd to move on and let the weakest perish, but Aladar stays behind with a sick Eema. He and Baylene dig until they find her some water. The rest of the herd follows suit, and Kron's sister Neera, impressed by Aladar's compassion, begins to grow closer to him, while Kron fears he wants to take over.
Meanwhile, two Carnotaurus have been tracking the herd. Kron's Altirhinus lieutenant Bruton reports the approaching predators, after surviving an attack during a scouting mission. Kron quickly ushers the herd away from the lake, deliberately leaving Bruton, Aladar, the lemurs, and the elderly dinosaurs behind. The group takes shelter in a cave as night falls, but the predators catch up to them and attack. Bruton sacrifices his life to cause a cave-in that kills one of the Carnotaurus, forcing the survivor to retreat.
The group ventures deeper into the cave, but they reach a dead end. Though Aladar briefly loses hope, Baylene uses her strength to smash through the wall, and they arrive at the Nesting Grounds on the other side. Eema notices that a landslide has blocked off the usual entrance to the valley. Aladar rushes off to warn Kron, and finds him trying to lead the herd over the landslide, unaware of the sheer drop on the other side. Kron fights Aladar, taking Aladar's warnings as a challenge to his leadership, until Neera, fed up with Kron's illogical behavior, intervenes. Realizing Kron's selfishness and recklessness, the herd follows Aladar, while Kron stubbornly tries to climb the rocks by himself.
The hungry Carnotaurus arrives, but Aladar rallies everyone to stand together in defiance against it. The Carnotaurus is frightened off, and pursues Kron instead. Aladar and Neera rush to save him, but fail to get there in time. Aladar manages to push the Carnotaurus over the sheer drop to its death; he and Neera mourn Kron, then lead the herd to the nesting grounds. Sometime later, a new generation of dinosaurs hatches, among them Aladar and Neera's children, and the lemurs find more of their kind.
== Cast ==
* D. B. Sweeney as Aladar, a young brave, determined and compassionate Iguanodon who is adopted by a family of lemurs, and helps the herd of dinosaurs migrate and survive. He is (by adoption) the son of Plio, grandson of Yar, nephew of Zini, and elder brother of Suri.
* Alfre Woodard as Plio, a wise Archaeolemur who cares for her family. She is the daughter of Yar, elder sister of Zini, mother of Suri, and adoptive mother of Aladar.
* Ossie Davis as Yar, an Archaeolemur whose occasional gruff demeanor is just a front covering his compassionate nature. He is the father of Plio and Zini, grandfather of Suri, and adoptive grandfather of Aladar.
* Max Casella as Zini, a wisecracking and somewhat hapless teenage Archaeolemur who fancies himself a ladies man. He is the brother of Plio, son of Yar, and uncle of Suri and (by adoption) Aladar.
** Evan Sabara voices Zini as a child.
* Hayden Panettiere as Suri, a sweet, fun-loving young Archaeolemur. She is Aladar's adoptive younger sister, Plio's daughter, Zini's niece, and Yar's granddaughter.
* Samuel E. Wright as Kron, the Iguanodon leader of the herd of survivors and the brother of Neera. He is insecure and selfish, and has little regard for the lives of others.
* Julianna Margulies as Neera, Kron's sister. She is a sensible and compassionate Iguanodon who later becomes Aladar's mate.
* Peter Siragusa as Bruton, Kron's Altirhinus lieutenant. He is harsh and sarcastic, but eventually repents when Plio shows care for him.
* Joan Plowright as Baylene, an elderly, dainty, and kindhearted Brachiosaurus, who is the last known of her kind after the meteor.
* Della Reese as Eema, a wizened, elderly, and slow-moving Styracosaurus. Her snarky attitude and dry humor serve as comic relief during the film.
== Production ==
The initial idea was conceived in 1986 by Phil Tippett and Paul Verhoeven, which they conceived as a darker, naturalistic film about dinosaurs. The project underwent numerous iterations with multiple directors attached. In 1994, Walt Disney Feature Animation began development on the project and spent several years developing the software to create the dinosaurs. The characters in Dinosaur are computer-generated. However, most of the backgrounds are live-action and were filmed on location. A number of backgrounds were found in various continents such as the Americas and Asia; various tepuis and Angel Falls also appear in the film. With a budget of $127.5 million, Dinosaur was reportedly the most expensive computer-animated film at the time.
== Reception ==
Dinosaur was released on May 19, 2000 to mixed reviews. Critics praised the film's opening sequence and animation, but criticized the story for its lack of originality; some even pointed out similarities with The Land Before Time (1988). The film grossed $350 million worldwide, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2000. It became the fourth best-selling home video release of 2001, selling 10.6 million copies and garnering $198 million in sales.