Details
Movie Description
With DINOSAUR, Disney breaks a new stride in the technological revolution of computer animation: combining computer-animated characters with digitally enhanced live-action landscapes. The effect is literally unbelievable and the clarity, realness, and definition of the pictures easily make the once surprising effects of virtual reality seem like the dark ages.
A dinosaur egg is stolen from its nest and passed along by various birds, animals and other predators each hoping to eat it. Fumbled into a community of kind and nurturing lemurs, it cracks open and Aladar, a baby dinosaur emerges. He lives happily and peacefully among the lemurs, who raise him into adolescence. However, when a natural disaster occurs, wiping out the beautiful rainforest that was their home, teenage Aladar joins a dinosaur pilgrimmage--and discovers his true ancestry--in order to bring his lemur family to safety. Far sweeter and much more realistic than recent dinosaur movies like JURASSIC PARK or even classics like THE LAND BEFORE TIME, these new digital dinosaurs are surprisingly human with emotional eyes and expressive voices that make the magic nearly tangible.
Synopsis
With DINOSAUR, Disney breaks a new stride in the technological revolution of computer animation: combining computer-animated characters with digitally enhanced live-action landscapes. The effect is literally unbelievable and the clarity, realness, and definition of the pictures easily make the once surprising effects of virtual reality seem like the dark ages.
A dinosaur egg is stolen from its nest and passed along by various birds, animals and other predators each hoping to eat it. Fumbled into a community of kind and nurturing lemurs, it cracks open and Aladar, a baby dinosaur emerges. He lives happily and peacefully among the lemurs, who raise him into adolescence. However, when a natural disaster occurs, wiping out the beautiful rainforest that was their home, teenage Aladar joins a dinosaur pilgrimmage--and discovers his true ancestry--in order to bring his lemur family to safety. Far sweeter and much more realistic than recent dinosaur movies like JURASSIC PARK or even classics like THE LAND BEFORE TIME, these new digital dinosaurs are surprisingly human with emotional eyes and expressive voices that make the magic nearly tangible.
Film Notes
Theatrical release: May 19, 2000.
Although the Dinosaurs are computer generated, the landscapes are real and were filmed in locations such as Hawaii, Florida, Australia, Western Somoa, and Venezuela.
The lemur island, where Aladar grows up, was filmed at the Los Angeles Arboretum.
The computer experts who worked on the computer animation filled 550 work stations and used 3.2 million processing hours. In total the film took 4 years to make. The final product uses 45 terabytes of disc space, which is equivalent to 45 million megabytes or 70,000 CD-Roms.
The movie includes over 1,300 individual effects shots.
There are over 30 species of prehistoric represented in the movie, spanning a variety of sizes and kinds of animals. The gliding lizard measures 12-inches tall, while the Brachiosaur is 120 feet long and weighs over 100 tons.
Says Thomas Shumacher, president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, "Technically it is not a movie that could have been made until now. Having our own digital studio gave us the ability to create living breathing characters in realistic environments with the kind of detailed articulating facial expressions we needed to tell our story."
Industry Reviews
"...[The movie] begins with a breathtaking sequence, a visual and sonic extravaganza..."
New York Times - p.E18 - A. O. Scott (05/26/2000)
"...[The movie] takes animation to the next level, an evolutionary progression of genre-shattering proportions..."
USA Today - p.13E - Susan Wloszczyna (06/02/2000)
"...Effective and frequently spectacular....A skillful blend of old-fashioned Disney storytelling and newfangled computer animation..."
Box Office - p.102 - Wade Major (07/01/2000)
"...[A] striking blend of computer-generated dinos and live-action backgrounds..."
Rolling Stone - p.132 - Peter Travers (06/08/2000)
"...A technical amazement that points computer-generated animation toward the brightest of futures..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (05/19/2000)
"...The movie is startling in its impact....The visual look of DINOSAUR is a glimpse of wonders to come. The movie sends the message that computer animation is now sophisticated enough to mimic life itself in full motion..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (05/19/2000)
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