...spectacularly beautiful on practically every level.
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Remember how much "Jurassic Park" wowed us with its breathtaking shots of what simply had to be real, live dinosaurs, they looked so authentic, and we wanted to go back and watch the film again and again because the graphics were so amazing? Well, if a few dinosaurs could have that much impact, why not have a whole movie devoted to them. Trouble is, this is Disney, not Spielberg. "Dinosaur" is basically a kids' picture, not an adult adventure. These dinosaurs are awesome to look at, but once they open their mouths, it's over for most anyone past twelve. It's a shame, too. This could have been a thrilling ride for children of all ages.
Let's get one thing straight from the beginning, though. The Disney computer animators have created one of the most visually stunning motion pictures of all time. This 2000 movie is spectacularly beautiful on practically every level, from the photorealistic shape and form of the animated dinos to the real-life background shots they're set in. The blend of computer graphics and live action is seamless, the animals appearing to come to life before our eyes as though we were viewing them on some prehistoric safari. That said, the filmmakers couldn't come up with anything even resembling a story line that would keep a grownup interested for more than a few minutes at a stretch or create characters that weren't straight from the Disney archives of stock cartoon stereotypes. "Dinosaur" is great to look at, and children will no doubt enjoy it; but I daresay adults will find little to care about here.
Video:
In addition to the great-looking animation, the transfer engineers at Disney have also done a fine job. Colors and textures in this THX-certified, 1.74:1 ratio, anamorphic widescreen reproduction are well rendered and give the fusion of computer-drawn characters and actual landscapes a most natural appearance. That being said, don't expect the kind of razor-sharp definition found in the "Toy Story" features. It isn't like that. There's a kind of soft mist pervading almost every scene, I'm going to assume done intentionally to provide an aura of long ago, that may appear as an occasional blurring or fading of hues. One must learn to live with it.
Audio:
The sound, too, is good, if not of the stunning variety again found in the "Toy Story" efforts. The Dolby Digital 5.1 (DTS audio is also available) signals are robust and loud, to be sure, but they are not particularly deep and always lean toward the bright side of the sonic spectrum. Nor is directionality as easily discerned in the left and right rear speakers as in the "Toy Story" movies. The audiovisual results for "Dinosaur" are quite satisfactory but nothing you would probably put on to demonstrate the capabilities of your home theater to anyone but the uninitiated.
And Now, Back To Our Movie:
Now, about that thin story line. It concerns the adventures of a lovable creature named Aladar (voice by D.B. Sweeney), a huge herbivore, a plant-eater, something on the order of a smaller brontosaurus. The first few minutes of the film show his kidnapping as an egg and his eventual deposit in a far-off land where he hatches. These minutes are in the film's trailer and comprise some of the best bits in the show. Once hatched, Aladar is adopted by a family of monkeys, lemurs it would appear, and the plot begins to take on the aspect of Disney's "Tarzan" from a year earlier. (A measure of the story's originality is that in another sequence Aladar pretends to scare the lemurs and then rolls over and lets them pet him, an idea stolen in full from "Toy Story II.")
In his new land, Aladar is a one-of-a-kind animal, but he finds happiness with his adopted family, especially with one ragtag monkey named Zini (Max Casella). Next, a shower of meteors falls and destroys their homeland, forcing them to flee. It was about time, too. By twenty minutes into the picture I thought I was going to die of boredom from the terminal cuteness of the various critters. As in so many Disney animations, the animals are given sweet, lovable voice characterizations or gruff, lovable characterizations as the case may be. Frankly, I would have been happier if the animals hadn't spoken at all. I'm used to animals talking in cartoons, but these animals are so lifelike, they aren't really cartoons anymore. In any case, the story could have been as well told, perhaps even more forcefully told, with no dialogue whatever, only sound effects and a musical background track. Well, at least the dinosaurs don't break out into song and dance, which would have further spoiled the illusion; but you can bet more than a few folks in the Disney camp probably backed the idea.
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[release]6158[/release]