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Parents' Guide to

Dinosaur

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Stunning, but can be dark and scary in places.

Movie PG 2000 86 minutes
Dinosaur Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 11 parent reviews

emcmills
emcmills Parent of 4-year-old
April 6, 2022
age 4+

Enjoyable, but watch with young kiddos

I watched this with my 4.5-year-old dinosaur-crazy son … and honestly, I was initially nervous about the meteorite strike, fire, running, etc scaring him. However, I think because I watched the entire movie with him the first time, he looked to me for his cues on whether to be worried. He already knew that scientists theorize a meteorite strike is how the dinosaurs went extinct, so we kind of talked through that part……we also talked through several of the carnotaurus parts (think t-rex-ish dinosaurs, if you’re unfamiliar) where other dinosaurs were injured/attacked….and I encouraged some levity by telling him some dinosaurs are LUNCH for other carnivorous dinosaurs. There are some funny parts that I laugh at, but go over his head a bit…but he loves this movie. Literally will act it out as it’s on, pretending to be the lead dinosaur, Aladar (sp?). I think you have to know your own child, how they’ll handle it …and be sure to watch along with them.
Pinkiepie500
Pinkiepie500 Adult
January 12, 2021
age 7+

Luke loves dinosaur 2000

It my favorite movie as a kid I just love the movie

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 11 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In DINOSAUR, Aladar is an orphan iguanodon raised by monkey-like lemurs. When flaming meteors destroy their home, they join a group of dinosaurs trying to find food and water. The leader of the group, Kron, insists that stopping to help the older or slower dinosaurs is too dangerous. But Aladar shows the others that cooperation, teamwork, and kindness make more sense because then everyone gets a chance to contribute.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11 ):
Kids say (19 ):

Disney worked very hard to make sure that the faces of the dinosaurs were expressive, but should have worked a little harder on giving them some more complex and subtle emotions to express. Aladar just is not that interesting a character. Even in a movie for kids, it's not enough for the characters to overcome some external challenge. What makes a story get into your heart is seeing the characters learn and grow and overcome internal challenges. It is a marvel of skill, but does not have half of the heart or wit of the Toy Story movies or A Bug's Life.

The technological mastery of Dinosaur is dazzling to watch, though, especially the textures. Fur, scales, eggshell, water, and goo are all so vivid you can almost feel them. It is a shame that the story and characters are not as strong as the visuals, though that will be more of a problem for adults than kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the narrator in Dinosaur says that "sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all." What is the "smallest thing," and what are the changes?

  • Families may also want to talk about how the lemurs decide to "adopt" the huge dinosaur, and about how some species are intolerant of others.

  • How does being treated with kindness change the way some of the characters behave? How does making Baylene feel needed change the way she behaves?

  • How do the characters in Dinosaur demonstrate teamwork and integrity? Why are these important character strengths?

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