NEW GUEST POST FROM ERIC AMES. JR
One of the most prevalent “what if” scenarios regarding prehistoric life, if not THE most prevalent, is the idea of how dinosaurs would have evolved if the massive asteroid never hit the Earth. Some are more grounded speculative evolution scenarios like the Speculative Dinosauria Project, while others are more “hard fantasy” worlds like Tales of Kaimere. However, one particular take on this “what if” comes in the form of the “Dinosauroid”. Created by Dale A. Russel in 1982, it depicts a Troodon/Stenonychosaurus as having evolved a very similar body shape to modern humans to occupy an identical niche. A steady increase in EQ, a very large braincase and eye sockets, and a language similar to bird songs were among its most notable traits. While an interesting and creative thought experiment, it’s been subjected to criticism from other paleontologists. Some accused it of over-anthropomorphization and misunderstanding of why humans developed their distinct body plans, with Darren Naish suggesting an “evolved” Troodontid would retain a more standard theropod plan. Such suggestions come into play with the real topic of this review. 25 years later, a children’s miniseries would be released with an alternate take on the “Dinosauroid” theory. Or in this case, “Dinosapien”. A series that is similarly charming and yet equally uncanny.
Released in 2007 by BBC Worldwide and CCI Entertainment, Dinosapien was presented in Canada through BBC Kids, the UK through the CBBC Channel, and in the United States through Discovery Kids (Where I was introduced to it.) The premise of the series is that dinosaurs had survived and existed in an underground world, but a trio of them had emerged from their realm after an earthquake: A teenage evolved Dromaeosaurus named Eno, and an opposing pair of evolved ornithichians (A cross between Prenocephale and Pinacosaurus) known as “The Diggers”. During a dinosaur-themed summer camp in Canada, one of the camp counselors Lauren encounters Eno and develops a friendship with him. It’s up to Lauren to help Eno get back home and figure out the cause of her father’s disappearance.
Along with the typical “find a missing parent” and “bring a lost animal back home” tropes, Dinosapien has a surprisingly amount of plot for a 15-episode kid’s show, a lot of which is pretty silly. There’s stuff like the “Dinosapien Theory”, which basically tells of intelligent dinosaurs that once coexisted with and were hunted by Native Americans, and how Lauren’s father was searching for evidence of them in the Badlands before he disappeared. There’s also a prophecy about the Thunderbird coming to defend the land from the Dinosapiens, which has a very… strange ending, shall we say? And of course, there’s the subplot of Dr. Aikens, the main villain of the show, slowly realizing the reality of such a theory and making an effort to destroy the Dinosapiens. Again, a lot of this show’s plot is incredibly silly and a bit overdramatic at times, but it’s still very entertaining.
Moving onto characters, Dinosapien has a reasonably sized cast of varying levels of quality. The main character Lauren (Brittney Wilson) is a decent enough protagonist with a likeable
personality and a sense of agency in the plot. Her friendship with Eno is believable enough and she does a good job acting as if the CGI dinosaurs are really there. Her best friend Courtney (MacKenzie Porter) is little more than a valley girl stereotype but provides a couple good laughs and feels like a legit best friend to Lauren. Kit (Bronson Pelletier) is likeable but doesn’t have much of a personality outside of the general “good guy” archetype, but his relationship with his uncle is admittedly interesting. Chris (Jeffrey Watson) can come across as a bit boring, with his only real personality trait being “lead counselor”. The twin kid characters Nelson (Brendan Meyer) and Danny (Alexandra Gingras) fare a bit worse. As with a lot of kid characters in paleomedia, they can come across as annoying know-it-alls, especially in the first few episodes. However, their little subplot later in the series invertedly helping Dr. Aikens with his “research” does improve them a bit. Conversely, the British and Native characters are the cast’s highlights. Lauren’s mother, Dr. Hilary Slayton (Suzanna Hamilton) provides a surprisingly earnest performance for a show of this caliber. Rather than just a stereotypical “aloof mother”, she really comes across as likeable and intelligent while also being a grieving “widow”. The mysterious character Ten Bears (Dean Manywounds) is similar. This mysterious character has a special interest in these Dinosapiens and despite the utter silliness of the plot, he performs it with utmost sincerity to the point that you can’t help but get invested. Especially whenever he interacts with the Diggers. Finally, Dr. Aikens (James Coombes) is the best character in the show. He embraces the full-on absurdity of the plot and plays his role as someone who wants to destroy the Dinosapiens lest they destroy humanity in such an overdramatic, goofy way that it becomes incredibly entertaining. It almost feels like he’s having flashbacks of being attacked on Isla Sorna in The Lost World, the way he talks about extinct dinosaurs and these Dinosapiens.
Speaking of Dinosapiens, let’s talk about them a bit. Suffice to say, these “evolved” dinosaurs look a tad… uncanny. Especially Eno. His human hair-like feathering on his head, hunch back, and flat face combined with the otherwise typical theropod body plan makes for a very weird design, not to mention the very human expressions he tends to make. The Diggers (named Green Eyes and Cerepta by Lauren) fare a little better design-wise, but they’re still fairly disproportionate. The Prenocephale and Pinacosaurus elements don’t really mesh well together and seeing such a heavily armored body supported by such thin, lanky legs is pretty silly. However, while the designs are a mixed bag, the way they explore the idea of “intelligent dinosaurs” is admittedly interesting. Eno’s friendship with Lauren is legitimately heartwarming and is properly developed, and while him talking like a parrot is a little weird, it makes sense given the show’s concept. Both he and the Diggers learn how to use tools like boomerangs, bows and arrows, and even a child’s toy to learn speech, and by the end of the show they have a good familiarity with human culture. It’s done in a way that feels like legitimate dinosaurs that have heightened intelligence would do so without going too deep in to humanoid Dinosaurioid territory. One cool detail was each species’ vulnerabilities. Eno is very sensitive to loud noises whereas the Diggers don’t like bright lights and have nictating membranes to try and negate them. These come into play many times in the show by both the heroes and villains, which is something to really give them credit for. As silly as the designs are, it helps sell the illusion that these are still reasonable animals.
To quickly talk about the more technical side of things, the visuals of this movie are nothing you wouldn’t expect in a show of this budget. The CGI on the Dinosapiens is very apparent and though it does do an OK job integrating them with the live action environments at times, other times it can really seem like they’re not there. There’s one episode where Eno protects Lauren and Kit from a grizzly bear, and you can really tell the grizzly is just swatting at nothing. The animation quality can range from surprisingly good to fairly stiff, but the Diggers fare better in this regard than Eno. The sound design is also a bit on the generic side, with both Eno and the Diggers having a lot of stock dinosaur and bird sounds that you’ve heard in other pieces of paleomedia before. The musical score by Rob Lord is also nothing to really write home about, but the opening theme does admittedly set the tone of the show fairly well. On the other hand, the pacing of the show is very solid. It manages to feel like a complete story in all 15 episodes and it has enough time to properly flesh out the story, even if some moments can be a bit of filler. But there’s rarely a point in the show where you’re actively begging for things to stop or move along. To top it all off, the ending ties all loose ends without any cliffhangers to tease a season 2 that will never happen. It knew what story it wanted to tell, it told it the way it wanted, and knew when to stop. I gotta respect a show that does that.
On the whole, Dinosapien is not a masterpiece by any means, but it’s also a harmless dinosaur kid’s show that has its own silly charm to it. It arguably explores the idea of “intelligent dinosaurs” better than the original Dinosauroid idea (cartoony CGI and all), the characters are likeable, and it has a good grasp on its pacing. Much like a lot of Discovery Kids shows, I still have a massive nostalgic soft spot for it, and I recommend it for anyone wanting a piece of paleomedia that you can watch with the entire family.
References Dinosapien (2007) Produced by Corston, J., Randall, J. United Kingdom, Canada: CCI Entertainment, BBC Worldwide.
Naish, D. (2006). Dinosauroids Revisited Darren Naish: Tetrapod Zoology, April 23, 2011.
Russell, D. A.; Séguin, R. (1982). “Reconstruction of the small Cretaceous theropod Stenonychosaurus inequalis and a hypothetical dinosauroid”. Syllogeus. 37: 1–43.