DVD Release Date: May 2, 2006 (Disney DVD)
Color/1991-92
MSRP: $39.99
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 29
Running Time: approx. 672 minutes
Total Run Time of Special Features: approx. 18 minutes
(not counting Easter Eggs)
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English;
English subtitles; Closed Captioned.
Special Features:
* Pre-Hysterical Times: The Making of Dinosaurs
* Creating Dinosaurs: The Sketches That Started It All
* Dino-Eggs Hidden Easter Eggs
Introduction:
“Honey, I’m Home!” Join the Sinclair family again and
relive the comedy Dinosaurs on DVD for the first time
with the first two seasons. Walt Disney Home
Entertainment releases the 1991-94 ABC series with the
first two seasons inspired by the mind of the late
great Jim Henson. We head back to sixty million three
B.C. with the Sinclair family—Daddy Earl, his wife
Fran, their kids Robbie, Charlene and the Baby, and
feisty Grandma Ethyl bring a hilarious Jurassic twist
to daily life as they eat, drink, make merry and get
their kicks watching cavemen rub rocks together. The
award winning series features state-of-the-art
puppetry and audio-animatronics. So as the Baby would
say, “gotta love me,” well not me, but you gotta love
this series and the first two seasons are yours to own
on DVD!
Starring the voices of Stuart Pankin as Earl Sinclair,
Jessica Walter as Fran Sinclair, Jason Willinger as
Robbie Sinclair, Sally Struthers as Charlene Sinclair,
Kevin “Elmo” Clash as the Baby, Florence Stanley as
Grandma Ethyl and Sherman Hemsley as B.P. Richfield.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
I am sure many of you have not seen this series in
such a long time. It was briefly syndicated in the
mid to late ‘90s on local stations and the Disney
Channel. With only 65 episodes total, it was hard to
air it for a long period of time. We get 29 of those
episodes in this set. All of them are very good. But
I’ll break the down the best of them as best as I
could. The first three episodes are a must watch—“A
Mighty Megalosaurus” where the baby is born, “The
Mating Dance” where Fran is depressed as the Baby
won’t sleep, and “Hurling Day” is where Earl heaves
her mother-in-law into the tar pits. Other greats:
“The Golden Child” is the second season premiere where
the Baby goes wild; “The Family Challenge” is the one
where they go on a game show; “Endangered Species” is
the one where Earl & Fran celebrate their anniversary;
“Switched at Birth” is the one where the family thinks
Baby is not their real baby; “Refrigerator Day” is the
one where they celebrate the gift of cold storage; and
“And The Winner Is…” is the one where Earl and his
boss battle for chief.
Famous voices include Jason Alexander, David Leisure,
Tony Shalhoub, Edie McClurg, Tom Vernon, Buddy Hacket,
George Gaynes, Tim Curry, and Michael Richards.
Packaging:
The packaging is very creative. The box cover has a
shot of the cracked egg with the Baby’s eyes visible.
The logo is also on the egg and the label of the
complete first and season seasons, 4-disc set. The
back of the box has a few photos, synopsis of the show
and the set, with bonus features info. You remove the
box from the top, and 1/4 of the box comes out. Then
you see the Baby come out--very nicely done. Then you
can pull the case out, so the other part of the box is
removed (the large 3/4 part). The case’s cover has the
full photo of the Baby out of the egg, with the show
logo and the label of the complete first and season
seasons. The back of the case has a long message from
Brian Henson, Michael Jacobs and Bob Young. Then it
has breakdowns of what episodes and bonus features are
on each disc. There is a message saying you can
excavate hidden Dino-Egg bonus features on every disc!
When you open the case, you get two sides, the left
side has discs one and two, and the ride side has
discs three and four. But they are overlapping. I
hate that!
Each disc is green and seems holographic. Disc one has
a picture of the Baby and episodes 1-5 & the extras,
disc two has a picture of Fran and episodes 6-13, disc
three has a picture of Robbie and episodes 14-21, and
disc four has a picture of Earl and episodes 22-29.
Menu Design and Navigation:
Now to the menu navigation--it is very simple and easy
to use. But first, disc one starts off with auto
previews of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
trailer, Scrubs season three DVD, Golden Girls season
five DVD, and The Muppet Show DVD. Then we get to the
animated opening! You see fire. Then it zooms to the
main menu. The end theme song is playing in the
background. Disc one has a photo of Earl on the main
menu, disc two has Fran, disc three has Robbie &
Charlene, and disc four has the Baby. The options are:
Play All, Episode Selection, Bonus Features, Set-Up,
and Sneak Peaks. Bonus Features and Sneak Peeks are
just one disc one. Sneak Peeks has the same previews
as the auto-previews and also Leroy & Stitch, Shadows
in the Sun Everything You Want, Muppets Wizard of Oz,
and Kermit’s 50th Anniversary. The Set-Up option lets
you turn on subtitles in English for the hearing
impaired. Bonus Features is only on disc one and we
will detail them in the bonus features section later
on. Episode Selection has the episodes on each disc.
The opening theme plays in the background on this menu
screen. It has fossil rocks with a snapshot from the
episode along with the episode title. Each submenu has
a different audio track from the show. It is very
well done.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video and audio quality is very good. The show
never looked and sounded better. I found no problems
whatsoever. The episodes run usually between 23-24
minutes or so, all uncut! There is however one episode
that runs 21:35, “Endangered Species.” Maybe that
episode just ran short originally. I can’t prove if
it is edited or not. Maybe someone who has an
original ABC copy can. Chapter stops are available for
each episode. There are about four stops. Some
interesting notes: the in loving memory of Jim Henson
tribute is intact before the credits on episode one
and the two-part “Nuts to War” episode has previously
on Dinosaurs recap on part two. It is so cool that
they call ABC, the Antediluvian Broadcasting Company.
Two of the greatest pre-historic series of all time
aired on ABC, The Flintstones and Dinosaurs.
Special Features:
The extras are pretty good! Two featurettes and
Easter Eggs are on this set. The featurettes are all
one disc one. The first one is the best extra,
“Pre-Hysterical Times: The Making of Dinosaurs” runs
13:25 and has interviews with Kirk Thatcher (Character
Designer), Brian Henson (Executive Producer), Bob
Young (Creator), Michael Jacobs (Creator), Peter
Brooke (Suit Designer), Bill Barretta (Suit
Performer), John Criswell (Machinist), and Allan
Trautman (Puppeteer). We learn a lot about the series
and how it was made. They give props to Jim Henson,
who died before this series aired. It was his
inspiration that created this series. They talk about
bringing Michael Jacobs, to make this a sitcom style
of a show. And the main thing talked about is how the
dinosaurs were done and moved on the set. Sorry
Sherman Hemsley was NOT actually inside the body of
B.P. Richfield. He was just the voice. All of the
voices were not inside the bodies. They had suit
performers and voice performers for each character.
The next extra is titled, “Creating Dinosaurs: The
Sketches That Started It All.” It runs 4:01 and has
Kirk Thatcher explain each character. He shows
designs of all of the character’s original drawings
and how much was changed from what we saw. Finally, on
every disc we have Easter Eggs. “Dino-Eggs Hidden
Easter Eggs” is what they call them. Basically there
are about 7 of them. They are easy to find, so happy
hunting. I will not spoil it for you, but I’ll tell
you they are just video clips from the creators and
stuff.
Final Comments:
What a nice set and what a great show! This for sure
was an underrated show. I watched it originally when
it aired on ABC and loved it then, too. It brought
back a lot of memories. The family looks so much like
other sitcom characters to me. Earl looks a lot like
Carl Winslow from Family Matters. Fran looks a lot
like his wife on Family Matters. Robbie looks a lot
like Wally Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver. Charlene
looks like Dee from What’s Happening Now!! The grandma
looks like Grandma Winslow from Family Matters (that
show was on ABC at the same time, too). And the Baby
well looks like a cross between Elmo and Steve Urkel.
I say Elmo maybe because the voice of Elmo voices the
Baby. The extras on this set are good. I wish they
would get some of the voice actors to do commentary on
future sets. Hemsley, Struthers, Walter, and Elmo
would be nice to hear. We have two more sets to go.
Hopefully Walt Disney DVD releases them at a fast
pace. I think this set will sell very well. So, hurry
on up to your local store or online store and buy this
DVD. It was featured on DNN, I’m sure. Buy it now,
and you’ll be screaming “not the momma!”
