As the Queen of Screen (and a mom), the best fool-proof Disney test was to employ for an afternoon, one all-American-boy-Prince, (since I have daughters, er — Princesses), in the form of Samuel Montana D’Olimpio. “Sammy” is your blonde-hair-blue-eye-
ten-year-old-pbj-sandwich-eating-halfback/little-league-playing-
youngest-of-two-older-sisters-and-too-many-question-asking-
dinosaur-expert/skeptic. Perfect.Sammy gives me the “Dinosaur 101” all the way to the theatre. You know, “I collect dinosaur beanie babies, playing cards, posters, figurines, and know the difference between a Brachiosaur and a Carnotaurus.” Cool, Sam.
These dinosaurs look so authentic against the live-action background, that when they speak it’s almost magic. Every child’s dream come true! Sammy felt like he was really there in their huge, chompin’, stompin’ visual feast of a world. The sounds and footage will make your heart jump into your stomach and back, making for its own rhythmic soundtrack, to match James Newton Howard’s score. All I can say is, “Lion King” move over. A 3D stunning blend of digitally enhanced computer-animated creatures with a lot of heart! Soul too. Because unlike “Jurassic Park” these dinosaurs, give dinos a kinder twist with human characteristics. The seat-kicking five year old behind me shouted out “I want to touch one!” Out of the mouths of babes…
(Word to mom/dad: The hand-holding PG rating will force you to not leave the kids off at the theater while you go to the mall. Trust me, the look on their cherub little faces as they are ‘dino-struck transported” will make it worth the price of admission alone when they miss their mouths in a popcorn feeding frenzy. And, for little tikes there’s scenes that may scare you more than it will scare them.)
The story follows Aladar (voice of D.B.Sweeney) a three-ton Iguanodon, who, separated from his mommy, is raised Tarzan-style from the egg, by a clan of lemurs ((large mammals related to monkeys, for all you non-Discovery channel viewers) and eventually reunited with his own kind. There’s no purple “Barney” here. Instead, this story has these gentle creatures struggling for the bare necessities we all need: family, home, shelter and love, yet the story comes equipped with rock slides, droughts, and mean Carnotaurus, which add contrast to the tempered dinosaurs trying to make it back home to the valley (the equivalent of a human Club Med).
Della Reese as Eema, my favorite 900 pound fat-bellied-low-ground-walking character, is comical. Joan Plowright’s elegant and elderly creature of Baylene is initially a giant next to Aladar who fears being stepped on by her. Yet as their relationship grows, she begins to shrink in size. Great child/adult relationship angle. Julianna Margulies is the voice of “Neera” Aladar’s love interest that “Zini” (Max Casella) calls a babe because she’s got scaley skin, yellow eyes and big ankles.” Cute.
For a mom it does its homework in covering all we teach our children (and my pal Sammy), that life is about risk, hope, safety in numbers, respecting your elders and doing good deeds. By the way, there’s a deal I have with the theatre manager that allows me to vacuum popcorn from the lobby whenever I’m bored. Never happened. This movie is for young and old. Even question-asking Sammy, could only comment how real it all seemed on the ride back home.
Disney has done it again. Simply breathtaking. And, they’ve certainly come a long way since the days of “Steamboat Willy.” Sorry Mickey.