Film Review: Dinosaur

A SWEET tale set 65 million years ago when the Earth was a pristine place - the air was clear, the water pure and Nature at her greenest best, (the film was shot on real locations with the computers filling these magnificent locales with the extinct reptiles). ``Dinosaur'' is a Disney creation meant to capture little hearts!

The opening sequence that captures the progress of an Iguanadon egg from its nesting place to the land of some lemurs, remains in one's memory for a while. As the film moves forward, the drama of the ``survival of the fittest'' takes over.

This is the story of Aladar, an `orphan' Iguanadon, who is brought up by some kind-hearted lemurs (a la Tarzan). All is well with the world till an asteriod destroys the Paradise they live in. The surviving lemurs and Aladar move to another part of the planet. And in the process, Aladar meets his real ``family'' - a herd of dinosaurs.

The herd, led by a pushy dinosaur Kron, is moving from the arid desert towards the nesting grounds, a haven for the starved and parched creatures. Aladar and his `family' of lemurs join the unusual crowd. But Kron and Aladar do not see eye to eye on a lot of things (Kron is the boss, remember?), but Kron's sister Nira (the heroine!) takes a `liking' for Aladar.

The common enemy for this `caravan'? The mean carnivorous carnotaurs, the villains of the piece.

Naturally, with Aladar's help, they are annihilated and all ends well ... ``Dinosaur'', like most Walt Disney films, followed a pattern. You have a great opening sequence that is an audio- visual extravaganza of a pre-historic age and the theme is about the good winning over the bad. (``Lion King'').

`Computer graphics' - that is the key word in this genre, all right. But the film has its moments. It is a pleasure to watch lemurs `mothering' the baby iguanadon and dinosaurs moving across the desert sands in graceful unison.

What makes such movies enjoyable and worth watching is the content. The universal emotions of joy, love and compassion and the theme `the righteous win the race' will always hold audience attention.

And when the protagonists are animals, and extinct ones at that, it definitely triggers one's imagination and interest. That is what ``Dinosaur'' does. Children will love it, but then so will adults!

SAVITHA PADMANABHAN

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Section  : Entertainment
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