So one night I went crazy and randomly went through the Dino Dan franchise (lovely shows from my childhood) for accuracies and inaccuracies and now I’m here to show all my notes as well as some additional opinions on the design in general. Why? Cuz why not and also I didn’t waste my time for nothing. Note, am I talking about each creature’s design, but also behavioral information, measurements and other information given too. (No, I’m not covering supplementary material like the toys, dead flash website, mobile apps, books or anything else of that nature)
- Positives = Accuracies
- IDK = Can’t find or tell weather that’s accurate/possible or not
- Negatives = Inaccuracies
Creatures are listed in order in appearance BTW
Dino Dan Creatures[]
Dromaeosaurus[]
Pretty bad feathered raptor design. He has a terrible feather cut and naked arms that look pretty lame. The weird small head and big body don’t help much. You'll see that the color scheme itself isn’t that bad. Also, the original series sound effects are satisfying for me, IDK why. Side note, most of the time in the OG series, it feels like the Dromaeo may as well have been a recurring individual antagonist with a name.
This design looks better and kind of decent, though not my personal preference for feathered raptors. At least the feather crest is kinda cool. Also, the lack of primaries on the hands (which even in Dino Dana, the inclusion of primaries on the hand is avoided like the plague) will always confuse me from an aesthetic few. How are feathered designs “cooler” without the wings?
Brachiosaurus []
This is a decent Brachiosaurus design. Brachiosaurus is a dinosaur which in general doesn’t really have bad designs (say for the face of the JP3 one). This one doesn’t stand out too much, say for the back spines, which look cool.
Not a fan of the new face, but not that bad. I’m not that much of a fan of the shorter neck, and the inclusion of the additional spikes feels off.
Stygimoloch []
The red white color combo is pretty cool, but the design itself feels off, mainly the stocky build of it. Not bad, but I don’t like it much either.
This design (say for the tail) is a perfect example of the Pachy designs I like. The slim proportions just do it for me. Also the color scheme is still mostly intact, tho I wish it were a bit more white.
Edmontosaurus []
Not that big a fan of this design, mainly because of the face shape. That and the hands remind me why I prefer hoofed Hadrosaurid designs. The blue colors are kinda nice. It bothers me so much that even by the time of the movie (by which, literally every other original series creature was redesigned), Edmonto STILL had the same design it started with (oh, and Compy too, but it was mostly good design to start with).
Corythosaurus []
I love the colors of the Corythosaurus, mainly the vivid orange. The design colors aside is whatever. It too has a pretty cool call it but it does get bit annoying at times.
While I miss the original colors, the Corytho redesign is amazing, particularly the face shape. One of the best designs of the show.
Tyrannosaurus []
It’s strange they made the mere concept of “Yellow T.rex” look as cool as it is. Maybe that because it looks more like a golden brown with orange stripes. As I said, (say for the colors) this thing is just the Walking with Rex but if it looked appealing to an extent. While the proportions still bother me, I can’t help but think it’s a cool design. Maybe that’s just me fixating on the texture, looks appealing to rub hand against. (Also, feels weird that of all topics, the 1st show went with the low hanging fruit of “did T.rex lift its tail while walking?” for one episode).
This is maybe my favorite (mostly) accurate T.rex design. Everything about this build just works for me in a way it never has before or since. I also really like how long it is. I also really like the hissy roar it has.
I will admit I am a little bit of a Feathered Rex apologist. When it and Quadruped Spino were revealed and shook the Paleo-Community, I remember accepting both with open arms and the feelings I had for them still stick around whenever I look at them. I do still prefer the series version, but the feathered T.Rex designs like this always looked cool to me (maybe because they remind me of Dromaeosaurid feather crests or lion manes). I also like the darker shades of color given around the body.
The juvenile design is cool, I like slim theropods like it, tho the coloration is far inferior to the adult. Also, it bothers me how it is designed in a completely different style than the grown up and baby and as such is feather-less.
This T.rex design is kinda good, accurate Rexes aren’t a go to for me, but it’s still kinda good. I just wish it had one of the previous designs’ color schemes, because the brownish orange seems kinda generic and black feathers look kinda clashing. If anything, it feels like a downgraded version of the Dinosauria Rex. The hints of blue or green are nice I guess. For me, it’s less good than the Dana Rex designs, but I can’t tell if I like it more or less than the OG Rex.
Compsognathus []
Don’t ask why I called the Comy’s feathers “primitive fluff”, just felt right. Another decent design, I can’t really say much about, other than the feathers may be a bit too poofy. I also find it funny how this guy in the 1st series felt more like a wacky neighborhood menace character more than an animal (that’s just my interpretation).
Quetzalcoatlus []
I have never been fond of retro Quetzie interpretations like this, the Schleich toy, or WWD. The stork neck and pointed crest have always been cooler to me. That and the shrink wrapping is pretty bad here and the stance is almost always hunched-backed or upright on two legs. With that said, it does have the objectively best roar of every creature in the show and I’m sad it’s not used in the sequel series.
This is one of my favorite Quetzalcoatlus designs. I really like the long neck (which I prefer flexible BTW) and shape of the head. I also really like the vibrant colors of the face and wings. Although I’m bothered of the lack of Pycnofibers and the wings bending incorrectly
This design is fine, though I don’t like the weird body, and the face shape and neck flap are just not be my preference. Personally I prefer the Dominion Quetzie. I guess the colors of the face are nice.
Triceratops []
The T.rex was one thing, but this Triceratops design being this wrong is just baffling. I think aesthetic wise, it’s barely saved by the colors, but still, wow.
Ahh, much better. I am bothered by the short brow horns, but this Tricera design looks simply majestic. I appreciate the correct legs BTW. Also, while I don’t like the body, the kid Tricera is the only juvenile design that looks notably cute. (Also ironic how Jurassic world had a more accurate juvi tricera, even if barley)
This is mostly the same as the last one, but I think the new colors and rough texture make me prefer it.
WHAT THE F#&% DID THEY DO?! They had a near perfect Tricera design for the Dino Dana movie and they tossed that away for this Bobbleheaded Chinasaur! Why is the frill so big!? .With that said I do like the brownish orange and greenish blue highlights. And it does get more right than the OG one (tho that’s not saying much), despite me liking the OG better, But still, this face shape is pretty atrocious.
Spinosaurus []
While I’m not one for most 2000s Spinosaurus designs, the shades of green with orange stripes are gorgeous enough to (partially) overlook that.
I never really cared for this design, the new texture and recollection removed what I liked about it. Also, it’s really weird to watch 2000s Spino designs swim.
This design is BEAUTIFUL. Hands down one of, if not my favorite Spino design of all time and prolly favorite design of the show. The really long tail and body are lovely, the head is at its finest and I like the m sail shape. I’m unsure if I like it being quadruped or think it’s just fine. I do miss quad Spino for how unique and weirdly cool it was. Only negatives aesthetically would be the colors not being as vibrant as I’d like and the croc skin, but those aside, just fantastic.
Pterodactylus []
This design is fine, great colors aside, don’t really care for it. Accurate Pterodactylus designs are much more interesting.
I can’t tell if this design is bad or I’m indifferent. It’s times like these that remind me why I prefer pycnofibered pterosaur designs, because this looks like a bald vulture. That and the colors are boring now. I do appreciate the updated skull I guess.
Diplodocus []
This design is decent, I do like how long it is, but not much to not beyond that. The color scheme is interesting, but I don’t know what to think of it.
This one is really pretty, while I wish it were longer and had more of the green on it. The rest does long boi justice. Also, this one of the few Diplodocus in pop culture with a face I like. Shame it and the Corytho redesign are barely in the movie.
Stegosaurus []
My opinions on this one are essentially harsher versions of what I thought about the 1st Triceratops design. Not even the colors save it (yet), despite the frosty red plates looking cool. I also did kinda like the way the color changing plates looked.
While the color scheme is now perfected, with pretty dark blues and red plates, the design itself I’m not fond of. Mainly because I prefer the shape of straight backed designs. That and the short neck is weird.
Euoplocephalus []
Eew, bad, I wanna leave.
Another big glow-up, I think one’s nice, although the yellow still throws me off a little.
Triassic Dinosaur []
I was so upset by this as a child and I still am. The Triassic has so many cool interesting creatures, dinosaur or not, and the only creature showcased are these stupid lizard things?! At least 65 has the excuse of the Createous being overplayed! (Even if 65 is much worse in general)
Dino Dan Non-Canon Creatures[]
For context of the 1st non-canon 6 dinos we’re looking at, the OG Dino Dan series had a toy-line and website with exclusive dinosaurs with 3 designs. A concept art (which everything got, from the main cast to one-offs never got any more), a toy and a 3D model (which were just reskins/slight remodels of the pre-existing cast, tho more understandable for a website than the show itself)
Velociraptor []
The concept is prolly the best looking among the 3 Velo designs due the feathers and mohawk, though the hands and skull are a turn off. The green blue colors are also really cool.
The toy is honestly just ugly, shame it’s the only one with a good skull
While the website one is kinda bad, I do think it does the colors better than the concept.
Ideal design could concept’s designs, toy’s shape and website’s colors with wings added and neck shortened.
Pachycephalosaurus []
I really don’t like the weird proportions on concept one, but the blue color is also pretty and I think I prefer it to the movie design’s colors
The toy’s face is ugly but has a better body and the website does the colors better than the concept, adding a lovely hint of purple to the mix.
Parasaurolophus []
The concept Para is goofy and bad, but it does have the best colors of the 3. The blue is really pretty, tho yellow as a base color wasn’t a good call.
The toy is just mid despite the better face, the website one isn’t a para, it’s a demon.
For context, the Dino Dana games have this weird boxy 2D style which is pretty hit or miss, but they randomly brought back Para and the design is pretty good, especially the new head shape. Too bad it doesn’t have the concept version’s color and has a weird dip in spine.
Styracosaurus []
The concept Styraco has a pretty green with yellow stripes, but the proportions are kinda wonky.
Toy has a better shape, but the eye and mouth freak me out and the colors are washed out
Website has 2nd best color, the addition of blue is great, but the lack of detail makes me prefer the website, tho all 3 are pretty bad in one way or another.
Ankylosaurus []
The lavender color on the concept is again, really appealing, but I don’t agree with any of the design choices it has.
Toy’s addition of blue is good, but armor and face are really weird so I don’t like it either.
The website goes for a less appealing pink instead of purple and I don’t about it too
Apatosaurus []
I don’t care for all 3 of these Apato designs, tho the blue with hint yellow looks kinda cool and again is best on the website version.
Carnotaurus []
The concept Carno has cool spikes and the better colors, the burnt orange looks wonderful but he’s too thicc and the face is all wrong.
The toy is ok, only main issues are color downgrade and still thicc
Notably, it’s the only toy that lacks a website version, prolly cuz they knew nobody would fall for an orange Rex with horns
Plesiosaurus []
I honestly can’t tell if I prefer the green, orange and yellow mix of the show version or prefer the simplistic shades of blue this one has. I also really like the blue eye. With that said, that face is f***ed.
Trek’s Adventures Website Designs[]
So on the Dino Dan website, there was art of the Trek’s Adventure dinosaurs (presumably before they appeared in the show) of which I’m skipping most, I promised I wouldn’t do the website/app/whatever versions of the show designs. However, Amarga, Psitacco and Alberto do have completely different designs so…
This Amarga I’m not the biggest fan of, this sail type is fine and the tail’s too short, but it is decent overall and MUCH better than the official one we got. In terms of colors, the Trek’s Adventures precursor is fine, don’t care for it too much, the purple is really pretty, but the show version’s colors are even better than both. I’m kinda sad they didn’t go with this design, (say for the colors).
For Psittacosaurus, the mixture of black, orange and white look much prettier to me than the show version. I think the only problem with the body tail is the length and I don’t like it being quadrupedal. The show’s design was good, but with some polishing, I think this one could have been better
This Alberto is just a generic blue theropod, kinda boring and I think I owe angy boi an apology.
Dino Dana Website Designs[]
Just for fun, I also did the Dino Dana ones, even tho them appearing in the website was definitely a coincidence
This Kentro is simply dull and ugly, that’s all that can be said
I am so f***ing upset Dino Dana didn’t use this Incisivo design instead, becuase this one is so much better! The green and orange are much more beautiful and vibrant than the bland cyan and yellow and the mohawk is a much more acceptable goofy feather cut. I don’t even care if it lacks wings and pronates its arms, this would have been so much better!
This Eo is mid, the colors are fine enough, but the deep green of the Dana ver. solos this design, I don’t care if the Dana version is just a green Compy.
Trek’s Adventures Creatures[]
Albertosaurus []
Alberto is fine design, but I don’t like the eyes and how it looks angry all the time. Also the shrinking wrapped skull, long legs and weird neck posture feels worse on the here than on the OG Rex.
Major improvement, I like the new skull shape a lot. But with that said now the colors look much too bright, the darker shades of blue were better. This design with the old colors would be perfect.
Troodon []
The colors look cool and the tail fans’ nice, but just like the original Dromaeo, he’s got a terrible feather cut. The skull shape is kinda bad too.
This looks much better, nice thin skull shape and a kinda cool feather crest. It’s a shame about the face and arms tho. I also do miss the darker shades of green.
Amargasaurus []
This Amargasaurus design is whack. Why is it so big and what’s with the proportions?! Also, while I prefer the spiked look for Amarga, I’d take any accurate neck sails over these weird Spino fins. With that said, I can’t deny the colors are beautiful (on the male, the female’s fine). Like the original Tricera, the color barley save it, but to a slightly higher degree.
Giganotosaurus []
This Giga has really cool gray colors (would love to see this design in the shape of the RJ Palmer one), but the proportions are just wack. The arms come off as particularly goofy, since they’re way too small with hands much too big. Also, the ischium and pelvis thing I pointed out feels wrong. Head is alright though. If the proportions were better, this could have been really cool.
Microraptor []
I’m not sure how I feel about the Micro. The colors, while outdated, look nice. Ignoring how skinny it is, the proportions look nice. The face is a mixed bag, but it’s a bit tolerable every now and then.
The face is better, but the crest looks silly and dumb. The body is honestly a bit of a downgrade, maybe because of the wings, colors, legs and chest. And it still baffles me that as late as the movie, they STILL avoid giving the dinosaurs proper wings!
Pterodaustro []
Pterodaustro has a great face and actually looks really pretty with the red color and blue patterning. Quite a unique choice of creature too.
Dracorex []
Draco has a really nice combo of green white and purple. Ignoring face being off a bit and the side spikes, pretty good design
Kosmoceratops []
I adore the coloration of Kosmo, blue with white and purple works so well! The face and shape are spot on as well. With that said, I don’t understand nor appreciate the rocky skin and osteoderms. But I can overlook that, one of my favorite designs from this show.
Sesimosaurus and Saurolophus []
So I finally decided to man up and cover the cartoony Tyrannosaurus Trek and Quetza Grandma animals. In terms of design, I’m critiquing anything I think could have been implemented to the cartoon design. Design wise, I dislike all of them, they look to kiddy. It’s a shame these are the only Pteros with rounded wing tips.
Gigantoraptor and Kryptops []
Gallimimus and Cronopio []
Darwinopterus Phosphatodraco and Tupandactylus []
Therizinosaurus []
Why is Theri so small?! Also, the face looks kinda unappealing, especially how it doesn’t have feathers on the face. That and the back is weird. The rest of it is fine, the colors on the male looks pretty cool, with the white base and red spots (like Amarga, the female is just fine). Overall, amazing colors, the rest is a bit bad, I much prefer even Dominion Theri over it.
Psittacosaurus []
Psittacosaurus looks good. The brown and white stripes with hints of yellow go well together. I also find it neat how I can actually tell what species it is based on the skull. I’m also kinda upset it couldn’t use the quills for defense IRL. Also the body is a bit off
Various Meteor Survivors[]
I do like the colors, but I don’t really care for Tuatara. My absolute least favorite extinct animals are the ones that are too similar to modern stuff, because they’re often not unique enough, so not-lizard boi over here gets no praise from me.
What the hell is that?! It looked like a 10 yr old edgelord tried designing a shark (note, you can make cool edgy sharks, but this is stupid)! The fins look stupid and the face isn’t much better. Colors are neat I guess. So yeah, really bad design.
While this design doesn’t fit a Createous bird, the colors are really pretty and it’s unironically a better design for Archeopteryx than the one Dino Dana gave us.
Deinosuchus []
The proportions for Deino aren’t nearly as bad as the Giga, and it’s kinda cool, mainly cause it’s a big crocodile. Though the small head is still pretty bad. The tealish-green and reddish purple are another really good color scheme.
Archelon []
Archelon is also fine. The blue colors and orange shell looks pretty good here. The pointed shell is such a weird choice to me (tho looks a little cool) and the alt. isn’t much better. The flippers are also kinda bad.
Plesiosaurus []
Plesiosaurus is also decent, I like the green and orange patterning but its pretty un-notable beyond that. Though it bothers the show always says ‘Plesiosaur’ despite concept art specifying Plesiosaurus.
Futalognkosaurus []
Like Kosmo, Futa has a beautiful green and blue color scheme with red highlights. I also don’t mind the shape, despite being inaccurate. The lips not closing is a red flag tho.
Ozraptor []
I honestly take more offense to the overly rough face of Ozraptor than the over-feathering. The colors are neat, but the design becomes kinda bad once you realize what Ozraptor is meant to be (small abelisaurid). Also, I think the mane is a bit much.
Also I find it weird how Futa and Ozzie were were introduced in Trek’s Adventures but only appeared once until Dino Dana
Utahraptor and Velociraptor []
This color scheme would look beautiful on an accurate or the JWE2 Utahraptor, but the face, arms and toe claws are a new level of “WTF that’s so wrong”.
This one is just disappointing, given how the toy and website version actually had feathers. Colors are still nice I guess, despite those also being a downgrade.
Dino Dana Creatures[]
Kentrosaurus []
Stellar design for the first new creature of the series. The orange with white stripes is nice on its own and the green spikes really sell it for me. I also really like the shape and kinda prefer the neck long.
Titanoboa []
In terms of pure aesthetics, this is fine, but honestly I prefer stuff like the Primeval Titanoboa (hottake). Also the pink comes off as a bit humiliating, more so than the yellow on the Rex and Tricera. The 2D app version does make the design much more appealing to me too. Also, interesting this is what they went for as the first Cenozoic of the series.
Incisivosaurus []
That stupid goofy feather cut really tanks the design for me. A feather cut which every individual Incisivo has BTW. That and the head is bizarrely small, the lack of proper wings and the color not really doing anything for me. Notability, the 2D app version of this design lacks the dumb feather cut, making it automatically better.
Maiasaura []
Say for the lack of hooves, this design looks pretty good overall. With that said, purple with yellow spots has got to be the most humiliating coloration of any creature in the show yet (the male looks a bit better though).
Sinornithosaurus []
The mix of purple, red, blue and green look gorgeous in Sinornitho. It rivals Kosmo and Futa for favorite color scheme of any creature in the show. The head also looks nice, Unfortunately, it still lacks wings but whatever. Fix the feathers, wings and the skinny-ness, then the design will be perfect.
Megalodon []
Meg is a fine creature in general and I primarily only dislike Meg design when they’re just Great White but big. While going the thicc boi route would have been preferable, I do really like the black with grayish spots and stripes look.
Also, before you say it’s too big, I can head-canonize the IMAGINARY submarine as being bigger inside like the Tardis. Also I find so bizarre how Meg and Livy are seen exclusively in Dana’s imagination
So Meg got a redesign, and it may have gotten better. I ended up liking slim Meg quite a bit, and the whale shark colors were an excellent choice, might be better than the previous one’s colors, tho both are great in their own ways.
Nanuqsaurus []
I actually prefer the feathered medium boi Nanuq. This design looks really good with the black n white color and the spots and I prefer the old thinner build, tho this might be a bit too thin. Also the roar is sometimes cool and other times annoying.
Diabloceratops []
This might be one of my favorite designs in the show. Horn length aside, the build is splendid and the grayish-blue with orange frill are just fantastic. Accurate and appealing, A+.
Woolly Mammoth []
It’s not big surprise this design is super accurate, you’d have to try to make a bad wooly design. This one looks really good too, but the design really speaks for it.
Smilodon []
Smilodon looks really cool too, I love white face markings and shades of brown and the leopard spots (though you can’t really see from the photo). I’m pretty sure this is meant to be S.fatalis and it does look kinda cute. So yeah, good kitty.
Hippodraco []
While I do wish the skull and skin were ironed out, the overall design looks nice and the horse splotches look really cool, I don’t care how inaccurate or on the nose it is. Also the straight up horse noises are ironically funny in retrospective, despite sounding majestic.
Also weird they still won’t add an ornithomimid but did add Hippodraco of all dinosaurs (not that I’m complaining about horse dragon)
Ugrunaaluk []
While it sucks that this guy is a reskin, the orange brown with white stripes is still gorgeous. I also kinda prefer this design over both Maia and Edmonto
Titanis []
Titanis is kinda cool, I like the head shape, the feather crest and the colors are nice (though yellow/pink may not be best combo). With that said, I wish the legs were bigger and the arms highlight the worst of this series’s bizarre avoidance of proper wings.
Gigantoraptor []
I LOVE this design so much! Gigantoraptor is one of my favorite dinosaurs and this design does the giant chicken justice. The light red and white are such a great color scheme and all my favorite features like the neck, legs and size are still intact. And most importantly FINALLY A DESIGN WITH WINGS!!! I’m glad they picked this creature out of all to give the wings (even if that sucks for the rest). One of my favorite designs of this entire series probably. Too bad it only appears twice. Also too bad about the naked face.
Europasaurus []
Like Hippodraco, Europa is another wild-card inclusion, though not as exciting for me. The colors are still nice I suppose. Can’t really say much for or against it, but it’s inclusion is neat I guess.
Archaeopteryx []
Man, this Archaeopteryx is just a mess. It wasn’t until I heavily analyzed the design, but even when I first said eyes on this thing, I knew something was wrong. The ostrich head looks lame, the chest and stomach proportions are unfit for a bird, the posture is weird too and for the love of Raptor Jesus WHY does this BIRD have ARMS instead of WINGS!?!? It’s a shame, since the coloration actually looks pretty cool.
Also, I find it kinda dumb how there’s an entire episode dedicated to Dana struggling to figure if this creature is a dinosaur or a pterosaur, even though any paleo-fan/nerd, fresh out the metaphorical eggshell could tell that’s an Archaeopteryx on first try.
Livyatan []
Livyatan is just fine, I think blue and white are a decent mix. It’s a big predatory whale, that’s kinda cool on its own. But I do really wish we saw a curved jaw design with a more unique head shape and the small teeth size is pretty jarring. The wrinkles too bring down the design a bit.
Also, I don’t care if it’s dumb, watching it and a submarine breach together was awesome.
Meganeura []
Meganeura (and Arthorpleura) are weird in that I for some reason get excited about what’s (conceptually) just an upscaled arthropod (tho at least Arthro I prefer with the armored look). Meganeura on paper is just a big dragonfly (technically a griffinfly) and that’s enough for me, somehow makes it a favorite for me and this design looks cool to me.
(Tho maybe that’s me giving into some of my edgelord tendencies, since arthropods are the definitive edgiest animals and better edgier when giant)
Also, I feel so bad for it in its 2nd appearance, where it only exists to get dunked on and eaten by various paraves.
New Meganeura design is fine, tho the new colors I’m not that big a fan of, nor the body proportions. I prefer the old design or Prehistoric Park. Also, nice to see that it is still just Parave food (I sigh, laced with sarcasm).
Brontotherium []
Bronto is another fine one, but man that face is goofy as hell. Life on Our Planet Megacerops is a Chad, this guy is straight virgin material by comparison. Also, wish we saw more of it regardless.
Eoraptor and Procompsognathus []
Eoraptor as the 1st (proper) Triassic animal is decent. The vivid green colors really carry the design and it’s prolly the least obvious the recolors. If this were the only recolor of this bunch, I’d be fine.
I honestly don’t care about ProCompy since it’s superficially the same thing to me regardless of design. Tho they could have tried just a little bit harder than Compy but duller and naked.
Bellusaurus and Amygdalodon []
Honestly, do you care about these 2 sauropods? Are you a genuine fan of Bellu or Amygdalo and upset they’re just recolors? Well I’m not and let’s not kid ourselves, neither are you. These 2 could have been 100% ace in the hole accurate design and I still wouldn’t care at all. Just another 2 random dinosaurs that blend into the crowd (my personal 2nd least favorite type of extinct animal).
Proceratosaurus and Eustreptospondylus []
Procerato and Eustrepto are such cool and unique creatures, so them being s***y recolors doesn’t need to be explained as to why that’s bad. Procerato definitely was worse off a color pattern that looks like literal ****, but Eustrepto’s colors would have actually looked pretty cool if given a proper model.
This was what I meant when I said this series treats the Triassic like s***.
Zuul and Gorgosaurus []
Zuul is a surprising choice but a welcome one. I think the natural browny green colors looks better than Euoplo, really nice design, tho I do wish it were a bit thicker.
Gorgo has a great model, but the plain brown with liver spots pattern are kinda dull and unpleasant. Gorgon from the WWD movie is always be best Gorgo.
Fun fact, the reason these 2 are as accurate as they are (I assume) is because the company who made the show, also made an animation for the Royal Ontario Museum (which was also visited in all 3 shows and the movie) to go along with the discovery and exhibit of Zuul. And since they had the Zuul and Gorgo lying about, they decided, may as well put them into the Dana Movie.
Too bad both make mere cameos, despite new additions usually getting at least one full episode about them.
Pachycephalosaurus []
Pachycephalosaurus, while an odd final species, looks really nice with the blue color and long build to it. Pachy boi looks simply majestic (say for the weird neck).
Stygi and Draco are here too and we’re totally children the whole time (even tho there’s no way it’s coloration would change that drastically IRL). If you wanna hear my thoughts about them just go read parts 1 and 3.
Also, it’s kinda sweet the Pachy trio are used to teach both dinosaur ontogeny and a family lesson about ignoring what’s different to focus on what’s in common.
Dino Dana Non-Canon Creatures[]
Arctodus []
For context, the Dino Dan/Dana AR app randomly added Caribou and Arctodus from another AR app (Planet Ice AR) made by the same company. This appeared in a Dino Dana app, so it counts for my list.
Arctodus is a bit too skinny and lacks the intimidating presence Arctodus has normally. Colors look kinda cool I guess, I prefer this color scheme to most Arctodus designs
Safari Ltd Tyrannosaurus []
Pretty bland and not even worth my time talking about. These guys only count cuz they too were added to the Dino Dana AR app via codes.
Dunkleosteus and Cameroceras []
The combo of edgy boi and small boi features is cursed, they really shoulda picked only one. Also that eye is really uncanny. Cool to see it present either way.
Cameroceras is fine, carried by the fact it’s really cool in general, the purple color was a good choice, tho the small shell is really throwing me off, especially for a creature often mislabeled as “Giant Orthocone”.
Weird these two only appeared as mini games enemies with no further focus, too bad they and Dino World Para didn’t get more focus
Dino Dex Creatures[]
Velociraptor[]
Hey guys, the early 2000s called, they want their Velociraptor back. Not only is the naked face nearly as bad as the Theri, and the wrong choice of feathers also feels worse than the other paraves, but I also really don’t like the shorter skull or oversized scales on the face. The colors are fine, but a far cry from the website design with the beautiful shades of blue and green, which make me dislike the design even further, given its higher potential. But the orange and yellow face, striped body and blue limbs are kinda cool still, the colors are still good regardless. Also, sad to see they’ve stooped down to uses f***ing Jurassic Park noises. When I look at, it’s good enough, but this design becomes a lot worse when you realize its potential, regardless if it were based on the website or not. Also, nice to see someone go against that pack hunting raptor trope, a trope with such allure that not even f***ing Prehistoric Planet could not resist apparently.
Dreadnoughtus[]
Dreaddy is a neat addition, I like the shape, the coloration is nice and I think the neck flap’s design was done well. Kinda sad how the feet are wrong again, given how Europa had correct feet. Also, I’m suspect that it and Velo were brought in because Dominion and Prehistoric Planet had and they were just late to the party
Tsintaosaurus[]
Tsintao’s crest too wonky and the wrong shape, but honestly, I aesthetically don’t mind it, it looks kinda cool, tho I would prefer something a little more accurate. Also, the inflatable sacs coulda worked on the neck (although Lambeosaurines in general wouldn’t have sacs), them being in the crest was a bad call, same for the freaking antenna. I don't like the short face either. The body looks nice and I honestly take more offense to it being biped and the weird hands than the crest. The coloration is neat, the grayish purple is simple but effective and the light orange is nice too.
Megaraptor[]
Megaraptor is cool too, I like shades of orange, the stripes and streak of green. The overall shape looks good too. Tho I don’t really have much else to say about it, so I won’t. With that said, the big eyes bug me even more so than the Troodon.
Ankylosaurus[]
Anky boi looks good, the variety of colors looks really nice and most of the body appears to be spot on. While I do kinda wanna see it with website colors, that would be more for more the novelty of it, because the mix of blue purple and orange is already great.
Sarcosuchus[]
Man, this Sarco is only the 3rd worst design I’ve seen (*cough* Dino Time Sarco Bros). I do like the colors of the green body and yellow spikes, but they shoulda just made the osteoderms yellow tipped, not add those crazy long spikes. That and I’m pretty sure this is just a spikey reskinned gharial from Jane by same studio (basically Dino Dana with modern animals). Really big disappointment, since Sarco is much an awesome looking crocodylomorph.
Shuvuuia[]
Shuvuuia is pretty cute and I like the crest and waddle. The peacock tail fan was good in concept but could’ve been done better. Nice to get some alvarezsaurid representation.
Albertonectes[]
Albertonectes looks pretty good, I like the white base with purple stripes, kinda reminds me of the Snapper from the Meg. And this is obviously a much better design than the Plesiosaurus (ignoring color, that can be debated). I would explain what else I like about the design, but it’s more so just compliments about plesiosaurids in general. Main criticisms are the head shape, and the neck length due to this being Albertonectes, not Elasmo, but they’re not really big deals.
Elasmotherium[]
While it would’ve been nice to see regular/short horn Elasmotherium, I’m used enough to the unicorn verison to let it slide (under the context of entertainment rather than education). I do have slight distaste for the double horn, but not as much as a should, and as implausible as the colored horn and gray splotches are, they look kinda cool. Another fairly good addition and nice to see Elasmotherium get more love.
Dire Wolf[]
My thoughts on the Dire Wolf are complicated. For years I used to think “oh it’s just a big wolf, who cares”. But then came the reclassification as a jackal relative, which combined with this amazing design of the outdated version, has left me questioning everything I thought about how I felt about the Dire Wolf. I mean look and that majestic, beautiful black pupper! I love it! Why do I think this is cool now!? Do I prefer the outdated version? But how, it’s just a wolf! A beautifully designed wolf, but still! Great design, bad accuracy wise, I like it anywaysies, but that existential crisis will haunt me for a while…
Argentinosaurus and Deinocheirus[]
For the context of these next four, the episode “Dino World” did the thing with single-appearance creatures in an animated style.
Argentino’s design isn’t that good, I’d argue even Pirmal had a better shape, but the the dark green and brown color scheme are pretty good. There’s also an alt with brighter green in its coloration and I like than one a fair bit too.
Deinocheirus looks great in terms of design, and my only issue with it is that the arms and that colors are rather bland. Also, this is the 2nd time an ornithomimosaurid has been relegated to a single appearance as a cartoon, they deserve better.
Hatzegopteryx and Mosasaurus[]
The Hatzeg is kinda bad, I don’t really like the face shape and the colors aren’t doing much to sway me. The weird crest is definitely what I take the most issue with.
This is basically the JW Mosa but more universally unappealing. I especially hate the dumb eyebrow ridges. Even the colors are a downgrade from the JW one.
Colossal Squid[]
Let’s be honest, they just wanted a Kraken to attack the sub and get eaten by Beeg Shark and the Swimmer longnecks, those are only reasons why this goober is here. I should be mad, but honestly, that’s just whatever, I like giant monster cephalopods too. Also, this the 2nd time now Colossal Squid has been given the appearance of Giant Squid and shoved in with a bunch of prehistoric stuff of some reason (Jurassic Park Builder).
Dino Dex Non-Canon Creatures[]
DinoHab Triceratops Titanosaur and Tyrannosaurus[]
So as of writing this, the official Dino Dan channel just uploaded a trailer for some cruddy MetaQuest VR game called DinoHab. This prolly shouldn’t count for the purposes of this series, it wasn’t even made by the same company, but it’s on their channel, and it’s about dinosaurs, so f*** it, let’s do it.
I can’t really say much about the Tricera, it’s pretty generic. The color variants are decent, but nothing notable.
It really bothers me how official sources just call this a “titanosaur”, that’s very unspecific. The head is pretty laughable and a little ugly. The colorations on the other hand is actually pretty solid, the white with dark splotches of this, or the bluish colors of one the alts would look splendid on a proper model.
There’s nothing to say about the Rex, so instead I’m gonna complain about how the baby looks more like a gross little T.Rex goblin creature than an actual baby dinosaur.
Misc. Accuracies and Inaccuracies[]
Overall series[]
Positives[]
- Pretty much anytime a predator gives up after one or two hits, or is scared off by armor.
- Any time a conflict is resolved by roaring and intimidation instead of violence
- The obligatory “birds are dinosaurs/reptiles” thing
- The teachers and parents being unable to pronounce scientific names lol
IDK[]
- Pretty much every time we see animals that are mates, they monogamous, with polygamy never being showcased (presumably because that’s harder to explain to kids). IDK if we even have evidence for any specific paleofauna or grouping being polygamous.
- Dinosaurs being warm-blooded (I think they’re currently though to be between warm and cold blooded)
Negatives[]
- The whole outdated “65 million years ago” thing, recent-ish estimates say 66 MYA
- The theropods roaring which would be impossible for dinosaurs due to lacking a mammal’s larynx or whatever birds have are called
- Herds for dinosaurs like Edmonto or Maia are too small, tho that’s prolly a budget thing
- Female dinosaurs being bigger, than theory is outdated
- About 90 percent of the time we see an egg, it has the same coloration (or at least highlights the same color) as the animal that laid said egg. I get it’s a kids show, so the eggs’ design are on the nose for a reason, but still.
- Also, eggs pretty much always too bird shaped or too lumpy
- Plenty of the creatures at times at far too expressive. Real animals obviously all aren’t visually stagnant, but they couldn’t express themselves to the same extent as a human. Dinosaurs and their contemporaries obviously couldn’t smile, laugh, frown, eye roll, glare, smirk, wink, etc to such a degree. Said over expressiveness does have the excuse that while educational, it is a kids show at the end of the day.
- By extension, it also has the Dinosaur Revolution syndrome of them acting too much like characters from time to time
- There’s also the issue of lips and tongues being to flexible at times
- And several animals have eyes too big, Troodon and Megaraptor in particular
- The Dinosaurs and other creatures are way too easily tricked by pitifully poor disguises and decoys like an Edmontosaurus costume that’s clearly made of cardboard, or a painting of a Dromaeosaurus, and especially Dana’s and Dex’s dinosaur backpack modes, which are basically fancy backpack decor, a hoodie and sometimes gloves, which wouldn’t fool so much a Stego (no offense against them). Do the dinosaurs need glasses?
- The prehistoric creatures being too passive towards humans (tho that’s a given for a kids show)
- Plenty of scenarios here and there where the predators give up too easily, tho you could debate this a choreography or animation issue
Dino Dan[]
Positives[]
- Art For Pterosaur’s Sake saying that no pterosaur is named “Pterodactyl”
IDK[]
Negatives[]
- There’s an entire episode (Gas-o-saurus) dedicated to the I’m pretty sure not even scientific theory that sauropods farts killed the dinosaurs cause they made the atmosphere too hot. (Also they explain this with Brachiosaurus because they didn’t have the budget for Alamosaurus I guess) 🦕💨 = ☄️
- Time Traveler’s Dino implying all Triassic dinosaurs were small
- The same episode showing Comy with Brachio and Diplodo
- And showing T.rex with Campanian dinosaurs
Trek’s Adventures[]
Positives[]
- Meteor Survivors covering the basics of the K-T mass extinction
IDK[]
- In Dino Clash, there’s a Dromaeosaurus and Microraptor who are friends I guess
- Survival of the Biggest claiming small herbivores, Lambeosaurines, armored herbivores and sauropods would all herd together
Negatives[]
- Sabre-Toothed Doug comparing Mesozoic mammals to Pugs, which while not ALL mammals were small and rodent-like, they were the regular for mammals
- The same episode also states Mesozoic mammals would be smaller than Troodon toe-claws
- And suggests Mesozoic mammals would hang out with herbivores instead of going their own way
- And showcases Pterodactylus, Corytho, Deinosuchus and Giganotosaurus in same environment
Dino Dana and its Movie[]
Positives[]
- Movie corrects the K-T Mass Extinction as happening 66 MYA
Negatives[]
- Calling All Plesiosaurs showing Deinosuchus, Plesiosaurus and Spinosaurus coexisting
- Prehistoric cavemen are painted (get it) as not strong enough to damage a Mammoth's tusk, I can only assume for the sake of a light-hearted gag hunt instead a dark serious one. (Meh, it’s inaccurate, but I can let them have that one, mainly cuz cavemen freak me out so this helps alleviate those fears).
- Also the cavemen are mentally essentially modern humans that can’t speak
- Using the Dinosauroid at all
- In the episode Game of Bones, Dana essentially makes Dinosaur D&D but during the K-T Extinction event. In said game, despite taking place post-meteorite crash, the sky is as sunny as ever (you’d think a VFX studio would kill to shoot on an overcast-y day)
- Game of Bones also has many creatures not from the Maastichtian (tho it’s a little more excusable, being a board game for dumb fun)
- The opening to the movie supposedly takes place 66 MYA during the Createous extinction, but it's an alternate version of the opening, still featuring various creatures from across the Jurassic and pre-Maastrichtian Cretaceous. Hell, right after we see the text “66 MYA” we immediately fade into Livyatan and Megalodon!
Dino Dex[]
Positives[]
- A Dino Tail saying Hylonomus was the first reptile (tho I imagine that this age poorly)
- The same episode saying dinosaurs would not have dropped nor regrown their tails like lizards (no $&*#, Sherlock!)
- Dino Deep End saying most dinosaurs were capable of swimming like modern animals
Negatives[]
- A Dino Tail implying that there are endothermic dinosaurs (Wot)
- Dino Dress Up saying large herbivores were bright as a warning to predators, even tho this is a poison thing, not a size or armor thing
- One of the episodes (I forgot which) saying the obligatory “chicken was closest to T.rex” nonsense, even tho all birds are equally and very distantly related to it.
- House of the Mammal saying the meteor that killed the dinosaurs was made of iron or nickel, it was actually made of chondrite