The dinosaurs

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Television series
German title The dinosaurs
Original title Dinosaurs
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1991-1994
Production
company
length 22 minutes
Episodes 65 in 4 seasons ( list )
genre Comedy
Theme music Bruce Broughton
idea
  • Jim Henson
  • Michael Jacobs
  • Bob Young
    		•
    production Michael Jacobs
    music Ray Colcord
    First broadcast April 26, 1991 (USA) on ABC
    German-language
    first broadcast    		 October 3, 1993 on West 3

    Die Dinos (original title Dinosaurs ; English for the plural of dinosaurs ) is an American television series with full-body dolls in the form of anthropomorphic dinosaurs. The series was produced by the Walt Disney Company .

    overview

    action

    The focus of the series is on the humanized dinosaur family Sinclair, who live in a society that presents itself as a mixture of modernity and a fictional (place of residence is Pangäa ), dinosaur-populated Stone Age and, like the Feuerstein family, modeled on a typical American family is. The core of the plot are more or less everyday problems and events with which the family is confronted, whereby the dinosaurs are depicted in a satirical naive way. They are always in the context of reality, are mostly designed to be socially critical and mixed with slapstick inserts.

    An all-powerful mega-corporation, the sole producer of all consumer goods, called "Treufuss" (alluding to the " Treuhand ", in the original "Wesayso" - freely: "We determine") controls the fate of the dinosaurs through its financial power and propaganda. The series ends with episode 65 Dinodämmerung , in which Earl and his colleagues, on behalf of his superior Richfield and the Treufuss company, trigger one ecological catastrophe after the next while trying to combat the previous ones. As a final measure, they blow up all volcanoes so that there are rain clouds, which should allow the dead vegetation to recover. As a result, the earth is only wrapped in a layer of dust and ash, so that an ice age occurs, the duration of which is estimated by dinosaur meteorologists to be ten thousand years. At the end of the episode, Richfield enthusiastically celebrates record sales of electric blankets this year as viewers suspect that this is the end of the age of the dinosaurs.

    production

    Jim Henson designed the basic concept of the series while working on the dolls for Turtles . Even before the production of the dinosaurs began, Henson fell ill with pneumonia , from which he died. His son Brian then took over the further development of the dinosaurs and his father's other projects. Together with Michael Jacobs and Bob Young, he led the series to market maturity until it was finally produced under contract with the Walt Disney Company . Shortly thereafter, the American Broadcasting Company licensed the first episodes.

    Technical

    A new type of full-body doll with particularly realistic facial expressions and gestures was specially developed for the series . A total of 17 pieces of these audio animatronic dolls were produced as well as 50 other stick hand puppets . They were made in Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London . These dolls had up to twenty motors per head to move their facial features. They were operated by remote control by two or three separate puppeteers, while the actor in costume was only responsible for the movements of the rest of the body. The costumes made of latex were very heavy and equipped with fans, as their interior would otherwise quickly get over 50 ° C during a shoot.

    characters

    Sinclair family

    • Earl Sneed Sinclair : The 43-year-old family man works as a tree pusher . He always points out his race of the "mighty Megalosaurus " and is consistently at odds with his mother-in-law Ethel.
    • Frances “Fran” Sinclair : The caring family mother and housewife usually tries to curb Earl's temperament and to give her children advice. She is seen as a necessary antithesis to her husband. Fran is referred to as the Allosaurus on the show and on various merchandise , although her appearance is very reminiscent of a Dilophosaurus . She also has an unknown middle name.
    • Robert "Robbie" Mark Sinclair : 14-year-old Hypsilophodon is the first son of the family. His character is characterized by good nature, empathy , but also often by weakness of will. He often takes progressive views, which is why he often clashes with his rather conservative father Earl. His best friend Spike is often a bad influence on him. Unlike all of the other dinosaurs in the series, he wears shoes.
    • Charlene Sinclair : The 12-year-old, superficial daughter is almost exclusively interested in shopping , fashion and phone calls with friends. She often clashes with Robbie, but otherwise has little interest in family life. Although its shape is very reminiscent of a Protoceratops , it is designed as a generic dinosaur .
    • Baby Sinclair : The baby usually provides the slapstick in the series. It provokes its father Earl by constantly calling him “not mom” and thus bypassing the term “dad”. Other, recurring utterances from him are "I am the baby, you have to love me" (sometimes slightly modified) or a long drawn out "Nochmaaal", if it finds something fun. It also tends to attack its father with objects, preferably a frying pan. Like his father, Baby Sinclair is also a Megalosaurus . In the episode "What now, Mr. Richfield" , the baby was named "Ah, I am dying, you idiot!" By the Chief Elder , shortly before he died.

    Minor characters

    • Ethel Phillips (née Hinkelmann) : Fran's mother and thus Earl's hated mother-in-law. She never misses an opportunity to verbally or physically attack Earl (with her cane) and calls him a "fat cheek". She is an Edmontonia .
    • Roy Heldenmut Hess : Earl's colleague and best friend is fundamentally naive and good-natured. His character is in apparent contrast to his appearance as a tyrannosaurus . His middle name is "Heldenmut" (original: Danger ), which he took over from his mother (maiden name).
    • Basil P. Richfield (in the original: Bradley P. Richfield ): Earl and Roy's always bad-tempered and aggressive superior. He has a tendency to call his workers into his mobile office about trivialities and loudly reproach them. Its exterior is modeled on the phenotype of the Styracosaurus and that of the Triceratops .
    • Spike : Robby's seedy school friend is a prime example of bad influence, but is often helpful too. It represents a polacanthus .
    • Monica von Säulenwirbel (in the original: Monica DeVertebrae ): As a herbivore and divorced wife, Fran's best friend embodies an emancipatory character that Earl despises. She is an apatosaurus .
    • Mario Marionette (in the original: Howard Handupme ): The Pachycephalosaurus is a news anchor for DNN (a reference to the American news channel CNN ).

    Episodes

    Main article: The dinosaurs / episode list

    German voice actors

    Trivia

    • At the beginning of the first episode, Jim Hensons, who died in 1990, is remembered with a brief overlay.
    • Television plays a big role in the series. In almost every episode, the Sinclairs watch television, where American television series are often parodied. In some episodes, television is a central theme, for example in "Ask Fran" ("Fran Live"), in which Fran accepts a job as a presenter on a telephone talk show, or in "Der Fernsehkönig" ("Network Genius"), as Earl becomes program director of ABC television .
    • In the Simpsons episode Until Death Do You Part , one scene points out an alleged extreme similarity between the two series.
    • The series was recently canceled because of its increasingly socially critical and sarcastic humor and deliberate provocations of the production studios and broadcasters - who complained about this.
    • The audio animatronic puppets were used one more time in the 1995 film T-Rex .
    • Originally the series was supposed to contain canned laughs . However, these were later removed when the series became more popular. The change was made before the German first broadcast.
    • Many character names are based on companies that are active in the tank and oil industry. These are Sinclair , Hess , BP , Richfield and many more.
    • In some episodes, the series broke the fourth wall . For example, in the episode “Say No!” When Robbie and Charlene feel watched by cameras, or in the episode “Do it right, baby”, when Earl and Fran argue about who should change their diapers. They spell out all the words, which leads the baby to use their letter blocks to form the sentence They think I can't spell (English: They think I can't spell ).
    • Earl's catchphrase “I'm there, who else?” In the opening credits was not a literal translation. In engl. Originally Earl said: "Honey, I'm home." (Honey, I'm home.)
    • In comparison to the English version, the German synchronization is partially defused and the content of some episodes has been falsified
      • "Liebeshunger" ("Hungry For Love"): When Robbie finds out that his girlfriend's ex-boyfriends were eaten by her father BP Richfield, Robbie also wants to eat him. In the German version, however, Richfield only confesses to him that it was all a misunderstanding. The three ex-boyfriends even appear again in the German version.
      • "Student exchange" ("Getting to Know You"): The exchange student is eaten by the baby, which in the German version is translated as " plucking the pen ".

    Awards

    • The Dinos received an Emmy in 1991 for “Outstanding Art Director in a Series”. The award went to John C. Mula (Production Designer), Brian Savegar (Interior Property Manager) and Kevin Pfeiffer (Art Director) for the episode Pairing Dance .
    • The series also received three Environmental Media Awards . And every time in the "TV Comedy" category. The following episodes received this award: Jugend forscht (1992), Mein Freund der Baum (1993) and Dinodämmerung (1995)

    DVD release

    In German-speaking countries, the series was released as a complete box on December 1, 2014, which contains all 65 episodes in German and English on a total of nine discs. As extras, there is a 13-minute making-of, a 12-page booklet with an episode guide, background information and drawings of the early drafts. In addition, audio commentary on selected episodes can be played.

    Web links

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Smarsch fansite - table of contents ( memento of the original from April 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.smarsch.de
    2. ↑ Duckipedia article; Section humor and Program topics
    3. ↑ Duckipedia article; Origin History and Production Section
    4. ↑ Description of all characters in the Duckipedia article
    5. ↑ Entry in the German synchronous file
    6. ↑ List of all awards and nominations ( memento of the original dated February 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.smarsch.de