Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context WesternAnimation / DinosaurTrain

Go To

1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinosaur_train_1411.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:320:"You may be different, but we're all creatures! All dinosaurs have different features!"\
3[[labelnote:Clockwise from the top]][[GirlyGirl Shiny]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Don]], [[AllLovingHero Buddy]], and [[PluckyGirl Tiny]].[[/labelnote]]]]
4
5->''"People, there is an episode with Therizinosaurs doing Tai-chi. There are Therizinosaurs and they are in a cartoon for kids AND THEY ARE DOING MARTIAL ARTS '''AND THIS IS AWESOME!!!''' [[ShownTheirWork Also, they have feathers.]]"''
6-->-- [[http://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2010/12/never-mind-terra-nova-lets-watch.html Trish Babbles]]
7
8''Dinosaur Train'' is a CGI animated Jim Henson Company series that aired on Creator/PBSKids, created by Creator/CraigBartlett (yes, ''that'' Craig Bartlett who's also best known for creating the series ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' and ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo''). It first aired in 2009 and aired its last full episode in 2020.
9
10The show focuses on the adventures of a family of ''Pteranodon'' and Buddy, a dinosaur who was adopted by them as an egg. Buddy initially doesn't know what species he is, but is determined to find out. To this end, Buddy and his adoptive family go on adventures in a time-traveling train run by dinosaurs. Turns out early on that Buddy's a ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', and he and his family and friends continue having trips through the Mesozoic to "meet ''all'' the species".
11
12''Dinosaur Train'' sports strong educational content with a focus on the basics of paleo-zoology, but also a lot of humor and fun. It is a Henson series after all. And even though the main cast is made up of [[FunnyAnimal cartoony creatures]], the show goes way the heck out of its way to avert ArtisticLicensePaleontology. It's gained quite a [[PeripheryDemographic cult following]] among older dinosaur fans.
13
14The show aired five seasons of 100 episodes over the span of 11 years. It also has various TV specials: ''Dinosaur Big City'', ''Dinosaurs A to Z'', ''Dinosaur Train Submarine Adventure'', etc, but they are really just multiple episodes strung together to make a one-hour special. A proper 85-minute feature film entitled ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurTrainAdventureIsland'' [[https://www.instagram.com/p/CC8z2JwpZPb/ was announced]] by Craig Bartlett, and premiered on PBS on April 12, 2021.
15
16----
17!!'''Tropes''':
18* AdultsAreMoreAnthropomorphic: Inverted with the ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and ''Daspletosaurus''. Adult ones stand more like their real counterparts, but juvenile ones stand more upright and have plantigrade feet. The ''Troodons'' show an inversion to a lesser degree and unlike the two aforementioned species, The juvenile ones are as digitigrade as the adult ones.
19* AerithAndBob: There are dinosaurs that have normal names (Gilbert, Don, Cory, Annie, etc), and then we have characters with names like Tiny and Shiny.
20* AlliterativeName: '''A lot''' of the dinosaur characters have one. For example, Tank Triceratops.
21* AlphabetSong: The show has a unique take on the alphabet song with "Dinosaurs A-Z", which lists [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dinosaurs in alphabetical order]].
22-->"A! Apatosaurus! B! Brachiosaurus! C! Corythosaurus! D! Deinonychus! E! Einiosaurus! F! Fabrosaurus! G! Gal-Limimus! H! Hadrosaurus! I! Iguanodon! J! Jaxartosaurus! Everybody, it's time for the chorus! Hey hey hey, come along with me (Choo Choo, Choo Choo), this is how we memorize dinosaurs A to Z!"
23* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: The ''Pteranodon'' are lime green, Buddy is safety orange, and even the more realistic (relatively speaking) animal characters can get downright psychedelic.
24* AnachronismStew:
25** This is inherently [[JustifiedTrope justified]] somewhat by the existence of the titular time-traveling train, but strangeness still occurs. For starters, although both ''Tyrannosaurus'' and ''Pteranodon'' existed during the Late Cretaceous, the latter's fossils only date back to the early phase of the period, thus indicating they probably didn't exist at the same time..
26** Another anachronism is some of the plant life on display. Firstly, the gourds are pretty similar to what they are today, and given the expected rate of evolution, gourds should look like their smallest representatives, cucumbers, at most. And secondly, the Conductor once mentions cacti and shows a picture of a tall sanoran cactus, even though the only cacti that existed during the Mesozoic were probably short and barrel-like.
27** Also, perhaps most glaringly: ''a TRAIN in prehistoric times!?''
28* ArtEvolution: A mild example, but the lighting and environmental design on the later seasons shows notable improvement.
29* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: The show does a very good job of [[AvertedTrope averting]] this for the most part, although some liberties are naturally taken with the character designs in order to conform to the cartoony aesthetic. Most notably pterosaur models lack pycnofibers while the dromaeosaurids and troodontids lack feathers[[note]]specifically pennaceous wing feathers on the arms and tail and have naked featherless bodies[[/note]].
30* BigLittleBrother: The episode “All Kinds of Families” has Buddy and Tiny meet Mikey ''Microraptor'' and his new adopted “little” brother: a ''Sauroposeidon'' named “Sonny”.
31* BigWordShout: American broadcasts are bookended by the voiceover shouting "THANK YOU!" at the end of the funding credits.
32* BirthdayEpisode: On "Surprise Party", the Pteranodon Family plans a surprise birthday party for Buddy on the Dinosaur Train.
33* BlackComedyBurst:
34** In "Zeppelin: Crater," the Pteronodon family and Mr. Conductor visit a crater that may have been created by an asteroid. They discuss the idea of something like that happening again. Mr. Conductor says his mother told him that something like that is very rare and not something to worry about. Buddy comments [[DramaticIrony "I mean, what are the odds an asteroid would ever hit us?"]]
35** In one episode, there's a scene where Buddy is pretending to be an adult ''Tyrannosaurus'' hunting for prey. This includes a scene where he mimes a stick pleading and begging for its life, as he ignores its pleas and pretends to devour it anyways while maniacally laughing. This is presented as a perfectly normal and healthy thing.
36* CarnivoreConfusion:
37** One of the major educational aspects of the show is that as the main characters travel and meet various dinosaurs, they discuss with them whether they're herbivores, carnivores or omnivores. That said, we never see any animals eating other animals.
38** In Migration Vacation there is a scene that multiple T Rex go of a cliff to hunt. Even though it is not shown there are sound effects of eating and then bring back carrion for Buddy. [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute Except when those other animals are fish or insects (most of the time).]] So the show generally follows the "fish and bugs are okay to eat" rule. Except for the "meat", which is, eerily, large piles of carrion lying around.
39** The occasional anonymous small mammal is also shown being eaten, such as by Travis, the northern ''Troodon'' seen in one episode. Another episode has a ''Tyrannosaurus'' eat a lizard.
40* CartoonCreature: Mostly averted, to a point. That said, eh, we'll just take it on good faith what species the ''Pteranodon'' family and (to a lesser extent) Buddy are.
41* CasualTimeTravel: The series sees the titular train travel through the entire Mesozoic Era for basically tourism purposes.
42* TheCatfish: In one episode, the Old ''Spinosaurus'' holds a fishing competition to catch an elusive ''Mawsonia'' (a kind of coelacanth) that he's named Chester. The other contestants are Mr. ''Pteranodon'' and Marco ''Megaraptor''. They all end up catching it at the same time, but their ensuing argument causes them to drop it back into the ocean.
43* ChirpingCrickets: In "Hootin' Hadrosaurs", Shiny asks "Ready to do as I say and have a good time?". The others give her deadpan expressions while crickets chirp.
44* CivilizedAnimal: Most of the animals can talk, and the ''Troodon''s in particular have invented CasualTimeTravel and all sorts of modern-style vehicles, but they mainly live in the wilderness.
45* ChromaKey: The live-action Dr. Scott the Paleontogist segments take place in front of a green screen; in some episodes, the background is plain white with concept art of the focal animal, while other times it's a photograph of a location such as a forest.
46* CleanPrettyChildbirth: All kinds of creatures are shown hatching from eggs in this series, and they all come out completely dry.
47* ControlFreak: Shiny is incredibly bossy to her siblings at times. She takes her bossiness to the extreme in "Hootin' Hadrosaurs", where she becomes 'mom' and micromanages the others nonstop.
48* CoolTrain: The Dinosaur Train featured in the program is a {{Time Travel}}ing train that utilizes time tunnels to take its dinosaur passengers to various locations throughout the Mesozoic Era.
49* CrystalLandscape: In "What's at the Center of the Earth? Minerals!", the Drill Train's drill breaks when it hits a large topaz crystal. Fortunately, the cave is full of crystals, so the Conductor tells the kids to find an even harder mineral. Shiny loves the cave so much that she suggests making it into an underground station.
50* ADayInTheLimelight: Shiny, Don & Mr. ''Pteranodon'' receive the focus of a few episodes.
51* DescriptionCut: In "Best Ever Babysitter," Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon talk about how their sure everything's fine with their kids because they all get along with the babysitter Kiera so well. Cut to the kids nearly overwhelming Kiera with their arguing about what activity they want to do.
52* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: The characters sometimes sing the show theme tune, at least the part about "We're gonna ride, ride, ride the Dinosaur Train."
53* DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Played with - the ''Troodon''s claim to be nocturnal, like their real-life counterparts and even have a song about it. Yet they are still shown most of the time operating the Dinosaur Train during the day.
54* DoubleEntendre: In the episode "King Meets Crystal", they talk about King Cryolophosaurus trying to impress Crystal, and the Conductor mentioned that dinosaur crests are for 'impressing other dinosaurs of [King's] species'.
55* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first few episodes of the show, Buddy would get dizzy when in the time tunnel. This was phased out later on.
56* EdutainmentShow: An educational show about dinosaurs.
57* ExactWords: In one episode, Larry ''Lambeosaurus'' hosts a game where the dinosaur who collects the most leaves wins. Keenan, the local bully, tells the ''Pteranodon'' siblings that they can't win because they're not dinosaurs. They ask Larry to clarify, and he says he meant all the creatures in the neighbourhood, so he rephrases the rule.
58* ExpositoryThemeTune: The theme song tells the story of how Buddy was adopted by the ''Pteranodon''s, followed by them deciding to travel the Mesozoic on the Dinosaur Train.
59%% * FatherNeptune: The old ''Spinosaurus''.
60* FictionalSport: Dinoball vaguely resembles American football; the players have to whack a gourd into a goal at the edges of the pitch, and there's a lot of tackling involved.
61* FootFocus: This series usually shows closeups of various dinosaurs' feet.
62* FriendlyRivalry: Dylan and Devlin, the double-crested ''Dilophosaurus'' twins, have one of these (although at the end they say they'll try to work together more).
63* FunWithAcronyms: Carla ''Cretoxyrhina'''s father is described as a "B.F.I.S." (Big Fish In the Sea).
64* FurryConfusion: The tiny green snake in one episode doesn't talk, but Sana the ''Sanajeh'' in the same episode can talk.
65** Even though bugs are regularly seen as snacks for many dinosaurs, one episode revolving around a concert has a band of singing cockroaches.
66* GenderEqualEnsemble: The main group of kids has two males, Buddy and Don, and two females, Tiny and Shiny.
67%% * GentleGiantSauropod: Features several kinds of sauropods, all of which are friendly.
68* GiantFlyer: The main characters are ''Pteranodon'', after all. Makes sense they'd want to meet other big pterosaurs.
69* GirlsNightOutEpisode: "Mom Was a Kid Once?" features the female members of the cast going on an adventure, with Annie filling Buddy's usual role.
70* GoToSleepEnding: "I'm a T-Rex" ends with the family going to sleep, with Buddy assuring Tiny that he will look out for her even when he's big.
71* GreenAesop: In "Crystal and King Benefit Concert," said concert is held as a means of spreading the word that the Big Pond is being overfished, resulting in an over-abundance of small fish, due to the larger fish having been fished too much. Fortunately, there's still enough left to correct the situation, so long as everyone gets the word.
72* GroupieBrigade: King ''Cryolophosaurus'' is cornered by an entire group of excited dinosaurs when he goes to the Dinosaur Big City. This forces him to jump on the Dinosaur Train‘s engine and speed off.
73* GrowlingGut: In "I'm a T-Rex!", Buddy's stomach rumbles because he's hungry.
74* HalloweenEpisode: "Haunted Roundhouse" and "Big Pond Pumpkin Patch" are respectively about the kids attending a spooky event at ''Troodon'' Town, and carving pumpkins with Larry ''Lambeosaurus''.
75* HeadbuttingPachy: {{Defied}} in the episode where the kids meet a pair of ''Pachycephalosaurus'' siblings who headbutt each-other in the ''sides''.
76* HeyThatsMyLine: The Conductor does it in "Fossil Fred" when Mrs. Pteranadon declares "Next stop, Big Pond!"
77* HuddleShot: In "Surprise Party", Tiny, Shiny and Don huddle up to discuss plans for the surprise party they are throwing for Buddy.
78* HumanFurnitureIsAPainInTheTail: The chairs in the eponymous train don't accommodate the dinosaur's tails, but the issue is never touched upon.
79* IAmSong: "I'm a T-Rex" from the episode of the same name is sung by Buddy about how he is a ''Tyrannosaurus rex''.
80* ImagineTheAudienceNaked: Inverted in "''Troodon'' Train Day". King ''Cryolophosaurus'' is nervous about performing on-stage, so Buddy tells him to imagine the audience wearing clothes.
81* InexplicablyTailless: The dinosaurs' tails are sometimes not rendered in at all when they are sitting on the seats in the train cars. This is jarring as dinosaurs' tails are long, thick, and in many species stiff.
82* IntroducedSpeciesCalamity: In "Where Have All the Lizards Gone?", the ''Pteranodon'' family visit Lizard Island, hoping to see all sorts of lizards there. Instead, they find lots of bugs. The Conductor explains that when they ''Changyuraptor'' family moved there years ago, they ate too many of the lizards, throwing the ecosystem out of balance. [[spoiler:In the end, the ''Changyuraptor''s decide that the best way to fix this is to move back to their homeland.]]
83* KidsLoveDinosaurs: A rare example where the kids in question ''are'' dinosaurs themselves (or pterosaurs, as the case may be). The children of the ''Pteranodon'' family (and Buddy in particular) are almost always excited to meet new dinosaurs and learn facts about them.
84* LadiesAndGerms: Characters usually address groups as "dinosaurs and pterosaurs" (occasionally with other categories of animals added), and King ''Cryolophosaurus'' addresses his audience as "carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores" in "Troodon Train Day".
85* LampshadeHanging: A somewhat dark example in "Carcharodontosaurus Carrion Station". The family meets Carson ''Carcharodontosaurus'', who works as a chef using the random piles of carrion seen throughout the show. In this case however, he's asked how he obtains the carrion in the first place. His only response is to say that [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies it's a secret]].
86* MultipleReferencePun: Probably unintentional, but Regina ''Regaliceratops''' name. At first it sounds like a regular AlliterativeName, but ''regina'' is also Latin for "queen" (which she is depicted as), as well as a city in Canada, the country where ''Regaliceratops'' fossils were found in real life.
87* MyBelovedSmother: Millie Maiasaura lives up to the "good mother lizard" stereotype of her species a bit too much since she is reluctant to let her kids anything that she considers dangerous. Mrs. Pteranodon tries to help her become a bit more lenient.
88* NamingConventions:
89** AlliterativeName: This is a strong tendency for characters' names on the show. Some examples include Tiny ''Pteranodon'', Tank ''Triceratops'', King ''Cryolophosaurus'', Erma ''Eoraptor'', and Cindy ''Cimolestes''.
90** The other tendency is to have character names that rhyme. Some examples of this are Morris ''Stegosaurus'', Doris ''Tyrannosaurus'', and Shiny and Tiny ''Pteranodon''. Annie ''[=TyrANNosaurus=]'' and Jess ''[=HESpeornis=]'' are more subtle.
91** Notable examples of character names that neither rhyme nor alliterate include Buddy ''Tyrannosaurus'' (justified because his adoptive parents didn't know what species he was) and "Sonny Boy" ''Troodon'' (aka Mr. Conductor), as well as minor characters like Chester ''Mawsonia''.
92* NationalAnimalStereotypes: Many animals speak with accents based on countries in which their fossils have been found.
93* {{Nephewism}}: During the World Tour series, Mr. Conductor is suddenly assisted by his nephew, Gilbert.
94* NoAntagonist: Most of the show is devoid of any villainous characters. Even in the odd episode where there is an antagonist like Keenan ''Chirostemotes'' and Remy ''Ramphorhynchus'' (or the unnamed T-rex also in their debut episode), they do little in the way of serious harm and are more bullies than anything else.
95* NobodyPoops: Averted in the fittingly-titled episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Dinosaur Poop"]], of which it is the entire focus. It is also considered a changing point in the history of Creator/PBSKids shows, as more and more shows on the block aimed at younger viewers began openly discussing using the bathroom[[note]] two examples of shows that did this were ''WesternAnimation/DanielTigersNeighborhood'' and ''WesternAnimation/PegPlusCat''[[/note]], when a decade prior to this episode airing, it was rare to find any show on the block that did this.
96* NoCartoonFish: Ray-finned fish, coelacanths, and some invertebrates are okay to eat (makes sense as the main characters are ''Pteranodon''). Gets a little awkward in the episode where Buddy and company meet a friendly shark.
97* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Everyone is shocked when Buddy doesn't want to go on the train in "Surprise Party", since he usually loves riding the train.
98* OrphanedEtymology: Hadrosaurs are called "duck-billed dinosaurs" like they are in real life, despite the fact that ducks don't exist yet.
99** However, duck-like birds like ''Vegavis'' were originally present in the Mesozoic, which may explain this.
100** This actually applies to most of the species names used in the show, as they were given by humans using languages[[note]]assuming English is the only language spoken in the Dinosaur Train universe[[/note]] and concepts only present millions of years after the dinosaurs lived. Examples include ''Sinovenator'' (named after a country), ''Dreadnoughtus'' (named after a battleship), and ''Qantassaurus'' (named after an airline).
101* PaletteSwap: In "Dinosaurs A to Z", ''Hadrosaurus'' and ''Rhabdodon'' use the same model. Pity, then, that rhabdodontids have much larger, stronger snouts than hadrosaurs.
102* ParentalBonus:
103** The episodes featuring King ''Cryolophosaurus'' are chock full of references to Music/ElvisPresley. Also, Iggy ''Iguanodon'', who speaks with a British accent, is said to possess [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus silly walks]].
104** [[Music/TheGratefulDead The Grateful Dreadnoughts]], who have tye-dyed patterned scales and [[AddictionSong sing about eating greens]].
105* PatternCodedEggs:
106** This is usually averted; most prominently, the brightly-coloured ''Pteranodon'' siblings and Buddy hatch from plain beige and white eggs, respectively, in the opening.
107** However, this is also played straight a few times. For example, in "Valley of the Stygimolochs", Spikey's younger siblings hatch from yellow eggs with red speckles (similar to their kind's red horns); and in another episode, Olivia ''Oviraptor''[='=]s eggs are pink like she is.
108* PottyEmergency[=/=]PottyDance: Happens to Tiny in "Dinosaur Poop" a few times. She also experiences one at the end of the episode.
109-->'''Tiny:''' Uh oh. Mom, I gotta go potty.
110-->'''Mom:''' Okay honey, off you go to the restroom.
111-->(''Tiny gets out of her seat and bounces up and down on her way to the bathroom'')
112* PredatorsAreMean: Typically averted; most carnivorous dinosaurs they meet are just as warm and friendly as any of the other characters, although the occasional antagonistic character are almost always predators.
113* {{Pseudolympics}}: The Classic in the Jurassic Games arc is about three teams of reptiles, representing each period of the Mesozoic, competing in sporting events. There's a land race for theropods and turtles, a swimming race for crocodilians, an air race for pterosaurs, and staged wrestling matches between a carnivore and a herbivore.
114* RailEnthusiast: Nearly everyone on the show is enthusiastic about trains, especially the Dinosaur Train. In particular, Tiny, Buddy, and many of their friends are junior conductors-in-training, and they love learning about how trains work almost as much as they love meeting dinosaurs.
115-->''I can't explain, but I won't complain! I only know that I love trains!''
116* RaptorAttack: Averted by the ''Velociraptor'', ''Archaeopteryx'', ''Saurornitholestes'' and ''Microraptor''; the ''Troodon'', ''Utahraptor'', and ''Deinonychus'' really lack plumage, however. Strangely, the show's website actually says that ''Deinonychus'' was a feathered dinosaur and ''Utahraptor'' probably had feathers. Also averted with the northern ''Troodon'' from ''Dinosaurs in the Snow''.
117* RecordNeedleScratch: One can be heard in "Surprise Party" when Mr. Pteranodon says "Good thinking, team! This will be so great! Uh (coughs) hello, son."
118* RousseauWasRight: Buddy is an AllLovingHero who is nice to everyone, no matter who they are. Even to Keenan Chirostenotes and Remy Ramphorhynchus, who were jerks and bullies. The predator and prey get along fine, and the ever-boastful Thurston Troodon has a good heart deep down.
119* RunningGag:
120** The Conductor's mother and the doting way in which she treats her son, though sometimes embarrassing him.
121** Don's obsession with holes.
122** At least with all the songs that made it onto the "Dinosaur Jams" album, there's a running gag with every song sung by the Conductor. He says that something [[ThatRemindsMeOfASong reminds him of a song]], resulting in the Pteranodon kids/Buddy asking for him to sing it, only for him to insist that they couldn't possibly want to hear him sing. They beg for him to sing it and he immediately launches into song, with everyone else present soon joining in.
123* RunningOnAllFours: Most of the mammals usually stand on two legs to make them look more anthropomorphic, but walk on all fours.
124* SameLanguageDub: There's a UK dub that aired on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. It only aired for two seasons.
125* SharkTunnel: The Underwater Train Stations have see-through walls.
126* ShoutOut: Several come to mind:
127** The usage of "time tunnels" to travel through time might be a reference to the classic 60s TV show ''Series/TheTimeTunnel''.
128** Ned in the episode "Night Train" notes "dinosaurs come and go so quickly here," similar to Dorothy's remark about Munchkins in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
129** King ''Cryolophosaurus'' is just one big Elvis reference.
130** The title of "Remember the Alamosaurus" is a reference to the phrase "Remember the Alamo!" from after the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar, killing most of the Texians and Tejanos inside. However, the Alamosaurus was not named after the Alamo and was not found in Texas until after its naming.
131** In "Stargazing on the Night Train," Sidney says that there are "[[Creator/CarlSagan billions and billions]]" of stars.
132** In "Get Into Nature!" Don suggests calling the club "Literature/TheOutsiders."
133** The episode title "Dry Times At Pteranodon Terrace" is a reference to ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh''. It is also a ParentalBonus, since it is an R-rated movie.
134* ShownTheirWork:
135** Putting aside the fact that there are a few [[FeatherFingers anatomical brain-farts]] and the main cast is a bit [[AmbiguousSpecies cartoony]], let's just paraphrase a sentiment from the page quote: Maniraptors with feathers[[note]] Although the plumage of the ''Troodon'' and ''Deinonychus'' are still, shall we say, a bit wanting.[[/note]]. Heck, the fact that birds are a kind of dinosaur is a given in this series, so the show isn't making ornithologists cry either.
136** In "Dinosaur Block Party", all the animals that attend the party ([[AnachronismStew ironically aside from the main characters]] and Laura ''Giganotosaurus'') are known contemporaries (in fact, specifically representing the Dinosaur Park Formation) or at least from the same time range.
137* SlidingScaleOfAnimalCast: Has dinosaurs and other Mesozoic Era creatures. Although the show features a train, it takes place before humans existed, so the main episodes don't show any humans.
138* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Heavily idealistic. Buddy wants to be friends with every type of creature. The predator and prey get along perfectly fine, and the Conductor's rivalry with Thurston eventually gets resolved.
139* SpeakInUnison: The kids speak all at once ''all the time'' on the show.
140* SpeciesSurname: Almost everyone has the name of their genus as their surname, making paleontologists in the far future seem to have excellent {{Namedar}}.
141* SpellMyNameWithAThe: Played with - Don calls the Conductor "Mr. The Conductor" even though he never asked him to call him this and in return, he has taken to calling him "Mr. The Don."
142* StargazingScene: "Stargazing on the Night Train" features various scenes of the characters stargazing and looking at different constellations. At the end of the episode, Don finds a constellation that looks like him, which he calls a "Donstellation."
143* SteamNeverDies: The train is a green steam locomotive shaped like a ''Triceratops'' head. "Rocket Train" introduces a high-speed rocket train similar to modern locomotives, with computer technology that manages it. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on one's take), it is plagued with bugs and gets beat in a race by the Dinosaur Train.
144* SturdyAndSteadyTurtles: There are a few recurring turtle characters. They all talk slightly slower than the other characters and are proud of their shells. The trope is PlayedForLaughs in the "Classic in the Jurassic" arc, which includes a footrace between three fast theropods... and three turtles, who spend most of the race talking to each other.
145* StoryArc: Several, including "Dinosaurs A to Z", "Dinosaur Train Submarine", "Adventure Camp", "Classic in the Jurassic", "Zeppelin" and "What's at the Center of the Earth?". A common rule of thumb is that episodes that are part of an arc will be titled "Arc Title: Episode Subject". For example, "Zeppelin: Waterfall".
146* SurpriseParty
147** There's an episode called "Surprise Party." In it, Shiny, Tiny and Don throw a surprise party for Buddy on the Dinosaur Train and invite all of their best dinosaur friends to attend.
148** There's another one, "Rocket Train Surprise Party," in which the kids and the others on the Dinosaur Train hold one for the Conductor after the kids learn that it's his birthday and he hasn't had a birthday party since he was a kid.
149* TalkingAnimal: Basically everything with a brain aside from certain bony fish and insects.
150* TaxonomicTermConfusion: The characters say "species" when "genus" would be more appropriate.
151* TellHimImNotSpeakingToHim: In "Date Night," Don does this with the babysitter Keira, using Buddy as his messenger, until he finally warms up to her.
152* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: Female dinosaurs tend to have eyelashes, and occasionally makeup of sorts.
153* ThisIsMySide: Mr. ''Pteranodon'' does this in "New Neighbors" when the Lambeosaurs move in start eating all the leaves off the oak trees.
154-->'''Mr. Pteranodon''': See this line? Ha! Well, these are my trees. You cannot eat them. This side is Pteranodon Terrace! Okay?! Come on, kids.
155* ThoseMagnificentFlyingMachines: "Dinosaur Train: Zeppelin Adventure" is a two-part special featuring the latest innovation from Dinosaur Train Industries: a zeppelin. It doesn't seem to travel through time, but it can take the characters places that the train and the submarine can't. It comes complete with its own catchy theme tune.
156* ThreeMonthOldNewborn: Highly exaggerated in the opening sequence, which shows the Pteranodon family hatching exactly as they look on the show itself, with Tiny pointing out that there's one more egg and Buddy hatching and asking "[[InterspeciesAdoption What am I doing in a pteranodon nest?]]" the second he hatches. Of course, given that this is possibly simply for the purpose of the ExpositoryThemeTune, it may not be canon, but it's still jarring.
157* TimeParadox: Averted. Despite all the time-traveling, the characters never get out of sync with their own time and thus never meet past or future versions of themselves or return to their own time through a time tunnel that brings them back to a time before they had left. Also, the "present" Cretaceous era seems to be in lockstep with the "past" Triassic and Jurassic eras such that when the ''Pteranodon'' family visits a friend in the past, they are never brought to a point in the past that is before the time when they had met their friend. In the "Mom Was a Kid Once" episode, in regards to Tilly, Mom said "[she hasn't] aged one bit" and Tilly replied "Well, that's what the time travel train will do for ya".
158* TimeTravelersDinosaur: The series is about a train run by dinosaurs that time-travels throughout the Mesozoic via wormholes. The main characters have ventured into other eras twice: in the episode "Back in Time", they go to the Permian and meet a ''Dimetrodon''; and in the GrandFinale "Father's Day", [[spoiler:they go to the Pleistocene ice age]].
159* TurtleIsland: In one episode, they look for a ''Diplodocus''. Don finds a "hill" , Buddy rests on some "trees", Shiny meets a "snake" and Tiny finds a "bridge". After meeting, it doesn't take long to figure out the are all parts of a ''Diplodocus''.
160* TwoShorts: Each episode consists of two main stories, each followed by a live-action learning segment, with a clip montage and a song inbetween.
161* UnexplainedAccent: Averted; while the German accent of Arlene ''Archaeopteryx'' and the British accent of Iggy ''Iguanodon'' may seem random and incongruous in-universe, the accents make real-world sense when the corresponding "Dr. Scott the Paleontologist" segments explain that ''Archaeopteryx'' fossils were mostly found in Germany and ''Iguanodon'' fossils were first discovered in England.
162* UnnamedParent:
163** The names of the ''Pteranodon'' family's parents have never been revealed --- They are called "Mom" and "Dad" by their kids and "Mrs. ''Pteranodon''" and "Mr. ''Pteranodon''" by everybody else.
164** Also unnamed is the Conductor's Mother, whom characters simply call "Mrs. Conductor" or "the Conductor's Mother."
165* UnreliableIllustrator: The official website describes Deinonychus as having feathers on his body, but the show's artwork doesn't show any feathers on his body at all.
166* UnusualEuphemism: "Zeppelin: Crater" has both "holy herbivores!" and "leapin' lambeosaurs!"
167* VaguenessIsComing: It's implied that something really bad will happen if the dinosaurs ever miss the train back home, but just what is never said. However, "Trains, Submarines and Zeppelins" puts paid to this, showing you can always just wait for another train... or other vessel.
168* VehicleTitle: The title ''Dinosaur Train'' refers to the train the characters ride often.
169* VirtuousBees: In "Tiny Loves Flowers", Tiny learns about the important role bees play in pollination and the general natural life cycle.
170* WhaleEgg: In one episode, Mr. ''Pteranodon'', Tiny, Buddy, and Cindy ''Cimolestes'' met an amphibious mammal called ''Castorocauda''. Cindy (who's a stem-placental mammal) is so shocked to see baby ''Castorocauda''s hatch from eggs that she almost faints.
171* WorldTour: Season 1 has an arc where the ''Pteranodon'' family spend several nights on the Dinosaur Train as they travel to different continents and meet the dinosaurs who live there. (Their home is located in what is now the east of North America.)
172%% * YouCanSayThatAgain: Tiny in "Rocket Train."
173* YouMeanXmas: Dinosaurs celebrate Winter Solstice by decorating conifers with ribbons.
174* YouNeedABreathMint: In "T. Rex Teeth", Tiny whispers to Buddy that Dolores' breath smells awful. Buddy thinks it's because she ate carrion, and after he eats some and exhales in Tiny's face, she confesses that his breath smells too. Buddy even eats a mint leaf towards the end of the episode.

Top