Ernie Fitzpatrick, his sister Julia and his best friend Max Santiago accidentally activate Max's father's time machine and are transported back to the days of dinosaurs, landing in the nest of a mother Tyrannosaurus named Tyra who adopts them.
Dino Time provides examples of:
- Alien Hair: Sarco has a bizarre head full of tendrils that look like dreadlocks but move independently.
- Ambiguous Gender: The baby T. rex's gender is never made clear.
- Animal Talk: Or rather, Dino Talk.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Julia, who is trying to bust Ernie.
- Artistic License – Paleontology:
- Zig-zagged. Tyra is based on the classic perception of the T. rex, but the baby has feathers (whether or not this is an inaccuracy is still up for debate).
- There's also the main antagonists Sarco and Surly who are Sarcosuchus which are classed as a type of dinosaur. In reality, Sarcosuchus was a large crocodylomorph (not part of the extant crocodilian lineage) that lived in Early Cretaceous Africa & South America, not in Late Cretaceous North America. With that in mind, it would naturally be found near rivers and lakes and not in volcanic, tar-abundant caverns. Then there's their appearance, which...oh, boy. While Surly more or less resembles a giant, overweight crocodile, albeit with Longisquama-like integument on his head, back, and tail tip, Sarco is a whole different story; he looks more like some sort of fantasy dragon with a more sleek, mammalian build, along with saber teeth, beefy front limbs, spikes, a giant sailfish-like sail running down his back and Medusa hair (yes, really), all features that his brother lacks.
- There's also pterosaurs with talon-like feet (and being referred as pterodactyls) and armadillo-like animals despite them not evolving in the Cretaceous Period.
- Awe-Inspiring Dinosaur Shot: A rather unorthodox example as not only does this take place midway in the film, but also shortly after the main trio has met and interacted with the Tyrannosaurus, Tyra. The trio come across a watering hole where several groups of dinosaurs including Alamosaurus, Triceratops, Parasaurolophus and Sauropelta are gathered around for a drink.
- Bloodless Carnage: During Tyra's fight with Sarco, not a single drop of blood is shown despite the two combatants clearly biting one another several times. Sarco's saber teeth even bend, as if they were made of rubber, just to ensure there isn't a drop of blood.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Ernie talks directly to the audience several times in the first quarter of the movie.
- Cartoon Creature: Dodger isn't based on any real species.
- Chekhov's Gun: At one point, Julia uses the flash on her camera phone to temporarily blind one of the Sarco brothers.
- Chekhov's Skill: Ernie's skateboarding skills. Averted with Julia's soccer skills, which serve no purpose.
- The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes/Informed Ability: Despite receiving a Mother of the Year award, Sue is unable to keep Ernie under control.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Happens to the fat museum guard when his pants are ripped off by a dinosaur bone. He is left in pink boxer shorts with lips symbols, to which one of the dinosaurs whistles sarcastically.
- Convection, Schmonvection: None of the characters are affected by the intense heat of the lava falls in the Sarco brothers lair.
- Disney Death: Tyra, almost towards the ending (but not before Sue and Dr. Santiago arrive just in time to reunite with the respective kids, and Tyra, luckily still alive, gets up to defeat Sarco).
- Dub Name Change: In the Italian dub, Ernie's name is Dino.
- Foreshadowing: There are skeletons of Dodger, Morris, Horace, Borace and one of the Sarco brothers in the museum.
- Why only one of the Sarco brothers? Because the other one fell in lava.
- Feathered Fiend: Morris, Horace, and Borace resemble some sort of man-sized, flightless Cretaceous bird, as they still have teeth but not theropod-like arms, instead sporting Feather Fingers.
- Forgotten Framing Device: Ernie breaks the fourth wall when providing narration at the beginning of the movie, but after the third time, about 20 minutes in, he never does it again.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Ernie gets this from Julia when she catches him skateboarding when he's supposed to be watching the store.
- Gasshole: Borace is constantly burping and farting. Sue also lets out a huge burp after downing several cans of soda.
- Gratuitous English: Two signs on the door to Dr. Santiago's lab. One has misspelled and grammatically incorrect safety warnings, while the other just has random English phrases.
- Hartman Hips: Sue has these.
- I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Sue gets hooked on soda after trying it for the first time.
- Informed Species: The Sarco Brothers barely resemble real life Sarcosuchus. Sarco, in particular, doesn't resemble any sort of real reptiles (alive or extinct) period, looking more like some sort of fantasy dragon with saber teeth, Medusa hair, and a fish-like sail on his back.
- Intellectual Animal: Dodger can parrot English and is able to memorize what to carve in Mystery Rock from what Ernie drew in the dirt.
- Interspecies Adoption: Tyra has adopted a number of dinosaurs of different species, including Dodger. Also, temporarily, Ernie, Julia and Max.
- Look Behind You: Max distracts two bullies by pointing and saying "Look, something shiny!"
- Lucky Seven: Julia has the number seven on her soccer uniform.
- Mama Bear: Both Tyra and Sue.
- Market-Based Title: Was retitled Back to the Jurassic for its 2015 U.S. release to cash in on the hype of Jurassic World and the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future.
- Maybe Ever After: There are no clear hints that Sue and Dr. Santiago ever become more than friends.
- Mr. Exposition: Ernie, early in the movie. He tells the audience about his town, Mystery Rock, his mother’s expectations, and his best friend.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: Although they barely resemble crocodiles, Sarco and Surly are still giant prehistoric crocs that are feared by all for a very good reason.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ernie finds the missing piece of the time machine, but decides to pocket it so they can stay longer, and he ends up losing it.
- No Name Given: The baby T. rex is never named.
- Odd Name Out: Borace to Morris and Horace.
- Parental Abandonment: Disappeared Dad on the Fitzpatrick side, Missing Mom on the Santiago side. Neither is explained.
- The baby T. rex likewise has no father to be seen.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Julia plays soccer and keeps her uniform on through the whole movie.
- Prehistoric Monster: Sarco and Surly are Sarcosuchus with exaggerated features to make them look more monstrous. These features include large muscles, jagged spines, and extra long teeth.
- Predators Are Mean: Subverted with Tyra who, despite being a Tyrannosaurus, is actually very friendly and mother like to the protagonists and to many of the others dinosaurs in the valley. Although it's still implied she eats meat, though. However, it's played straight with the Sarco brothers Sarco and Surly who want to overthrow Tyra and eat all the dinosaurs in the valley.
- Stock Sound Effect: The Daspletosaurus/Carcharodontosaur roars from Dinosaur Planet are used for Tyra.
- The Stool Pigeon: Julia jumps at every opportunity to tattle on Ernie.
- Terrible Trio: Morris, Horace and Borace.
- Time Traveler's Dinosaur: Ernie Fitzpatrick, his sister Julia and his best friend Max Santiago accidentally activate Max's father's time machine and are transported back to the days of dinosaurs, which naturally has numerous dinosaurs appear.
- Translation Convention: When the dinosaurs talk to each other.
- Toilet Humour: See Gasshole above.
- Tomboyish Ponytail: Julia wears one to the side.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Max and Julia to Ernie after they find out he found the missing time machine part and didn't tell them right away.
- Write Back to the Future: Ernie plans to make a carving on a rock to let their parents know how to get the time machine to work, but then he's distracted by Julia getting kidnapped, yet the carving is still there in the future. It turns out Dodger made the carving.
- You Are Grounded!: Sue grounds Ernie for three weeks after he disobeys her order to watch her store and sneaks into a restricted area at the museum, resulting in property damage.
