Dino Ranch is a Canadian All-CGI Cartoon aimed at preschoolers that debuted in 2021 on CBC Kids and Disney Junior. Produced by Jam Filled Entertainment (The Loud House) and Industrial Brothers (Top Wing), the series was created by Matthew Fernandes, who has a long history of making cartoons for CBC Kids, including Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist, Remy & Boo, and Kingdom Force.
The show is set at the eponymous Dino Ranch, home to Bo and Jane Cassidy, as well as their three kids Jon, Min, and Miguel. Dino Ranch is pretty much your typical stretch of farmland, except you won't find any cows, horses, or chickens. Instead, the Cassidy family ranch keeps dinosaurs. But running a ranch full of dinosaurs is never easy, and every day provides new opportunities for both adventures and lessons, as Jon, Min, and Miguel (as well as their dinosaur companions Blitz, Clover, and Tango) work hard, play harder, and learn about family, unity and taking care of the dinosaurs they love.
A second season debuted in July 2022.
Tropes of the series
- All Flyers Are Birds: Dino Ranch's baby Pteranodon Pteddy acts as the farm's rooster, crowing at sunrise to wake everyone up. He even walks around on two legs like a bird rather than on all fours like real pterosaurs did.
- Artistic License – Paleontology:
- Blitz is supposed to be a Velociraptor, but besides lacking feathers other than on his head, he lacks the raised second toe with the killing claw and his head is much too short and rounded. These features make him look more like a generic carnivorous theropod instead.
- Clover is supposed to be a Brontosaurus, but his domed head, shorter tail, and more upright posture make him look more like a Brachiosaurus.
- The Triceratops in the show lack parrot-like beaks, with Tango lacking a keratinous beak altogether.
- The Spinosaurus are clearly outdated depictions based on Jurassic Park III.
- Pteddy and his mother Maggie are Pteranodons that lack the pycnofibres (fur-like covering) of real pterosaurs and walk on two legs instead of four like they would in real life. However, they're friendly and harmless creatures who help the family around the farm and correctly lack teeth.
- Badass Adorable: All three Cassidy siblings, and their respective dinosaur companions, are very young but are nonetheless just as brave and capable as their elders.
- Call-Back: In "Calling All Riders!", Clara tries to trap Jon with one of the flowers that, as she recalls, she found in "Lost Dinosaur".
- Catchphrase: Jon, Min, and Miguel frequently use "Dino Ranchers, go!"
- Cowboy: Naturally. The Cassidy family all dress and act the part, lassoing, herding, and riding dinosaurs around their ranch and the surrounding plains just like Wild West cowboys did with cattle and horses.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: The episode "Calling All Riders!" features a relay race between the Cassidys and the Tinhorns. During the first leg, Clara stops to set a trap for Jon. After she finishes and tells Ike to come up with a way to slow down Miguel, Ike points out it would slow him down as well but she doesn't care. During the race's third leg, Clara's other brother Oggy is leading but she insists that he stops to cause an avalanche to stop Min. Both Oggy and Min end up needing another route and the race ends with a tie.
- Domesticated Dinosaurs: Being a show about a ranch that has dinosaurs as farm animals, this is naturally in full force. The Cassidy family all ride dinosaur companions; large herbivorous dinosaurs like Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus fill the role of cows; there's a Triceratops that acts like a bull and a Pteranodon instead of a rooster; and Compsognathus run around the ranch just like chickens.
- Fantastic Livestock: The cartoon follows life on a ranch that has dinosaurs as farm animals. Large herbivorous dinosaurs like Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus fill the role of cows, there's a Triceratops that acts like a bull and a Pteranodon instead of a rooster, and Compsognathus run around the ranch like chickens.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Miguel often develops inventions to help the family around the farm.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Miguel, being Latino, often peppers his speech with Spanish words.
- Happily Adopted: Each of the three Cassidy children.
- Headbutting Pachy: Bopper is a baby Pachycephalosaurus who has a habit of using his species' famous thick skull to butt literally anything he comes across.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Cassidy family all ride dinosaurs. Jon rides a Velociraptor named Blitz; Min rides a young Brontosaurus named Clover; Miguel rides a young Triceratops named Tango; Jane rides a Parasaurolophus named Quack; and Bo rides the obligatory T. rex Biscuit.
- Narrator: Bo often narrates at certain points in the show, usually explaining something to the viewer or commentating on the events of the episode.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Min once disguised herself as a Stegosaurus trainer by putting on a fake mustache and wearing a black hat instead of her usual one. The Tinhorns fell for it.
- Raptor Attack: Blitz is a Velociraptor, and while he is much smaller than the human characters unlike the ones in Jurassic Park, he doesn't have feathers other than the ones on his head. However, he's also friendly and harmless rather than a vicious killer.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Pretty much all the baby dinosaurs on the show are incredibly adorable.
- Spinosaurus Versus T. rex: In "This Ranch Ain't Big Enough", Biscuit protects the kids from a Spinosaurus. When the Spinosaurus returns in need of medical help, the kids try to keep Biscuit from finding out so a new fight won't start. Biscuit finds the Spinosaurus but, understanding the situation, lets the Spinosaurus go without a new fight.
- Temper-Ceratops: Dino Ranch has a fully grown Triceratops named Angus who behaves a lot like a bull. He really doesn't like being disturbed (especially while sleeping) and will rampage about when angered. Fortunately, he can always be calmed down with his favorite treat, turnips.
