Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island is a 2021 feature film based on the PBS Kids series Dinosaur Train by Craig Bartlett. It is the longest Dinosaur Train movie to date, at 85 minutes, and the first proper movie, all of the show's other specials are just episodes stitched together to fit an hour-long runtime.
The Pteranodon family takes the Dinosaur Train to Adventure Island, a new theme park on a volcanic island! The Conductor's archrival Thurston is in charge: he proudly shows off the park's amazing robot dinosaurs! When an earthquake causes the pressure to get too high, the malfunctioning robots go rogue. It's up to Buddy and his siblings to navigate across the island and reunite with their parents.
The movie is a co-production between Universal Studios and The Jim Henson Company. All of the original voice cast reprise their roles. It premiered on television on April 12, 2021.
Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island contains examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: Lampshaded by Thurston, when he laments that he never learns to be nice and not overconfident.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The robot dinosaurs go rogue thanks to an earthquake at the amusement park. They go against their programming and don't behave as their species should. For example, the mastodonsaurus robot tries to swim on land.
- Amusement Park: Adventure Island is a theme park filled with robotic dinosaurs.
- Anachronism Stew: The biggest example in the franchise. Thurston creates robots for his theme park, in the age of dinosaurs.
- Animal Mecha: Adventure Island's main feature is robotic dinosaurs that one can ride on, so that anyone can be any dinosaur.
- Animated Musical: In true Dinosaur Train fashion, the movie is a musical, containing several original songs performed by the characters.
- Animation Bump: Since the film has a higher budget, the colors are brighter and more vivid, and more detail is put on the characters.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When Tricia shows Thurston that the robots are malfunctioning, he doesn't bat an eye at the flyers trying to swim or the swimmers trying to fly, but what puts him over the edge is a carnivore trying to eat kale salad.
- Bad Vibrations: When the first signs of the earthquake appear, it is demonstrated using the fake fireflies in the slow moonlight ride, and then everything else. Also, when the earthquake is about to affect the kids, who are on a waterfall ride, a small ripple is shown in the water first before everything else happens.
- Break the Haughty: Thurston is absolutely broken when he comes to realize how mean and egocentric he was being, and that it caused the downfall of Adventure Island. He bursts into tears after apologizing to Mr. Conductor, who offers him a Cooldown Hug.
- Chekhov's Skill: On the way to Adventure Island, Thurston shows the kids how to do the mambo dance. Later on, the kids recognize the dance that the robot dinosaurs are doing as the mambo, which they use to get past the dinosaurs.
- Cooldown Hug: Mr. Conductor gives one to Thurston after he breaks down crying.
- Dark Reprise: After Thurston disses the Dinosaur Train due to it being 'outdated', Mr. Conductor sings a sad reprise of "All Aboard the Dinosaur Train" as he heads back home on the train.
- Foreshadowing: At the start of the film, Buddy asks Thurston what would happen if an earthquake were to occur on Adventure Island. Thurston brushes off the idea. Sure enough, an earthquake does happen.
- Finale Movie: Serves as the Grand Finale for the Dinosaur Train TV series. Unlike previous specials, this one ups the ante in production and flair by being a Big Damn Movie instead of a 60 minute special.
- Free-Range Children: The kids really want to go on the rides by themselves. Their parents let them after proving that they're mature enough.
- Gagging on Your Words: When Thurston is humbled, he struggles to apologize to Mr. Conductor for saying mean things about the Dinosaur Train.
- HA HA HA—No: This is Thurston's reaction to the Conductor's question as to whether or not he tested everything before actually opening Adventure Island to the public. "After all, it is Adventure Island." Naturally, this does not end well.
- Humble Pie: Thurston gets served a slice of this. His haughty behavior is met with humiliation as he gets lost and stuck on top of a tree.
- It's All About Me: Thurston's ego is boosted up to 11 in this movie. He is extremely boastful about his theme park, and acts like only he did everything.
- It's All My Fault: In an extremely rare Heroic Self-Deprecation moment for such an optimist like Buddy, he blames himself wanting to grow up too fast for the kids getting separated from their parents. The kids cheer him up with a reprise of "I'm A T-Rex".
- Jurassic Farce: The movie is a huge reference to Jurassic Park. Both involve dinosaur theme parks that go wrong.
- Mechanical Animals: A key plot point is the giant robotic dinosaurs at the titular theme park, which anyone can ride on to see what being a different dinosaur is like.
- Never My Fault: When Thurston sees the robots malfunctioning, he denies that it's his fault and tries to blame someone else.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When the robots go rogue, they gain glowing red eyes.
- Sand In My Eyes: After the kids leave, Mr. Pteranodon expresses pride at them growing up, then says he has something in his eye.
- Save the Villain: Thurston is trapped on the top of a tree in the midst of robot dinosaurs doing the cha-cha. Thank God Buddy and co. are All-Loving Heroes. They rescue Thurston by doing the cha-cha as well.
- Steam Never Dies: In the end, the Dinosaur Train reigns supreme, even though it's outdated.
- Tempting Fate: When Tricia Troodon expresses concern to Thurston about the steam pressure getting too high due to the earthquakes, Thurston brushes it off, claiming that the robots won't malfunction. Immediately after that, we get a view of the pipes under the park leaking steam, causing the robots to malfunction indeed.
- Triumphant Reprise: Tiny, Shiny, and Don sing the song "I'm A T-Rex" from one of the show's very first episodes, "I'm A T-Rex", where Buddy finds out that he's a tyrannosaurus rex.
