History WesternAnimation / Dinosaur

* DisneyVillainDeath: Played straight with one of the ''Carnotaurs'' (the one that's the BigBad, that is).

[[caption-width-right:300:''"It's your'' choice, ''not your fate."'']]

* DrivenToMadness: Throughout the film, the carnotaurs never attack the herd, instead following at a distance. They only eat animals that have died in the journey and were left behind, or kill those who wander away from the herd or lag behind. However, after [[spoiler:one of the carnotaurs dies in a cave-in]], the survivor is next seen actually attacking the entire herd, against which it would never stand a chance in a fight. Think about it: the two carnotaurs were never seen apart, and worked together despite all the hardships and trials they were going through. They appeared to really care about one another. The carnotaur that died in the cave-in was [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes the other one's mate, the only living thing left that it cared about.]] It attacks the whole herd knowing it can't win. When it sees Kron, the herd's leader, on his own, it charges him up the perilous cliff, and when Aladar and Neera attack it and force it off the cliff face, it [[DeathSeeker doesn't try to save itself,]] [[TakingYouWithMe it tries to drag Aladar down with it]].

* HateSink: Kron, though he's not wholly unsympathetic.

* {{ArtisticLicensePalaeontology}}:

* ArtisticLicensePalaeontology:

''Dinosaur'' is the 39th entry in the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney Animated Canon]], released in 2000. It is an extremely unique case for the canon, particularly for the time period it was released in, as it is a hybrid of live-action photography for its settings, and CGI animation for its characters, special effects, and whatnot.

* RedShirt: When Bruton is ordered to patrol the lake bed for signs of water, he takes a scout ''Iguanodon'' with him. The scout doesn't return.

* PteroSoarer: Maybe this has been the ''only'' real aversion in Fictionland.

* PluckyComicRelief: Zini.

* TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. Since it's a dinosaur movie, we ''do'' get the obligatory meteor strike to kick off the plot, but it's not the big one - its damage appears to be confined to a relatively small area, and the dinosaurs manage to survive by migrating ''en masse'' to the nearest fertile area.

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Url the ''Ankylosaurus''

* AnachronismStew: And among the main characters, ''Iguanodon'' was from the Early Cretaceous, ''Brachiosaurus'' was from the Late Jurassic (ScienceMarchesOn, though, via ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauroposeidon Sauroposeidon]]''), ''Styracosaurus'' was from the Late Cretaceous, and lemurs did not evolve until the Paleogene (and the characters' designs are based on modern lemurs).

* AnimalsNotToScale: Crossed with RuleOfScary. In real life, ''Carnotaurus'' was about the same size as the average ''Iguanodon'' (if not in fact slightly ''smaller''). They're scaled up to the size of a ''T. rex'' in the film so as to appear more threatening. Averted nicely with the ''Velociraptor''s, though, which are appropriately small.

** Kron and Bruton are supposed to be ''Iguanodon'', but possess prominent bony nasal crests that more closely resemble ''Muttaburrasaurus'', or even Gideon Mantell's inaccurate ''Iguanodon'' that placed the thumb spike as a rhino-like nose horn.

** The lizard-like ''Longisquama'' is portrayed not just as a glider, but as ''an active flyer that flew by flapping its sails''. The gliding hypothesis was discredited long since, with the tall spines now believed to be used for display and arranged in a single row, much like a ''Dimetrodon's'' sail instead of two "wings".

* BigFriendlyDog: Url isn't a dog,but behaves like one enough for this trope to apply.

* InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy: None of the ''Iguanodons'' opt to use their actual thumb spikes. Kron slightly uses his in his fight with Aladar, and only [[PaperCutting nicks him]] (with a slash no less). When he does go in for the kill, [[spoiler:Neera]] tackles him. Trying to fight a ''Carnotaur'' is done via tail whipping and tackling rather then stabbing it in the neck. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that in order to get close enough to stab the carnotaurs in the neck, they would have to have their heads right in the range of the carnotaur's hungry jaws. Also, an ''Iguanodon's'' thumb spike is not nearly long enough to actually kill a theropod the size of the film's carnotaurs. A tail-smack is far less risky and may actually be able to knock a carnotaur over long enough to escape.

* ArtisticLicensePalaeontology: The ''Iguanodon'' beaks were covered in fleshy lips in order to animate the animals' speech better, though they can still be seen underneath at times. No ornithopod dinosaur known to science had facial features like this. It's particularly ridiculous given that Eema, a ''Styracosaurus'', clearly has an accurate lipless beak, but her speech and mouth-syncing to her dialogue, as well as her capacity to emote, is not hampered in any way.

** While the ''Iguanodon'' are correctly depicted as quadrupedal, they are depicted as galloping when they should be running on their hindlimbs. Meanwhile, the adult ''Parasaurolophus'' are depicted as bipedal, which gets jarring in that the juveniles are correctly depicted as quadrupeds.

** While the ''Iguanodon'' are correctly depicted as quadrupedal, they are depicted as galloping. Real ''Iguanodon'' ran on their hindlimbs. Meanwhile, the adult ''Parasaurolophus'' are depicted as bipedal, which gets jarring in that the juveniles are correctly depicted as quadrupeds.

** The lizard-like ''Longisquama'' is portrayed not just as a glider, but as ''an active flyer that flew by flapping its sails''. The gliding hypothesis was discredited long since, with the tall spines now belived to be used for display and arranged in a single row, much like a ''Dimetrodon's'' sail instead of two "wings".

** The ''Oviraptor'' are portrayed as egg-thieves, much like what their name implies. However, this in fact is a misnomer: the first ''Oviraptor'' fossil described was thought to be raiding a ''Protoceratops'' nest, and its beak was even believed to be designed for cracking eggshells. However, after it was discovered that the eggs actually contained ''Oviraptor'' embryos, it became evident that the ''Oviraptor'' was ''actually brooding its own nest'', and that the beak was more suited for an omnivorous diet consisting of plants, hard-shelled invertebrates and small animals. Though it is possible they did eat eggs from time to time, it likely wasn’t their main food source.

* EverythingMakesAMushroom: The meteor strike in the first act of the film goes off like a nuclear blast, even accompanied by a blinding flash. There is a [[ArtisticLicenseGeology notable lack of tsunami waves]], with a firey blastwave incinerating the island instead as if the meteor detonated above the ocean. However, volcanic activity still springs forth from ground zero.

* OutrunTheExplosion: Aladar and the lemurs are forced to do this to escape the nuke-like meteor explosion.

* StockDinosaurs: Partially averted. The classic [[Trivia/StockDinosaurs Four Dino Band]] T. rex, 'Brontosaurus', ''Stegosaurus'' and ''Triceratops'' is absent. We have instead four relatives: T.rex-looking ''Carnotaurus'', brachiosaur Baylene, a small-sized ''Ankylosaurus'' and ''Styracosaurus'' Eema, and nameless ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', which are smaller ceratopsians with a weird swollen nose instead of horns. We also have several dinos and other prehistoric critters that are uncommon in movies; and finally, ''Iguanodons'' as main characters is a novelty. And most of the dinosaurs are accurate-looking confronted with many other popular dino-films. Even ''Pteranodon'' is another case of aversion, since it was the poorly-known ''Pteranodon steinbergi'' instead of the iconic ''Pteranodon longiceps''.

The hero is Aladar, an ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanodon_bernissartensis Iguanodon]]''. His egg was separated from his family through a very convoluted turn of events, and made its way to an island. There, he was found by a family of lemurs, who adopt him when he is born (although the patriarch lemur opposes initially). Time passes offscreen and afterwards we see the adult Aladar living care-free with the primates in the island.

* AnyoneCanDie: Almost the entire lemur clan, several generic herd members (including the entire species of ''Brachiosaurus'', except Baylene), [[spoiler: Bruton, Kron, and the ''Carnotaurs''.]]

* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiQ_0TUDCxc Can Somebody Tell Me Who I Am]] by Orange Blue. Although included on the soundtrack album in Germany, the film itself (unusually for Disney) has no songs at all.

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: The reason why Bruton becomes loyal to Aladar and his family, and [[spoiler: sacrifices his life to save them]].

* BookEnds: The beginning and end of the movie mirror each other in the arrangement of the nest, the view from inside the broken eggshell, and [[spoiler: Yar's UrineTrouble problems with baby iguanodons.]]

* InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy: None of the ''Iguanodons'' opt to use their actual thumb spikes. Kron slightly uses his in his fight with Aladar, and only [[PaperCutting nicks him]] (with a slash no less). When he does go in for the kill, [[spoiler: Neera]] tackles him. Trying to fight a ''Carnotaur'' is done via tail whipping and tackling rather then stabbing it in the neck. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that in order to get close enough to stab the carnotaurs in the neck, they would have to have their heads right in the range of the carnotaur's hungry jaws. Also, an ''Iguanodon's'' thumb spike is not nearly long enough to actually kill a theropod the size of the film's carnotaurs. A tail-smack is far less risky and may actually be able to knock a carnotaur over long enough to escape.
* {{Jerkass}}: While played ''quite'' straight with the despicable Kron, in Bruton's case it's played with. While Kron is ruthless and domineering, Bruton tends to think and be more flexible. He even tries to appeal to Kron's better nature at times. But after [[spoiler: his death]] Kron is not swayed by anything except a shove from his own sister. After he tries to kill Aladar ''just for being right when he was wrong''. Yeesh.

* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler: When Neera tries to defend her mortally injured brother from the Carnotaur, the monster, which is at least twice her size and berserk with rage and hunger, easily bats her aside, pins her to the floor and is about seconds from delivering a killing blow when Aladar intervenes]].

* FurryConfusion: In a movie where none of the characters are (strictly speaking) anthropomorphic. Aside from the meat-eaters, there's the strange case of Url, a little ankylosaur who doesn't talk, sticks his tongue out and pants and drools, and who carries a stick in his mouth everywhere.

* SocialOrnithopod: The ''Iguanodons''and ''Parasaurolophuses'' are shown to be social dinosaurs that are always moving in groups with each other.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Suri.

* ThirstyDesert: All the dinosaurs are forced to move across a large desert to reach a watering hole, and by extension, the Nesting Grounds. For the next few days, all of them have to walk across the sand for hours in the sweltering heat. This walk takes such a toll on their wellness, Neera directly acknowledges most of the herd would die without drinking water to replenish their thirst.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: Besides the lemurs, there's also ''Pachyrhinosaurus'', ''Stygimoloch'', ''Microceratus'', ''Oviraptor'', ''Geosternbergia'', ''Longisquama'', ''Talarurus'', ''Koolasuchus'', and ''Ichthyornis''. ''Carnotaurus'' was made stock because of this movie, as it was this prior to the film's release.