The Christmas Dinosaur - My favourite Christmas special
They told me I can’t get a puppy for Christmas, so I got myself a dinosaur
Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there. I was just decorating The Fort for the holidays. I could take a break to watch The Christmas Dinosaur, though. It’s a Christmas special produced by Porchlight Entertainment and animated by Escotoonz Entertainment. It came out in 2005 and seems to have been shown on Cartoon Network once. Other than that, there’s not much information on it, so let me educate you.
Before we start, I would like to point out that the original English dub uses a slur for disabled people as an insult. This happens at the beginning and is repeated 3 times within a few seconds. As a disabled person, I don’t support it. I wasn’t aware of it until I watched it in English, as the dub I have always watched doesn’t use that word. If you watch the movie, please be aware of this.
Synopsis
It’s Christmastime and Jason has just gotten a gift in the mail. He is hoping that its the robosaurus toy which he’s been wanting. Despite his parents’ disapproval, he sneakily opens it before Christmas day and finds out that he’s gotten a petrified pterosaur egg. Initially, he’s disappointed. However, when the egg hatches, him and his little brother Tommy have to keep their new dinosaur friend Spot hidden from everyone else.
This cartoon screams “cosy” from the opening sequence. There’s a bunch of snow, Christmas decorations, and a t-rex made out of snow. As a kid who loved dinosaurs, I felt seen, safe, and seated.
The dinosaur-nerd vibes continue in nearly every aspect of this movie. As a kid, I desperately wanted Jason’s room. As you can see below, it’s full of dino-themed decor. Early in the movie, we can see that he also owns a dino-notepad! The creators really said: “You want dinosaurs? Have them all!”
Since that room is upstairs and I can’t walk on my own, there would be a few problems, but it would have been WORTH IT.
One adorable aspect of this movie is the dinosaur himself – Spot. He’s basically a prehistoric puppy. As soon as he hatches, he recognises Jason and Tommy as his family and pecks them on the foreheads. While it was painful, it was also precious. Even when he was telling the boys that he’s hungry, he was cute! According to the Christmas Specials Wiki, Spot was voiced by Mike Rodriguez. Just like everything else tied to this movie, I cannot confirm that, nor see what their other projects were. They did a great job with Spot though!
The little pterodactyl is also very smart! Within hours after he hatched he learned to do tricks. Throughout the movie, he is shown to understand everything the boys tell him. I know it’s unrealistic, but it just adds to his overall adorableness. Also, this is a movie about a dinosaur being adopted by human kids during the holidays. Who cares about realism?
The sibling dynamic in The Christmas Dinosaur reminds me of my sister and I’s dynamic when we were kids. We used to always argue, but with time, we developed a really nice bond. Jason and Tommy argue a lot at the start of the movie, but by the end, they are a little duo. All because of this little dinosaur. They had to keep him a secret from everyone else, take care of him, and it brought them closer together. It really warms my heart every time I watch this movie and is by far my favourite part of it.
I simply adore the artstyle. Even though the backgrounds can look like typical Flash animation, somehow they also manage to be cosy as heck. The characters all look very comic-like. Very simple, though there is a certain charm to them. They seem very 2000s. I don’t exactly know how to explain it.
Overall, I think this is a nice, easy watch during December. It is silly, it has a heartwarming story between two siblings who grow to appreciate each other, as well as a cute dinosaur! Obviously, the slur should not have been used. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any major discourse about said slur until recently. There certainly wasn’t any in 2005.
Thanks for staying In The Pillow Fort to yap about this underrated special! Let me know what your favourite holiday movies are. I would love to add some new entries to my list of December watches! Until next time, happy holidays!
Dorian
The blog’s header and the drawing featured atop this post were made by @ambybun on Instagram
The DVD cover featured on the drawing was made by me