Posts Tagged 'dinosaurs'

You might be having a bad day today.  Maybe work has been rough lately, or maybe you don’t have a job at the moment and you’re trying to find one.  Maybe you’re worried about healthcare, or war, or social justice.  Whatever you’re afraid of, there’s one thing you don’t have to fear: dinosaurs.  Despite all the problems we face in 2010, dinosaur attacks are not one of them.  Why is that, you ask?  Because we have Superman, and Superman’s got the dinosaur problem covered.

Lois is in full-on His Girl Friday mood in this one, cute little hat and all.  The fact that Perry White sends her to the museum when he hears the dinosaur might be alive strikes me as a little shady.  There’s frequently this sense in Superman stories that everyone knows what kind of narrative this is, and what steps have to be taken for the story to move along.  Along the same lines, but even shadier, is the engineer who “accidentally” drops an oil can into the refrigeration machinery.  My personal theory is that this is the first animated appearance of Lex Luthor, who disguised himself as a refrigeration engineer to purposely unleash the dinosaur on Metropolis.  My favorite thing about this whole sequence is the thermometer which just says “Freezing/Melting/Danger” in lieu of actual numbers.

Also, that shot of the dinosaur’s eyes opening?  I love that.  Possibly the single best moment in a Fleischer Superman cartoon.  Certainly the creepiest.

This creature perfectly embodies the way dinosaurs were always portrayed in the first half of the 20th Century.  He’s not recognizable as any particular species.  He’s huge, flabby, lumbering, and seems deliberately destructive.  He also has a particular interest in eating people, as demonstrated when he gobbles up Lois, who then has to be fished out of his mouth!  Talk about cutting it a little close, Superman.

As wet and gross as Lois probably feels after that, she’s still presumably better off than the people whose houses are directly in front of the dam.  That just seems terribly ill-advised, even if dinosaur attacks weren’t a foreseeable risk.

On the obligatory Daily Planet front page at the dénouement, you can see that the monster has been put on display in the zoo.  Do you suppose that’s regarded as a permanent solution?  As frequently as supervillains attack Metropolis, is it really wise to keep a giant dinosaur around, just waiting to be let loose as a distraction while you go out and rob some banks?  In this pre-Endangered Species Act era, you’d think they’d just kill it.  But maybe Superman persuaded them not to- after all, he and the dinosaur are both the last of their kind.

Dear Mr. Lasseter,

As the head of animation for Disney/Pixar, I’m sure you know all about your parent company buying Marvel Comics.  You may have even known before it became public, although it’s also possible that the suits kept that to themselves until the last possible moment.

One of the effects of this acquisition, of course, is that Disney will have access to all of Marvel’s characters, to do with as they please.  In interviews, the Disney people have promised a hands-off  approach, but nobody who knows Disney thinks that sounds very likely.  Probably such claims are just to reassure the comic book fans, who fear change more than most.  So you and your people at Pixar must surely be taking a long look at all the diverse titles and characters Marvel owns, thinking about what would work well as a gorgeously realized CGI family film.

I have two words for you, Mr. Lasseter: Devil Dinosaur.  You’re obviously a lifelong geek, so it’s possible you’re already familiar with this particular masterwork, but I’ll explain just in case.  Devil Dinosaur is the creation of the greatest comic book artist of all time, Jack Kirby.  The title character is an intelligent, friendly tyrannosaurus rex who was permanently turned bright red by a fire.  A misfit amongst the other dinosaurs, he wanders the prehistoric countryside with his constant companion, Moon Boy, a fur-covered ancestor of humanity.  Together, they fight aliens.  Seriously.

Can you imagine a better Pixar movie than this?  Because I can’t.  A bright red dinosaur.  A talking monkey.  Aliens.  A story about an unlikely friendship (I know how much you like those).  I know there might be some concern that the dino-befriending-missing-link plotline is a little too similar to Disney’s Dinosaur.  That would be a horrible excuse not to make this movie, though, because nobody (and I mean nobody) saw Disney’s Dinosaur.  I know I didn’t.  Pixar’s Devil Dinosaur, on the other hand, I’d see five or six times.

If you’re still unsure, check out this post from comic book historian Chris Sims, in which he shares five panels that embody the greatness that is Devil Dinosaur.  “Bonk bonk bonk” indeed.

Sure, Marvel owns plenty of characters that are far more famous than DD and Moon Boy.  However, adapting a property that everyone is familiar with creates a whole new set of problems when it comes to expectations.  On the other hand, how can you go wrong adapting something nobody’s heard of, especially when it’s made of pure awesome?  Also, since I’m sure you’re already wondering, there is a crusty old caveman character who’ll be a perfect part for John Ratzenberger.  I know you already have the next three or four Pixar movies in preproduction, but just add this one to the queue.  There’s no hurry; unlike pirates and vampires, dinosaurs and aliens will never stop being cool.

Thank you for your time, sir.  I’m looking forward to Toy Story 3, despite my discomfort with a recasting of Slinky Dog.  But that’s an issue for another day.

Sincerely, Dustin