This is really rather strange and almost bizarre at points, even moody and super serious often, but sweet and very well acted from all involved, it's about a bit of a sensitive and awkward young boy who has a hard time making friends and fitting in at school, and who has a very loving mother who is pregnant and still working and a nice stepdad who devotes a lot of time to his art projects and possibly needs to mature himself a little, and in the midst of his somewhat turbulent family life and the mean kids at his new school the boy's only 'real' friend is a talking stuffed t-rex doll that loves to sing Elvis songs! This is really well made, I love the sweet mum and how she babies her son a little bit and how he had a bit of a strained relationship with his stepdad but they get a little closer by the end, it felt very true to life, not the dinosaur teddy of course but it was almost like you were in the kid's shoes and how he was seeing the world, the uncertainty of a troubled family life and worries about school and such as bothers us when we're young and 'carefree'. I wondered if Dog the cheeky dinosaur was a figment of his imagination to help him deal with his life and worries because it vaguely suggests that several at times, and he does start to break away from his Dino buddy and leave him at home to take care of his mum as he starts hanging out with a real friend at school and things are a little better all around by the end. I just thought of this today and watched it for the first time in a good twenty five years at least, so it made me feel very nostalgic and think about myself at that age. I had no idea it was an episode of a short lived Jim Henson show, whenever I did see it I saw it as its own standalone little movie, I watched it often as a kid, it was on a tape. Lovely, I love the parents and the kid, and they feel like a real family, and how the problems always seem so big at the time but usually it all sorts itself out by the end with a little help from our friends and family.. Very emotionally satisfying and honest and pretty wonderful for what it is, I may not have watched it in a very long time indeed but it still holds up and definitely has a special place in my heart X.
5 Reviews
Nostalgia to hit you right in the "feels"
mylesrolandbartholomew21 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
I haven't watched this since I was a kid. My dad taped it from the television in the early 90s, as he often did whenever he noticed there was anything dinosaur related. It's safe to say that this particular tale was very different to the animated creature features that I was particularly fond of as a child, but it struck a chord with me, even as a very young boy.
It is an odd sensation, watching it back as a man in his 30s. I tried watching it without being influenced by nostalgia, to give it a fresh perspective and these are my thoughts:
Although the production quality and setting has not aged particularly well, I think the general ideas and depictions of life in Britain are oddly poignant for today's world. I also think that, although made for a child audience, there are some particularly adult themes that give this lasting merit. Themes of growing up, loneliness, class-divide and navigations of family dynamics.
The sombre tone is odd at times, but it helps to deliver the emotional weight of the story's subtexts. Watching this back; I wonder how much of this impacted me as a child-viewer and how much I understood at the time (it might explain a lot of psychological complexities I've carried with me through life!).
I found the boy's ichthyophobia interesting and possibly could have been explored more, though his dad's explanation of "Dom also told me that the problem with fish is me painting fish, but I think he means the problem is Dad." probably rings true here. It is made clear through the story that Dom projects a lot of his thoughts and feelings into the world around him, the most obvious being his stuffed dinosaur, Dog. Even the similarities between the names Dom and Dog allude to this. As Dom begins to come to terms with his life issues, he leans on the emotional support of his stuffed toy less and less, which is made especially clear towards the end of the film. Dom and Dog have a fight, with Dog expressing intrusive and negative thoughts back at Dom, echoing all his worries and fears back at him, leaving Dom to angrily denounce these towards his stuffed friend, causing the dinosaur to become limp and lifeless, a normal plushie toy. We see that things at home have begun to become a lot more positive, Dom's confidence with friends and school has grown and his relationship with his stepfather have greatly improved. This causes Dom to leave Dog at home with his mum, entrusting him to look after her and "the bump" while he gets on with his new-found lease of life.
In amongst the downbeat tone and atmosphere of the production, there is a sweet coming of age tale that is worth your time. I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching this as a man and wonder how much of this influenced my own experiences of growing up.
It is an odd sensation, watching it back as a man in his 30s. I tried watching it without being influenced by nostalgia, to give it a fresh perspective and these are my thoughts:
Although the production quality and setting has not aged particularly well, I think the general ideas and depictions of life in Britain are oddly poignant for today's world. I also think that, although made for a child audience, there are some particularly adult themes that give this lasting merit. Themes of growing up, loneliness, class-divide and navigations of family dynamics.
The sombre tone is odd at times, but it helps to deliver the emotional weight of the story's subtexts. Watching this back; I wonder how much of this impacted me as a child-viewer and how much I understood at the time (it might explain a lot of psychological complexities I've carried with me through life!).
I found the boy's ichthyophobia interesting and possibly could have been explored more, though his dad's explanation of "Dom also told me that the problem with fish is me painting fish, but I think he means the problem is Dad." probably rings true here. It is made clear through the story that Dom projects a lot of his thoughts and feelings into the world around him, the most obvious being his stuffed dinosaur, Dog. Even the similarities between the names Dom and Dog allude to this. As Dom begins to come to terms with his life issues, he leans on the emotional support of his stuffed toy less and less, which is made especially clear towards the end of the film. Dom and Dog have a fight, with Dog expressing intrusive and negative thoughts back at Dom, echoing all his worries and fears back at him, leaving Dom to angrily denounce these towards his stuffed friend, causing the dinosaur to become limp and lifeless, a normal plushie toy. We see that things at home have begun to become a lot more positive, Dom's confidence with friends and school has grown and his relationship with his stepfather have greatly improved. This causes Dom to leave Dog at home with his mum, entrusting him to look after her and "the bump" while he gets on with his new-found lease of life.
In amongst the downbeat tone and atmosphere of the production, there is a sweet coming of age tale that is worth your time. I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching this as a man and wonder how much of this influenced my own experiences of growing up.
Omg I found it!
lat29720 March 2022
I've been trying to rediscover this for over a decade and no matter how I Google it always draws a blank... then today with my wife and kids we were randomly listening to Elvis and "Love me Tender" came on, and I had the biggest flashback of the dinosaur Dog singing it to Bump.
And then 5 minutes of googling and here I am.
This movie really marked me when I was 10, and now my quest is to find it once more...
And then 5 minutes of googling and here I am.
This movie really marked me when I was 10, and now my quest is to find it once more...
it's 45 min movie about a talking, green backpack dinosaur
mattrabbit170427 March 2017
I have a friend, Viki, who has her nostalgia glasses on when she watches and thinks about this movie. She grew up with it and loves it. She wasn't like the rest of us who grew up on real movies like Goonies, An American Tail, The Land Before time and so on. So in reality, this is a movie about a talking backpack, who is plotting the downfall of his owner. We all have to undergo the suspension of disbelief when we watch movies, but a walking and talking green backpack dinosaur is to much. And worst of all, this came from Jim Henson studios, who made some of the greatest muppets ever. This puppet must have com from their trash.
Don't waist your time.
Don't waist your time.
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