 | | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted May 15, 2002 by Ellen
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 | | Did anyone happen to see the Dinotopia series? I watched the beginning of it, and was very disappointed. It was so different from the book. They started with a plane crash instead of a shipwreck, and they had the father die at the beginning. They had some mild swearing, which I thought was out of place in a show aimed so much at kids. Plus they turned it into a kind of Jurassic Park lite, with T-Rexs running all over the place. The book was charming and thoughtful and whimsical. I thought the movie version failed to capture that. Which is really too bad, because they had done a good job with costumes, set design, and dinosaur animation. *Shakes head* Maybe I didn't watch enough to give it a fair chance.
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 4, 2002 by Simon the Silly Sausage (Gone AWOL from h2g2)
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 | | Hello you,
Thought I'd pop over to your space as your were kind enough to leave a palindrome on mine 
I didn't actually realise Dinotopia was based on a book. But like most book adaptations, the films rarely live up to expectations.
In the UK they showed Dinotopia as a 3 part series, I lost interest in the first part, found it a bit too childish and thought the acting was condescending.
But I did find myself tuning into watch the other episodes, and it did get much better. The final events were so riveting that I left my wife and two kids sitting in the bath for 10 minutes more than they wanted because I couldn't drag myself away.
I was a little disheartened to see the lead female role modelling G strings in a GAP advert. You would think that an actress who stars 'kids' movie would steer clear of that kind of thing.
Got nothing against women modelling G strings lol, just seemed wrong to see the girl from Dinotopia doing it.
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 4, 2002 by Norm de p'Loom
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| | I have to say that I agree. It was a disappointment. As you say, sets good, special fx excellent, but the actors - carved from wood. This was my youngest daughter's fave book, and she was very disappointed. The editing of the final product seemed to have been done in a very perfunctory manner too. No build up of tension for me I'm afraid, and several unexplained jumps in plot. I did stick with it to the end, but I guess that just makes me "sad".
PS Why bring back the dad character at the end? Not want to upset the tinies? But they had already believed him to be dead for almost 4 hours of screentime!
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 5, 2002 by Ellen
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| | Hi Simone, hi Norm!
Well, I guess I should have watched more of Dinotopia if it got better. As you say, when you read the book first you can expect too much. That's funny about the female lead modeling g-strings. She went from "g" rated to "g" string. Ha ha. I haven't seen any Gap ads that graphic here in Memphis. After all, I am in America's "bible belt". About the raciest undie adverts I see are the Victoria's Secret ones with the "angels" - gaunt supermodels with enormous wings. 
The book Dinotopia is ideal for young kids. It's not too difficult to read, and kids love the beautiful illustrations. It's a lot less difficult than, say, the Hobbit. The original Dinotopia is a very gentle adventure, nothing too scary for the young'uns.
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 11, 2002 by Ellen
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| | Ah, I love Dr. Suess! A local museum had an exhibit of his work not too long ago. I got to see original drawings for some of his books, as well as rare advertising he did, and editorial cartoons. Apparently Suess was very active in the propaganda campaign against Nazism. Never knew that till I saw the exhibit. Also, there was a giant Cat in the Hat balloon outside, two stories tall. I wish I had gotten a picture of myself standing next to it.
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 14, 2002 by Ellen
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| | OK, here are some children's books I liked enough to buy, even though I don't have kids. A Day with Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce is quirky and fun. It's about a visit to a friend's house, and his odd and wonderful family. Stupid Emilien by S.T.Mendelson has great illustrations, and wonderful dancing Russian bunnies. From childhood I remember The Monster at the End of This Book, starring Grover from Sesame Street. Grover doesn't want the reader to reach the end of the book, because he is afraid of monsters, but of course the monster is him all along. I used to work in a bookstore, so I got to check out all the latest children's authors for a while.
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| | | Subject: Dinotopia disappointment
Posted Oct 15, 2002 by Ellen
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| | I have a funny author signing story. A lady I knew went very early to a John Grisham booksigning. She was standing there clutching her book, when Grisham walked up and said, "May I help you?" And she said, "No, I'm waiting for John Grisham."  She didn't recognize him! He was very gracious about it, he just laughed and signed her book.
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