We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

G

Released Nov 24, 1993

1 hr. 12 min.

Kids & Family

Fantasy

Animation

List

38%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Four fun-loving dinosaurs take a trip to New York City, courtesy of Capt. Neweyes (Walter Cronkite). The time-traveling alien is intent on bringing some joy to the lives of the children of the Big Apple. After eating a potion to boost their smarts and cuddliness, Tyrannosaurus Rex (John Goodman), Triceratops Woog (René Le Vant), Pterodactyl Elsa (Felicity Kendal) and Hadrosaur Dweeb (Charles Fleischer) hit the town! But trouble soon arrives when Neweyes' evil brother hatches a devious plot.

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Audience Member

A weak story and bizarre character designs distract from the high quality animation, soundtrack and voice talent. Its a great throwback to the excellent cinematic cartoons of the 80's and 90's. Somehow the script just felt overcooked with far too many strange ideas crammed into the runtime like the producers got a little bit carried away with themselves. An entertaining if messy film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

04/24/24

Full Review

Noe G

We're back a dinosaur story is a great movie from 1993 I give this film a 10/10

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/06/24

Full Review

Manga4th

One of my best childhood memories. I've watched it more times than I can remember.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/24

Full Review

Audience Member

30 years later this is another one of my favorite childhood flicks Based on the book by Hudson Talbottt and directed by 4 people if you can believe it A big voice cast involving John Goodman, Jay Leno, Rhea Perlman, and Walter Cronkite An animated movie involving dinosaurs actually coming back in our lifetime! Basically it focuses on a dino named Rex; he tells his adventures to a small bird named Buster while playing golf of all things 65 million years ago Rex along with other dinosaurs were visited by Professor Neweyes, he along with his flying alien Forb buddy came from the future Thanks to some special cereal they're all intelligent learning to speak and think Neweyes wants to grant wishes around the world for children in this case he wants Rex and the others to travel to the future to visit them They arrive and ultimately befriend two children named Louie and Cecilia; both of whom run away from their families to find happiness and freedom Two important individuals they need to be aware of are Dr. Juliet Bleeb who's waiting their arrival at the museum of natural history and Professor Screweyes, a madman magician causing mischief and scaring children with monsters But is the present ready for these reptiles return or is it far too disastrous adding them back into the mix? The movie is super short that's for sure It misses on character development big time But it gets by with amazing animation, a powerful and emotionally sweeping score by James Horner, a catchy song number, and an exciting story of every kids dream come true involving dinosaurs Even giant monsters can be friends is the films central conceit This is the more family friendly version of Jurassic Park but more on a kidsy scale It unjustly slipped into obscurity by critics and box office numbers but really is an underrated gem accruing a passionate cult following Lighthearted, fun, brisk, spooky, and wonderfully animated We're Back has that warm fuzzy feeling we all have as kids wanting to see these long lost animals again

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/28/23

Full Review

J S

Childhood favourite, I wore out the VHS!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/16/23

Full Review

Ash P

When I was a kid, I loved this movie. Now that I'm an adult, it was okay. Great voice performance, catchy music, hell, I hum at either John Goodman's version or Little Richard's version Roll back the Clock once in a while. I enjoy the animation's theme for the bright colors for the joy and the dark for the terror especially for the professors who are also brothers. A few okay laughs especially from Martin Short though not much with Jay Leno. This is passaable for anyone who grew up with it and want to watch it again for the nostalgia feel and for kids who like to watch a little balance of the energy and the moral and such. 6/10.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/06/23

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Phil Nibbelink

Director

Simon Wells

Director

Ralph Zondag

Director

Dick Zondag

Director

John Goodman

Rex

Jay Leno

Vorb

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Daniel M. Kimmel

Variety

In spite of narrative problems... the film's chief appeal is its central conceit -- that giant monsters... can be transformed into [ceatures] who like to play with children.

May 8, 2005

Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Parents seeking innocent kiddie entertainment should know that the dinosaurs are drugged, the children are briefly transformed into monkeys and the Professor is eventually devoured by crows.

Rated: 2.5/5

Aug 30, 2004

Full Review

Jane Horwitz

Washington Post

[A] highly entertaining, relatively gentle animated feature ...

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Renee Schonfeld

Common Sense Media

'90s dino time-travel tale has scares, peril.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 24, 2015

Full Review

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Cute, strictly for kids and featuring Walter Cronkite!

Rated: 3/5

Jun 15, 2005

Full Review

Eric Lurio

Greenwich Village Gazette

Rated: 1/5

Jun 6, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Four fun-loving dinosaurs take a trip to New York City, courtesy of Capt. Neweyes (Walter Cronkite). The time-traveling alien is intent on bringing some joy to the lives of the children of the Big Apple. After eating a potion to boost their smarts and cuddliness, Tyrannosaurus Rex (John Goodman), Triceratops Woog (René Le Vant), Pterodactyl Elsa (Felicity Kendal) and Hadrosaur Dweeb (Charles Fleischer) hit the town! But trouble soon arrives when Neweyes' evil brother hatches a devious plot.

Director: Phil Nibbelink, Simon Wells, Ralph Zondag, Dick Zondag
Executive Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: John Patrick Shanley, Hudson Talbott
Distributor: MCA/Universal Pictures [us]
Production Co: Amblin Entertainment
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 24, 1993, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 12, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.6M
Sound Mix: Surround

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