When Mechanical Dinosaurs Roamed The Land Before Time

Did you see that episode of Matt Groening's TV show "Futurama" called "A Clockwork Origin" and think the robot dinosaurs in that show would make cool toys?  I did.  Then I remembered that there were toys similar to them in the 1980s.

They were teeny, tiny Tomy toy Dinosaur robots from Japan.  They could be found in the United States in 1985.

Robo Strux were "Robot Monsters" that looked like a Triceratops (Brutox), a Stegosaurus (Gordox), a Pterodactyl (Radox) and a T-Rex (Terox).

Your children will love trying to take over the world with robotic dinosaurs.

Best slogan ever for Robo Strux, spoken by the kid in this ad: "Once I finish building Terox, the world will never be safe from robot fury again!"

Radox and Terox get into a fight and threaten to destroy your living room.

Terox looks like the offspring of Godzilla and one of the Transformers.

Tonka knew that kids loved robots and dinosaurs.  That's why the dinosaur-like ZOD joined the GoBots in 1984.

Look for Shia LaBeouf to star in Michael Bay's GoBots movie in 2020.

Tyco launched its armor-suited Dino-Riders toy line in 1988.  That was a big year for dinosaurs.

Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and animation director Don Bluth joined forces for Universal's 1988 animated feature "The Land Before Time."  This USA Today article mentions popular tie-ins at Pizza Hut and J.C. Penney.

The Land Before Time proved to be a massive hit, spawning what seems like dozens of sequels, essentially creating the Direct-To-Video market.

By 1997, The Land Before Time hit Burger King in the form of wind-up toy dinosaurs.

Universal's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" was the big summer movie in 1997.  Rather than use that film for its Kid's Meal, Burger King chose to use the latest Land Before Time project.

In 2013, Burger King did release a Kids Meal tied to "Jurassic Park 3D."

Littlefoot is a wind up toy that walks and moves his tail and head.  Back in 1988, I think he would be called a brontosaurus, but I guess the term "brontosaurus" no longer exists, so now he'd be called an "apatosaurus."

Check out the offer from CompUSA.  Better act fast before the chain goes extinct!

The Land Before Time has been described as "Bambi with scales."

Littlefoot does have the same coloring as Bambi.  And the same eyelashes.  And both characters lost their moms onscreen, traumatizing many young children.

Wind-up Ducky does acrobatic tricks.

Ducky did not appear in the movie "Pretty in Pink."  That was Jon Cryer (from "Two and a Half Men") and the character he played was named "Duckie."

Ducky reminds me of Thumper from "Bambi."

I think this tiny character stole the movie.

Technically, the Petrie toy is not mechanical.  It is a squirt toy.

The instructions say "Use water only."  What else would a kid use?  Don't answer that.

Petrie also flaps his wings.

Petrie is famous for having very different and inconsistent color schemes in various forms of media.  For this toy, they decided to make him orange and tan.

Spike chows down on some leaves.

It would have been darkly funny, but inappropriate, to have a Sharptooth (the T-Rex from the first film) toy chowing down on another dinosaur.

Spike was a dinosaur of few words.  He just ate stuff.

As the Land Before Time franchise moved forward, many new dinosaur characters were added.

Like Sharptooth, Chomper is a T-Rex.  That is where the similarities end.

Chomper rolls forward and has some terrifying chomping action.

The Chomper character became a series regular in the Land Before Time animated TV show.

A plush Land Before Time dinosaur toy appears in Universal's 1999 movie "Mystery Men" starring Ben Stiller.

Tomy had another line of robots called "Starriors" in 1985.

This makes me think of "Truckasaurus" from "The Simpsons," another animated Matt Groening TV series.

For more dinosaur fun with Denver the Last Dinosaur, Dinersaurs cereal, cowboys, Snoopy and more, visit Knott's Berry Farm: Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.

Also, be sure to check out Jurassic Park: Carnotaurus And Chaos Effect.

Amazing Stories: Steven Spielberg Presents Brad Bird's Family Dog

When I was a kid in middle school in 1987, I was completely obsessed with the "Family Dog" episode of Steven Spielberg's NBC series, "Amazing Stories." The film was written and directed by Brad Bird (director of Disney Pixar's "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille"), and was different from anything seen on TV at the time. It wasn't just the quirky character designs (by Tim Burton). This was not a Saturday Morning kid's cartoon.

I remember being slightly surprised when Skip Binford (voiced by multi-talented veteran voice actor Stan Freberg), the father character, complained about "that cheap damn dog food!" Gasp! It was rare to hear a cartoon character curse back then. Annie Potts (probably best known for her role as Mary Jo on the series "Designing Women") gives an outstanding performance as mother Bev (she would later voice Bo Peep in Disney Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2---it's too bad she wasn't in Toy Story 3). Scott Menville (a prolific voice and screen actor, who was Wayne Arnold's friend Wart on "The Wonder Years" TV series) played Billy, the nasty little boy that terrorizes the poor Dog. Brooke Ashley is Buffy, the little girl that is somehow cute and a bit bizarre. I think my favorite part of the film is the "Home Movies" section, narrated by the family. The interplay between Bev and Buffy here is hilarious. The cast also includes Brad Bird, Mercedes McCambridge, Marshall Efron, Stanley Ralph Ross, and Jack Angel.

The animation was created by some well known animators, including Duncan Marjoribanks (he was the lead animator for Sebastian the crab in Disney's "The Little Mermaid" and Abu in "Aladdin"). I think I can spot some of his animation when the Dog is riding in the car with the robbers (the scene where the fat robber is upset with being called "The Dog Gang" and suggests they get a cat, which triggers an attack from the Dog).

I ripped this advertisement out of TV Guide magazine. On the back, it shows what was on TV the night "Family Dog" debuted in 1987.


Nickelodeon viewers could catch episodes of "You Can't Do That On Television" and "DangerMouse." HBO was still showing Jim Henson's "Fraggle Rock." In reruns were shows like "Bosom Buddies" (starring Tom Hanks) and "The Facts Of Life" (what was Tootie up to this week?) plus older favorites like "The Jeffersons," "The Honeymooners" and "Donna Reed." Newer programs included "Kate and Allie," "MacGyver" (what will he make out of a Dixie Cup and a rubber band to save the world this time?), "ALF," and "My Sister Sam" (many remember this Pam Dawber sitcom being in the news due to the tragic death of star Rebecca Schaeffer).

"Family Dog" proved to be very popular, and it was spun off into its own series from Universal, Amblin, Warner Brothers and Nelvana Animation in 1992. The show featured a new cast, and the magic of the original was missing. It did not last very long.

As I write this, you can find the original on YouTube:





I feel sorry for the poor Dog. Would you want to live with this family?





I wonder if the actors got to ad-lib anything. The dialogue sounds very natural.




Buffy's burping baby doll and Bev's reaction is one of my favorite parts of this show.

I wonder if it's just a coincidence that "Family Dog," Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie" and "Toy Story" all feature Bull Terriers as main characters. Maybe it's because there's something inherently funny about their appearance.

Color Corey Feldman!

The marketing machine for the 1984 Steven Spielberg movie "Gremlins" worked well on me.  I was obsessed with Gizmo, the cute Mogwai, and Stripe, the scary Gremlin.

The character of Mrs. Deagle in "Gremlins" was played by actress Polly Holliday (she was "Flo" in the TV series "Alice").  I went to college where she went to school, and she visited the campus when I was there.  I am happy to report that she was very nice and friendly!

I have a Gremlins activity book that has some outstanding drawings.  The artist is not credited, which is a real shame.

This illustration recreates a scene with Gizmo, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Pete (played by Corey Feldman).

There was talk years ago of Warner Brothers developing an animated version of "Gremlins" into a TV series, and I had wondered if they would use the great character designs shown in this book.

Corey Feldman is great at playing rascals, but he was also the innocent voice of young Copper the dog in the 1981 animated feature, "The Fox and the Hound" (which is one of my all-time favorite Disney cartoons).