Dinosaur Train

Last updated

Dinosaur Train
DinosaurTrain.jpg
Also known asJim Henson's Dinosaur Train
Genre Educational
Adventure
Fantasy
Children
Animated
Created by Craig Bartlett
Directed byCraig Bartlett
Terry Izumi
Presented byDr. Scott D. Sampson
Voices ofPhillip Corlett
Claire Corlett
Erika-Shaye Gair
Alexander Matthew Marr
Ian James Corlett
Colin Murdock
Ellen Kennedy
Sean Thomas
Laura Marr
Cristian Rivas
Opening theme"Dinosaur Train"
Ending theme"Dinosaur Train"
Composers Jim Lang
Mike Himelstein
Michael Silversher
Countries of origin
  • United States
  • Canada
  • Singapore
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes100 (+1 direct-to-TV movie) [1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersCraig Bartlett
Brian Henson
Lisa Henson
Halle Stanford
Producer Sue Bea Montgomery
Running time28 minutes
Production companies Media Development Authority
Sparky Animation
The Jim Henson Company
Original release
Network PBS Kids
ReleaseSeptember 7, 2009 (2009-09-07) –
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)

Dinosaur Train is an animated children's television series created by Craig Bartlett, who also created Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold! . [2] The series is centered on a young anthropomorphic orange Tyrannosaurus rex named Buddy who, together with a family of Pteranodons, takes the Dinosaur Train to explore the Mesozoic, and has adventures with a variety of dinosaurs. It is produced by The Jim Henson Company, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (formerly the Media Development Authority), Sparky Animation, FableVision, Snee-Oosh, Inc., and Tail Waggin' Productions in association with Reel FX and Sea to Sky Entertainment. A film based on the series for Universal Pictures and Universal 1440 Entertainment titled, Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island premiered on April 12, 2021. [3]

Contents

A revival is currently in the works at the Jim Henson Company, alongside Sid the Science Kid . [4]

Premise

The show is set in a whimsical prehistoric world of jungles, swamps, active volcanoes, and oceans, all filled with dinosaur and other prehistoric animal life, connected by a railroad served by an eponymous passenger train, the Dinosaur Train. Its passenger cars can accommodate dinosaurs of all kinds: windows accommodate long-necked sauropods, there is headroom in the Observation Car for the larger theropods, and the AquaCar is an aquarium for sea-going passengers. The train itself is run by Troodons , being one of the smartest dinosaurs in this fictional universe. The Dinosaur Train circles the whole world, crossing oceans and inland seas, with stops to visit undersea prehistoric animals. It can travel through the entire Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Dinosaurs", passing through magical Time Tunnels to the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods.[ citation needed ]

The world of Dinosaur Train is seen through the eyes of Buddy, an orange Tyrannosaurus rex. According to the show's main title song, Buddy was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon. He hatched at the same time as his Pteranodon siblings Tiny, Shiny, and Don. [5] With his family, he travels in the Dinosaur Train around the Mesozoic, supplied with dinosaur facts by the train's Troodon Conductor. [6] As an adopted child in a mixed-species family, Buddy is curious about the differences between species and likes to compare their features. The dinosaur species featured in the show are actual dinosaurs discovered by paleontologists.

Dinosaur Train is produced and animated by Sparky Animation in Singapore, [6] with casting by Vidaspark and voice-overs recorded at Kozmic Sound in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[ citation needed ] It premiered on Labor Day 2009 [7] [8] and aired daily on PBS Kids in the US, as well as in various countries around the world. [6] 40 half-hour episodes were ordered by PBS Kids for the first season. After that, 49 additional episodes were made. As of September 2018, PBS Kids had ordered 11 more episodes, taking the total number of episodes to 100. [6] [9] [10] Each episode is followed by a live-action segment featuring Dinosaur Train educational consultant and paleontologist Dr. Scott D. Sampson, who appears onscreen to explain the show's dinosaur curriculum in greater detail. [5]

Episodes

SeasonSegmentsEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 8040September 7, 2009 (2009-09-07)May 6, 2011 (2011-05-06)
2 5226August 22, 2011 (2011-08-22)February 22, 2013 (2013-02-22)
3 2613January 20, 2014 (2014-01-20)June 15, 2015 (2015-06-15)
4 2010December 7, 2015 (2015-12-07)February 20, 2017 (2017-02-20)
5 1911August 26, 2019 (2019-08-26)June 15, 2020 (2020-06-15)
Film April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)

Voice cast

Left to right: Shiny, Buddy, Tiny, Don Dinosaur Train characters.png
Left to right: Shiny, Buddy, Tiny, Don

Main cast

Additional voices

UK voice cast

The UK dub only aired the first two seasons on Nick Jr. in the UK and Ireland from 2012 to 2015.

Production

Development

In early 2008, after the successful first run of Hey Arnold! on Nickelodeon, Craig Bartlett decided to create another children series, this one set during the era of the dinosaurs, including the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Bartlett conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote a pilot script. Bartlett said he got the idea of the show after he saw one of his kids put a toy dinosaur in a toy train. [7]

Episode segments

Songs

Reception

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media rated the show four stars out of five, stating that "Young dinos travels teach kids about science and diversity." [17]

Home media

DVDs of the series from PBS Distribution were produced from 2010 to 2019. It also became part of PBS Kids compilation DVDs until 2021, being replaced by Elinor Wonders Why .

StudioCanal UK and StudioCanal Germany released the series on DVD in their respective countries. [18]

In other media

Live show

A live show, "Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train Live: Buddy's Big Adventure", toured the United States and Canada from September 2013 to June 2014. [19]

Film

In July 2020, Craig Bartlett announced an 85-minute musical film based on the series on Instagram. [3] The film, titled Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island, premiered on April 12, 2021 on PBS Kids, serving as the series finale. [20]

References

  1. ↑ "Henson Moving Forward with "Dinosaur Train" and "The Skumps"". Muppet News Flash. September 17, 2008. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 156–157. ISBN   978-1-5381-0373-9.
  3. 1 2 "Craig Bartlett on Instagram: "I'm thrilled to be mixing the Dinosaur Train movie today! 85 minutes of thrills and spills! Tons of songs! All aboard!! #dinosaurtrain"". Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. ↑ Grobar, Matt (April 14, 2025). "Bryan O'Connell Joins The Jim Henson Company As VP Children's Television". Deadline. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
  5. 1 2 "About Dinosaur Train". PBS KIDS for Parents. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "The Jim Henson Company Celebrates 100-Episode Milestone For Award-Winning Preschool Animated Series Dinosaur Train™ With New Season Five Episodes For PBS KIDS®" (Press release). Jim Henson Company. September 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 15, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Keogh, Tom (September 6, 2009). "All aboard the "Dinosaur Train," a new kids' show created by Seattle native Craig Bartlett". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on April 29, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Owen, Rob (September 4, 2009). "'Dinosaur Train' combines two popular routes". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  9. ↑ "r/IAmA - This is Craig Bartlett, animation creator of Ready Jet Go!, Hey Arnold!, and Dinosaur Train – ask me anything!". reddit. April 2, 2018. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  10. ↑ Hobson, Jane (September 26, 2018). "Henson roars for more Dinosaur Train". kidscreen. Brunico Communications Ltd. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Scott D. Sampson". June 9, 2010. Archived from the original on June 9, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Senior Leadership Team". Science World at TELUS World of Science. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
  13. 1 2 "Hootin' Hadrosaurs!/Surprise Party". Dinosaur Train. Season 1. Episode 113. November 9, 2009. PBS Kids.
  14. ↑ "What's at the Center of the Earth? Layers!/What's at The Center of The Earth? Fossils!". Dinosaur Train. Season 4. Episode 409. February 20, 2017. PBS Kids.
  15. ↑ "What's at the Center of the Earth? Troglobites!/What's at The Center of The Earth? Minerals!". Dinosaur Train. Season 4. Episode 410. February 20, 2017. PBS Kids.
  16. ↑ "Dinosaur Big City, Part 4". Dinosaur Train. Season 2. Episode 202. August 22, 2011. PBS Kids.
  17. ↑ Ashby, Emily (August 21, 2023). "Dinosaur Train TV Review". Common Sense Media. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Jim Henson Company sells series and movie to global broadcasters". Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  19. ↑ "North American Tour Dates". Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train LIVE: Buddy's Big Adventure. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island: Episode 0 | Schedules | WGTE". www.wgte.org. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
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