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'''''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''''' is a 1993 animated [[Adventure film|adventure]] comedy film directed by Dick Zondag, [[Ralph Zondag]], [[Phil Nibbelink]], and [[Simon Wells]] from a screenplay by [[John Patrick Shanley]]. Based on the 1987 [[Hudson Talbott]] children's book [[We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (book)|of the same name]], it tells the story of three [[dinosaur]]s and one [[pterosaur]] who travel to the present day and become intelligent by eating a "Brain Grain" cereal invented by scientist Captain Neweyes. The film was produced by [[Steven Spielberg]]'s [[Amblimation]] studio and features the voices of [[John Goodman]], [[Felicity Kendal]], [[Charles Fleischer]], [[Walter Cronkite]], [[Jay Leno]], [[Julia Child]], [[Kenneth Mars]], [[Yeardley Smith]], and [[Martin Short]].
 
''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''It was released by [[Universal Pictures]] on November 24, 1993; it was marketed as the more family-friendly equivalent of Spielberg's ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'', which was released in June of the same year. The film was a [[box-office bomb]], grossing $9.3 million worldwide, and received mixed reviews from critics: while its animation, score, and voice performances were praised, most criticisms targeted its story, pacing, and lack of character development.
 
==Plot==
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==Production==
[[File:Phil Nibbelink.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Phil Nibbelink]] in 2013. He was the most involved of the four directors on ''We'rethe Back! A Dinosaur's Story''film.|alt=A man with glasses and white-and-black-striped color shirt stands in front of a white background.]]
[[Hanna-Barbera]] was the first company to contact [[Hudson Talbott]] about obtaining rights to [[We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (book)|his 1987 book ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'']], and the encounter occurred only months after its release; [[Universal Pictures]] then paid off Hanna-Barbera and purchased the rights for [[Steven Spielberg]] to produce the film through his [[London]]-based animation studio, [[Amblimation]].<ref name = "SyfyWire"/> [[John Musker]] and [[Ron Clements]] were also interested in adapting the book for [[Walt Disney Feature Animation]], as a potential project after ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (1989), but were informed that Universal and Spielberg had already purchased the rights. Musker envisioned their version "like ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'', but a 7-year-old Snow White and with dinosaurs instead of the dwarfs."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animationguild.org/oral_history/john-musker/|title=John Musker Oral History|publisher=The Animation Guild|date=March 12, 2012|access-date=March 27, 2022|archive-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423181457/https://animationguild.org/oral_history/john-musker/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
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''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' was meant to capitalize on a craze of dinosaurs in popular culture<ref name = "Elliot"/><ref name = "AusChronicle">{{cite web|last=Bruce|first=Pamela|date=December 10, 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060626015547/http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a138969|archive-date=June 26, 2006|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a138969|title=We're Back! a Dinosaur's Story|work=[[Austin Chronicle]]|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref><ref name = "BaltimoreSun">{{cite web|last=Camp|first=Todd|date=November 24, 1993|url=https://www.courant.com/bs-xpm-1993-11-24-1993328063-story.html|title=Animated 'We're Back!' is dandy for the Barney set|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|access-date=April 7, 2021|archive-date=April 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419213050/https://www.courant.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> known as the [[dinosaur renaissance]], which started in the 1960s.<ref name = "DinoBook"/>{{rp|24}} The mania included an explosion of dinosaur content in film and television, including television cartoons like ''[[Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (TV series)|Cadillacs and Dinosaurs]]'' and ''[[Extreme Dinosaurs]]'', with many more produced that were attributed to the release and success of Steven Spielberg's ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bottomley|first=Jack|date=June 2015|url=https://archive.org/details/Starburst_Magazine_413.June.2015.True.PDF/page/n27/mode/2up?q=%22a+dinosaur+story%22|title=One Million Cels BC|magazine=[[Starburst (magazine)|Starburst]]|issue=413|pages=28–31|access-date=April 5, 2021}}</ref>{{rp|30}} ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'' was released in the same year as ''Jurassic Park'', and was marketed as the more family-friendly Spielberg-made dinosaur film; the tagline in promotional materials was "A dinosaur adventure for the whole family".<ref name = "SyfyWire">{{cite web|last=Weiss|first=Josh|date=December 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201002007/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/roll-back-the-rock-an-oral-history-of-were-back-a-dinosaurs-story-for-its-25th-birthday|archive-date=December 1, 2018|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/roll-back-the-rock-an-oral-history-of-were-back-a-dinosaurs-story-for-its-25th-birthday|title=Roll Back the Rock: An oral history of We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story for its 25th birthday|work=[[Syfy Wire]]|access-date=April 5, 2021}}</ref> Fiction in the dinosaur renaissance presented the creatures in a more friendly and upfront manner; ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'', for example, depicts dinosaurs in an American suburb doing activities like playing golf.<ref name = "DinoBook">{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=W. J. T.|year=1998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HOojfZgV3wcC&q=%22A+Dinosaur+Story%22+%22We%27re+Back%22|title=The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural Icon|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=9780226532042|access-date=April 5, 2021|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413010837/https://books.google.com/books?id=HOojfZgV3wcC&q=%22A+Dinosaur+Story%22+%22We%27re+Back%22|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|14, 24}}
 
''We'reThe Back! A Dinosaur's Story''film was heavily advertised and promoted with merchandise and fast food tie-ins.<ref name = "LAtimes2003">{{cite web|last=Solomon|first=Charles|date=June 29, 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210409023224/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-29-ca-solomon29-story.html|archive-date=April 9, 2021|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-29-ca-solomon29-story.html|title=Programming a hunt for computer-animated hits |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 8, 2021|url-access=limited}}</ref> A balloon of Rex floated at the real-life 1993 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which deflated after coming into contact with a [[traffic light]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Sippell|first=Margeaux|date=November 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120144209/https://www.thewrap.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-fails-from-years-past/|archive-date=January 20, 2021|url=https://www.thewrap.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-fails-from-years-past/|title=10 All-Time Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Fails|work=[[TheWrap]]|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> [[Hi-Tech Expressions]] also published [[platform video game]]s based on the film for the [[Sega Genesis]], [[Game Boy]] and [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] (SNES). In the Genesis and SNES games, the player plays as Cecilia and Louie helping the dinosaurs get to the museum,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Sega-Visions-Issue-19/page/n123/mode/2up?q=%22a+dinosaur%27s+tale%22+sega|title=Dinos in New York|magazine=[[Sega Visions]]|issue=19|page=122|date=June 1994|access-date=April 8, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/nintendo-power-issue-127-december-1999/Nintendo%20Power%20Issue%20055%20December%201993/page/104/mode/2up|title=We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|issue=55|date=December 1993|page=105|access-date=April 8, 2021}}</ref> while the Game Boy game, a reskinned version of the existing game ''[[Baby T-Rex]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mansfield |first=Dylan |date=February 24, 2019 |title=Baby T-Rex: The Game Revised 10 Times |url=https://www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2019/02/24/baby-t-rex-the-game-revised-10-times/|access-date=November 25, 2021}}</ref> involves the dinosaur Rex as a playable character rescuing the other three dinosaurs captured by Screweyes.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_51/page/n197/mode/2up?q=dinosaur|title=We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|date=October 1993|page=196|volume=6|number=10|access-date=April 8, 2021}}</ref>
 
''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''It was released to American theaters on November 24, 1993.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/212/mode/2up}}</ref>{{rp|212–213}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Pacheco|first=Patrick|date=November 21, 1993|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-21-ca-59229-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022064947/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-11-21-ca-59229-story.html|archive-date=October 22, 2020|title=THEATER: Man Bites Hollywood: John Patrick Shanley's play 'Four Dogs and a Bone' is a riff on the tradition of playwrights-turned-screenwriters biting the celluloid hand that feeds them. He admits he's not above the behavior he is skewering |work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=April 8, 2021|url-access=limited}}</ref> It was released on March 15, 1994 on [[home video]]. Each copy included pockets of reusable [[sticker]]s and [[coupon]]s for [[Universal Destinations & Experiences|Universal Theme Parks]] and products from [[Nestle]], [[The Hertz Corporation]], and [[First Alert]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Sandler|first=Adam|date=January 14, 1994|url=https://variety.com/1994/digital/features/mca-u-plans-big-push-for-dinosaur-s-story-117345/|title=MCA/U plans big push for 'Dinosaur's Story'|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=April 8, 2021|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413011052/https://variety.com/1994/digital/features/mca-u-plans-big-push-for-dinosaur-s-story-117345/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
== Reception ==
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=== Critical response ===
''We'reThe Back!film A Dinosaur's Story'' garnered generallyreceived mixed reviews from professional critics. AsOn of[[Rotten September 2021Tomatoes]], ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story''it has an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} professional reviews on the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}.<ref>{{cite Rotten Tomatoes|id={{RT data|rtid|noprefix=y}}|type=m|title=We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story|access-date={{RT data|access date}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413124908/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/were_back_a_dinosaurs_story|archive-date=April 13, 2021|url-status=live}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=CinemaScore |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
An extremely favorable review from ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' magazine called it "delightful fun" for children and adults with "warmth, eye-catching visuals and a few chills",<ref>{{cite web|last=Goff|first=John|date=December 4, 1993|url=https://archive.org/details/cashbox57unse_11/page/6/mode/2up?q=%22dinosaur%22|title=We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story|work=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]|page=7|volume=LVIL|number=15|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> while [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', in his one-star review, thought it would not compete well in the animated film industry due to its "routine" animation and "shallow and kind of dumb" writing.<ref name="Rogerebert">{{cite web |date=November 24, 1993 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story movie review (1993) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/were-back-a-dinosaurs-story-1993 |website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=March 9, 2014 |archive-date=February 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223093240/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/were-back-a-dinosaurs-story-1993 |url-status=live}}</ref> As a critic for ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' summarized his problems with the film, there were "terrific ideas" which were blurred due to being "lacking in wit, emotion, memorable music and, most importantly, magic"; and the voice actors are "shackled with insipid dialogue and few opportunities to shine".<ref name="BaltimoreSun" /> Some journalists, including Ebert, found the film more like a television cartoon for kids than an actual feature.<ref name="Rogerebert" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/re-back-dinosaur-story-review/|title=We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story Review|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|date=January 2000 |access-date=April 5, 2021|archive-date=December 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227013417/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/re-back-dinosaur-story-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> Coverage included unfavorable comparisons to other Spielberg-produced animations, such as series like ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' (1990–1992) and ''[[Animaniacs]]'' (1993–1998) and films such as ''[[The Land Before Time (film)|The Land Before Time]]'' (1988), which also featured dinosaurs.<ref name="Rogerebert" /><ref name="Deseret">{{cite web|last=Hicks|first=Chris|date=November 27, 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107205959/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001981/Were-Back-a-Dinosaurs-Story.html|archive-date=January 7, 2010|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700001981/Were-Back-a-Dinosaurs-Story.html|title=We're Back! a Dinosaur's Story|work=[[Deseret News]]|access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> Critics also attacked an [[Easter egg (media)|easter egg]] as shameless self-promotion for Spielberg, where a poster of ''Jurassic Park'' is seen on a theater building during the parade scene.<ref name="AusChronicle" /><ref name="Pensacola" /><ref name="Asbury" />
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=== Accolades ===
For his work on ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story'', supervisingSupervising sound editor Alexander Campbell Askew was nominated for [[Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR for Animated Feature Film|Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing for an Animated Feature]] at the [[Motion Picture Sound Editors]]' Golden Reel Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/golden-reel-tv-honors-set-for-sat-119250/|title=Golden Reel TV honors set for Sat.|date=March 15, 1994|work=Variety|access-date=April 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413124136/https://variety.com/1994/tv/news/golden-reel-tv-honors-set-for-sat-119250/|archive-date=April 13, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
=== Modern reception ===
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