Denver, the Last Dinosaur
Encyclopedia
Denver, the Last Dinosaur is a U.S.-French cartoon for children originally released in 1988 by World Events Productions
(the same company responsible for the English dubs of Voltron
and for Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
). It was nationally syndicated throughout the United States in 1988 with reruns airing until 1990. Episodes often focused on issues of conservation, ecology, and friendship.
The show ran for two seasons, as the dinosaur boom that had followed The Land Before Time
waned, causing viewership to drop. The series received a recommendation from the National Educational Association.
- a Corythosaurus
- who was released from his egg by a group of multicultural modern California teens: Jeremy, Mario, Shades, Wally, and Casey, along with tag-along older sister, Heather. The kids taught Denver the finer points of skateboarding
and other pastimes while protecting him from concert promoter Morton Fizzback who wanted to use the dinosaur to make money.
The series begins when Jeremy, while preparing for his Natural History test, and his friends visit the La Brea Tar Pits - A place in Los Angeles
(which is spread over a large area and contains a large collection of extinct animal and plant fossils) and go to the Museum.
At the museum, the friends encounter a gang of bullies. The friends escape the bullies by hiding behind a fence near the tar pits. Behind the fence they find a pit that contains a large prehistoric egg. As the friends are playing with the egg it suddenly cracks and a green friendly dinosaur emerges who, surprisingly, understands English. The kids name him Denver after they spot an advertisement for the city of Denver on a passing bus.
The children decide to keep Denver and to keep his existence a secret. Denver is first hidden in a pool house at Wally's home. After Wally's sister discovers Denver they move Denver to the old school gym. After a while Denver gets kidnapped by the manager Morton Fizback. Morton puts Denver on a stage in front of an audience in order to become rich.
When the children confront Morton about his abduction, he becomes paranoid that someone might find out that Denver is a real dinosaur. At the end Denver is sold to a scientist named Professor Funt who wants to examine and experiment on him, and use him to become famous. Eventually everything turns out fine and Denver gets to return to the gang and rescue them from Nick and his thugs.
In addition to his natural skills and abilities Denver can also, with the help of a piece from the shell of his egg, take the gang with him back to the time whence he came.
offered a Denver promotional tie-in with its new Kingdom of the Dinosaurs attraction (which would later take its last rider in 2004), as did Ralston-Purina with its new cereal brand Dinersaurs.
World Events Productions
has released two DVD volumes through their Voltron.com website. The first volume includes the hour-long pilot, and the following eight. The second volume includes 10 episodes. World Events Productions
had the complete series on YouTube, it was removed on December 31, 2010 because of synchronizing problems. But on February 11, 2011, World Events Productions
had released the complete series on Hulu
.
World Events Productions
World Events Productions is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last...
(the same company responsible for the English dubs of Voltron
Voltron
Voltron is the titular super robot of an anime series that features a team of young pilots, known as the Voltron Force. The team’s individual vehicles join together to form the giant super robot, with which they defend the galaxy from evil...
and for Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs is a 1987 animated space western following a similar theme as Galaxy Rangers and Bravestarr. Originally a 1984 anime series known as created by Studio Pierrot, it achieved moderate success in Japan...
). It was nationally syndicated throughout the United States in 1988 with reruns airing until 1990. Episodes often focused on issues of conservation, ecology, and friendship.
The show ran for two seasons, as the dinosaur boom that had followed The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time (series)
The Land Before Time is a series of animated films centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with The Land Before Time, directed and produced by Don Bluth and executive produced by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. It was followed by a total of 12 direct-to-video sequels, though none...
waned, causing viewership to drop. The series received a recommendation from the National Educational Association.
Plot
The show revolved around the adventures of Denver, the last dinosaurDinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
- a Corythosaurus
Corythosaurus
Corythosaurus is a genus of duck-billed dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period, about 77-76.5 million years ago. It lived in what is now North America...
- who was released from his egg by a group of multicultural modern California teens: Jeremy, Mario, Shades, Wally, and Casey, along with tag-along older sister, Heather. The kids taught Denver the finer points of skateboarding
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
and other pastimes while protecting him from concert promoter Morton Fizzback who wanted to use the dinosaur to make money.
The series begins when Jeremy, while preparing for his Natural History test, and his friends visit the La Brea Tar Pits - A place in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
(which is spread over a large area and contains a large collection of extinct animal and plant fossils) and go to the Museum.
At the museum, the friends encounter a gang of bullies. The friends escape the bullies by hiding behind a fence near the tar pits. Behind the fence they find a pit that contains a large prehistoric egg. As the friends are playing with the egg it suddenly cracks and a green friendly dinosaur emerges who, surprisingly, understands English. The kids name him Denver after they spot an advertisement for the city of Denver on a passing bus.
The children decide to keep Denver and to keep his existence a secret. Denver is first hidden in a pool house at Wally's home. After Wally's sister discovers Denver they move Denver to the old school gym. After a while Denver gets kidnapped by the manager Morton Fizback. Morton puts Denver on a stage in front of an audience in order to become rich.
When the children confront Morton about his abduction, he becomes paranoid that someone might find out that Denver is a real dinosaur. At the end Denver is sold to a scientist named Professor Funt who wants to examine and experiment on him, and use him to become famous. Eventually everything turns out fine and Denver gets to return to the gang and rescue them from Nick and his thugs.
In addition to his natural skills and abilities Denver can also, with the help of a piece from the shell of his egg, take the gang with him back to the time whence he came.
Main characters
- Denver the Last Dinosaur - The title character. Voiced by Pat FraleyPat FraleyPatrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
. - Wally - Boy who takes Denver in, Denver's closest friend. Cares for various animals - including Rocky (his pup), 3 cats, Ears (a rabbit), and a parrot. Voiced by Adam Carl.
- Jeremy - the intelligent guy amongst the gang who is able to provide information about dinosaurs. Voiced by Adam Carl.
- Mario - A kid with an enormous ego. Voiced by Cam ClarkeCam ClarkeCameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
. - Shades - A cool kid who always wears sunglasses (where his name is derived from). Voiced by Cam ClarkeCam ClarkeCameron Arthur "Cam" Clarke is a prolific American voice actor and singer, well known for his work in animation and video games. Clarke is well known for providing the voices of Leonardo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original English-dub of Akira. He often voices...
. - Casey - Girl with a crush on Mario. She is also the machinist of the gang. Voiced by Kath SoucieKath SoucieKatherine Elaine Soucie is an American voice actress. She is sometimes credited as Kath Soucie, Katherine Soucie, Kath Souci, Kath E...
. Youngest of the gang. - Heather - Wally's older sister, voiced by Kath Soucie.
Minor characters
- Rocky - Wally's pup.
- Chet - Heather's boyfriend, voiced by Rob PaulsenRob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
. - Daniel - A teenage genius who is also a fan of comic books, and has a strong, though somewhat comical sense of justice. He was originally hired by Morton Fizzback to conduct an experiment on Denver's tar egg shell, but later helps out Denver and the gang, and provides technical support.
Villains
- Morton Fizzback - Evil concert promoterPromoter (entertainment)An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
, voiced by Brian CummingsBrian CummingsBrian Cummings is an American voice actor.-Biography:He is known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on The All-New Let's Make a Deal from 1984 to 1985...
. - Professor Funt - Evil scientist, sometimes works with Morton, voiced by Brian CummingsBrian CummingsBrian Cummings is an American voice actor.-Biography:He is known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on The All-New Let's Make a Deal from 1984 to 1985...
. - Nick - Leader of two other bullies, Scott and Rod, who cause trouble for the boys, voiced by Rob PaulsenRob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
.
Merchandise and DVD
Knott's Berry FarmKnott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....
offered a Denver promotional tie-in with its new Kingdom of the Dinosaurs attraction (which would later take its last rider in 2004), as did Ralston-Purina with its new cereal brand Dinersaurs.
World Events Productions
World Events Productions
World Events Productions is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last...
has released two DVD volumes through their Voltron.com website. The first volume includes the hour-long pilot, and the following eight. The second volume includes 10 episodes. World Events Productions
World Events Productions
World Events Productions is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last...
had the complete series on YouTube, it was removed on December 31, 2010 because of synchronizing problems. But on February 11, 2011, World Events Productions
World Events Productions
World Events Productions is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles Voltron, Defender of the Universe and Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, as well as producing the original animated series Denver, the Last...
had released the complete series on Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
.
Season One
- Denver, the Last Dinosaur (hour-long pilot) - April 11, 1988
- In the Chips - September 26, 1988
- Videohhhh! - September 28, 1988
- The Monster of Lost Lake - September 30, 1988
- Denver Makes the Grade - October 3, 1988
- Big Top Denver - October 5, 1988
- The Misunderstanding - October 7, 1988
- Lions, Tigers, and Dinos! - October 10, 1988
- Change of Heart - October 12, 1988
- Broncosaurus - October 14, 1988
- Denver, Dino-Star! - October 17, 1988
- Dinoland - October 19, 1988
- Winning - October 21, 1988
- Enter the Dino - October 24, 1988
- Radio Denver - October 26, 1988
- The Phantom of the Movie Theater - October 28, 1988
- Missing Links - October 31, 1988
- Dog Gone Denver! - November 2, 1988
- Party Time - November 4, 1988
- Aunt Shadie's Ghost Town - November 7, 1988
- Moviestarus - November 9, 1988
- Denver at Sea - November 11, 1988
- Ski Denver - November 14, 1988
- Beach Blanket Dino - November 16, 1988
- History Repeats Itself - November 18, 1988
- Battle of the Bands - November 21, 1988
- The Comic Book Caper - November 23, 1988
- Carnival - November 28, 1988
- Pen Pal - November 30, 1988
- China Town Caper - December 2, 1988
Season Two
- Denver, the Lost Dinosaur - October 23, 1989
- Denver and the Cornstalk - October 25, 1989
- Tea Time for Dinosaur - October 27, 1989
- Birthday Party From Outer Space - October 30, 1989
- Food Wars - November 1, 1989
- Jogging Denver (aka Dino-cise) - November 3, 1989
- Denver, the Last Dragon - November 6, 1989
- High Flying Denver - November 8, 1989
- Denver at the Digs - November 10, 1989
- Chef Denver - November 13, 1989
- Fizzback's Follies - November 15, 1989
- Dinos are My Life - November 17, 1989
- Bayou Blues - November 20, 1989
- Canatta - November 22, 1989
- Pluto Needs People - November 27, 1989
- Arabian Adventure - November 29, 1989
- Venice Beach Blast - December 1, 1989
- Big News Denver - December 4, 1989
- Viva Denver! - December 6, 1989
- There's No Business Like Snow Business - December 8, 1989
Aired
- India:Doordarshan,DD Malayalam(on sundays after the 4pm movie),Surya TV.
- China: CCTV-1CCTV-1CCTV-1 is the primary channel of the Chinese television network, CCTV in the People's Republic of China. It has a mixture of all kinds of TV programs, and is available to both cable and terrestrial television viewers.-External links:*...
- Pakistan: Pakistan Television (PTV 1)
- Poland: Tele 5Tele 5 (Poland)Tele5 is Polish commercial television station owned by Polcast Television. It was launched on April 19, 2002, replacing Super 1. At the start, it broadcast only European productions Tele5 is Polish commercial television station owned by Polcast Television. It was launched on April 19, 2002,...
- Philippines: Island's TV 13 (now IBC 13)
- UK: Galaxy (1990), TV-amTV-amTV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
(1992), NickelodeonNickelodeon UKNickelodeon is a children's television channel available on Sky, Virgin Media, Smallworld Cable, TalkTalk TV and UPC Ireland in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including on demand on BT Vision. The channel was launched on 1 September 1993...
, Sky Channel as part of Fun FactoryFun Factory (TV series)Fun Factory was a children's programme on the satellite television channel Sky Channel that ran from 1985 to 1991. It continued as a programming block without a host up until 1994.-Original Programme:...
Saturday and Sunday morning programming (1990-1993). - France : France 3France 3France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
(1991-1993), Direct 8Direct 8Direct 8 is a national French TV channel, owned by Vincent Bolloré. It is available through digital terrestrial television network "TNT" and the Astra 1H satellite position....
(1993) - Galicia: TVGTVGTelevisión de Galicia , commonly known as A Galega , is the primary television channel of Galician public broadcaster Compañía de Radio Televisión de Galicia .-History:...
(as part of Xabarín Club) - Gibraltar: GBC TV.
- Israel: Channel 1Channel 1 (Israel)Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...
- Italy: Italia 1Italia 1Italia 1 is an Italian commercial television channel on the Mediaset network. It is oriented especially at young people.Italia 1 was launched in January 1982 and, originally, was owned by Rusconi; after a few months, however, due to the aggressive dumping practices of Silvio Berlusconi's rival...
, Boing. - Croatia: HRT 1
- Kazakhstan: Khabar TV.
- Romania: TVR1.
- Sweden: TV3, Kanal 5 and FilmNet.
- Ethiopia: ETV
- Serbia: TVNS Plus
- Germany: RTL Plus
- Netherlands: FilmNet
- NewZealand : Chanel 3 GZR
- Kenya: KTN
- Macedonia: MTV1
- South Africa: TV1, TV2
- South Korea: EBSEducational Broadcasting SystemEducational Broadcasting System or EBS is the only educational television and radio network covering South Korean territory. Established as KBS 3TV in the 1980's, and became an independent corporation in 2000...
- Brazil: Globo
- Chile: Etc...TVEtc...TVEtc...TV is a Chilean cable TV channel currently owned by MEGA. The channel's slogan is "Todo pasa por Etc..." . Launched in 1996, the company was previously owned by Telefilms Ltda...
- Greece: New Channel, Seven-X
- Portugal: RTP 1, Canal Panda
- Hungary: Magyar Televízió 1 (the national TV)
- United Arab Emirates : (Channel 33)
- Finland: MTV3MTV3MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...
- Mexico: XHGC-TVXHGC-TVXHGC-TV is a TV station owned by Televisa, broadcasting from Mexico City, and is the flagship of the Canal 5 network.-History:XHGC signed on May 10, 1952, broadcasting a Mother's Day event organized by the Excélsior newspaper; but the regular programming began at August 18, 1952.The station was...
Canal 5
External links
- Official website from World Events Productions
- Denver, the Last Dinosaur at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....