s the final fall series to premiere, ABC serves up a holiday gift for Thanksgiving Day, with a double dose of Dinotopia. Two episodes of the series air back to back. Picking up where the Emmy Award-winning miniseries left off, the series follows the adventures of two shipwrecked brothers and their father as they adjust to their new life in Dinotopia, a strange world where humans and intelligent dinosaurs live and work together.
As "Marooned" opens, David Scott (Strong) and the rest of the Skybax riders have the dangerous duty of spreading working sunstones to all the towns and outposts in Dinotopia. The new sunstones, which keep the carnivorous dinosaurs at bay, work like a charm, and the Dinotopians begin to rebuild. While David embraces his new job, Karl Scott (von Detten) is less enthused, especially since his father, Frank (Brandon), seems to be having trouble adjusting. He wants to find a way off the island and take his boys home, but Karl is confused about whether he wants to stay in Dinotopia with Marion (Rylance) or return home.
While the Scott family is trying to sort out what they want to do, a rebel group called the Outsiders discovers an ancient burial chamber with a mysterious glowing green pendant. As soon as the pendant is removed from its protective box, the T-Rex stop being affected by the sunstones and begin to
attack the towns and outposts again. With the T-Rex on the rampage and on the way to Waterfall City, Frank becomes determined to take his sons away from Dinotopia forever.
In the second episode, "Making Good," David helps evacuate the Dinotopians from Waterfall City to avoid the T-Rex invasion, while Frank and Karl attempt to escape the island. Meanwhile, when the Outsiders discover their power over the T-Rex, it looks like only the newcomers, Marion and a wily lady bandit named Le Sage (Zane) may be able to save the wonders of Dinotopia from extinction.
A saurian series hatches and prospers
After sterling ratings last May with a big six-hour miniseries, ABC decided to put Dinotopia on its fall schedule. While the series wasn't quite ready in time for its initial premiere date, the resulting show has been worth the wait. A lusciously produced series maintains the same Emmy-winning effects, creating an alien world where dinosaurs and humans live and work together. The CGI dinosaur effects are effortlessly incorporated into the action, while a bright new cast inhabit the roles, making them their own.
Pulling off a special-effects-laden miniseries with virtual characters is one thing. Creating an ongoing television series is an entirely different matter. However, except for the time it takes to become accustomed to different actors in the roles, the look and feel of the series makes it seem as if the story is just continuing on. Because both episodes were written by Raymond Khoury and directed by Thomas Wright, the storytelling is strong and sure.
Despite that, there are a couple of minor quibbles to be had, even though it looks like these problems may vanish after a few airings. The character of Frank, played by Michael Brandon, is unduly discontent and angry in a way that seems at odds with the situation and the previous portrayal of Frank in the miniseries. This is a problem with the script and the dialogue, and not the fine character actor, Brandon. His character will surely lighten up as time goes on.
The bigger problem is the lack of dinosaur characters. Yes, Zipeau (with a new spelling and Omid Djalili providing the character's new voice), 26 and Freefall are all around, but they don't have enough to do, and Zipeau is the only one who talks. There are other talking dinos around, but the citizens making the decisions and saving the day are all human, which makes Dinotopia look a lot less utopian than it should. The T-Rex have more on-screen time than any of the good dinosaurs, and all they get to do is look scary and eat people. That said, there has been talk that additional talking dinosaur
characters will be added.
If those problems are taken care of, Dinotopia looks to be a fine new series from Hallmark Entertainment and Disney. The addition of the Outsiders and the lively Lisa Zane should help keep the human drama in this utopia alive, and, hopefully, the dinosaur characters will be fleshed out so that their drama and interaction will create a truly compelling world.
