- Denver, the Last Dinosaur
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Denver, the Last Dinosaur Genre animation, children's Created by Peter Keefe,[1] Calico Productions, World Events Productions Country of origin 
United States
FranceLanguage(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 50 Production Running time 30 minutes Broadcast Original channel Syndication Original run April 11, 1988 – December 8, 1989 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.
Contents
Plot
The show revolved around the adventures of Denver, the last dinosaur, who was released from his egg by a group of interracial 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.
Characters
Main characters
- Denver the Last Dinosaur - The title character. Voiced by Pat Fraley.
- 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 Clarke.
- Shades - A cool kid who always wears sunglasses (where his name is derived from). Voiced by Cam Clarke.
- Casey - Girl with a crush on Mario. She is also the machinist of the gang. Voiced by Kath Soucie. 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 Paulsen.
- 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 promoter, voiced by Brian Cummings.
- Professor Funt - Evil scientist, sometimes works with Morton, voiced by Brian Cummings.
- Nick - Leader of two other bullies, Scott and Rod, who cause trouble for the boys, voiced by Rob Paulsen.
Merchandise and DVD
Knott's Berry Farm 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 is removed on December 31, 2010 because of synchronizing problems. But on February 11, 2011, World Events Productions had released the complete series on Hulu.
Episode list
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-1
- Pakistan: Pakistan Television (PTV 1)
- Poland: Tele 5
- Philippines: Island's TV 13 (now IBC 13)
- UK: Galaxy (1990), TV-am (1992), Nickelodeon, Sky Channel as part of Fun Factory Saturday and Sunday morning programming (1990-1993).
- France : France 3 (1991-1993), Direct 8 (1993)
- Galicia: TVG (as part of Xabarín Club)
- Gibraltar: GBC TV.
- Israel: Channel 1
- Italy: Italia 1, 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: EBS
- Brazil: Globo
- Chile: Etc...TV
- Greece: New Channel, Seven-X
- Portugal: RTP 1, Canal Panda
- Hungary: Magyar Televízió 1 (the national TV)
- United Arab Emirates : (Channel 33)
- Finland: MTV3
- Mexico: XHGC-TV Canal 5
References
- ^ Barnes, Mike. "'Voltron' producer Peter Keefe dies", The Hollywood Reporter, May 28, 2010. Accessed August 26, 2010.
External links
Categories:- Dinosaurs in television fiction
- 1980s American animated television series
- French animated television series
- Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
- First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
- 1988 television series debuts
- 1990 television series endings
- Fictional dinosaurs
- USA Cartoon Express
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