Video Review: Dinosaur Train

     Buddy, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, discovers himself in a nest of Pteranodons, who adopt him as their own.  Along with his parents, Buddy and his Pteranodon brothers and sister Shiny, Tiny and Don make discoveries about other Dinosaurs in the Cretaceous time period as well as learn social and learning skills. The young dinosaurs work together, come up with hypotheses, and test them to find out information about the dinosaurs they are visiting via the Dinosaur Train.

     This show, created by Craig Bartlett, is the second created by the Jim Henson Company using CGI technology.  The animation is simple but not cheesy, and the characters are detailed enough to be believable.  The movements of the characters are natural and fluid, though shapes and colors stay fairly basic, bright, and flat.  The show is available on PBS Kids.

     In addition to being entertaining for young children (ages 3-6), the show boasts a resident paleontologist, who gives details and clarifies fact and supposition about each dinosaur on each episode.  he discusses the relationships between dinosaurs and animals alive currently, and describes their similarities.  Dr. Scott Sampson has a PhD in Paleontology from University of Toronto.

     The unique combination of dinosaurs and trains is a winner.  Young children have often had an obsession with one or the other, if not both, and so the show appeals to a wider audience.  Though the train takes somewhat of a backstage to the dinosaur discoveries, The Conductor is an important character, and injects the railroading spirit into the show.  In one episode, Buddy and Tiny work through three clues in order to be Junior Conductors.   On another episode, an obstruction had to be removed from the track for safe traveling.  On each episode, the Conductor announces entrance into the Time Tunnel ("Time Tunnel!  Time Tunnel approaching!"), and walks up and down the rows, asking for "tickets, please!" 

     I recommend this show for parents who are really REALLY tired of watching Thomas and Friends for the hundredth time, as well as for parents who want to nurture their offspring's obsession with dinosaurs.  Children can legitimately learn facts and information from the show along with learning and reinforcing behavioral norms.  Teachers of young children could easily use clips of the videos as reinforcement in a unit on dinosaurs, though even grade-schoolers would find it below them intellectually.
     Though I haven't discovered a show yet that has the merits or production quality of Dinosaur Train, other viewing options include Chuggington and Friends for train enthusiasts, and Dino Dan (available on Nick Jr. and Amazon on Demand) for dinosaur nuts.

Dinosaur Train
By Craig Bartlett
Jim Henson Co.
PBSKids
Copyright 2009