When Dinosaurs Ruled The Box Office
With a week to go until our centenary screening of The Lost World – the grandfather of monster movies – as well as the new Jurassic World trailer premiering today, we thought it was the perfect time to do a prehistoric roundup of some of the highs (and lows) of dinosaurs on the silver screen…
Gertie the Dinosaur (1914)
Cartoonist Winsor McCay was one of the very first people to move into animated films, and Gertie the Dinosaur is one of his earliest works. This charming short film sees McCay transform himself into a cartoon in order to demonstrate his dino-wrangling skills; the whole film is available to watch for free on YouTube.
King Kong (1933)
The eponymous ruler of Skull Island sees off a serious threat in the form of a rampaging T-Rex, but there are several other dinosaurs on display too. Stop-motion guru Willis O’Brien cut his teeth on The Lost World before working on King Kong, and later mentored a young Ray Harryhausen, who worked on (among many others) the next two films on the list.
One Million Years B.C. (1966)
Never mind the fact that the prehistoric timeline is all over the place; Ray Harryhausen remarked that the film wasn’t made “for professors who probably don’t go to see these kinds of movie anyway.” Hammer Productions were better known for their horror output, but how many of their horror films featured an Allosaurus and Raquel Welsh sporting cavewoman haute couture?
The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
The FX are significant for being started by Willis O’Brien and taken over by Ray Harryhausen after the former’s death, in a true “passing of the torch” moment. However, it’s really made this list because the tagline was “COWBOYS BATTLE MONSTERS” – enough said. Apparently all Jurassic Park was missing was a subplot about cursed horses.
Caveman (1981)
This surreal slapstick farce contains almost no dialogue beyond caveman grunts, features Ringo Starr in a leading role, and is one of the very few films to depict a T-Rex under the influence of marijuana. One that has to be seen to be believed…
The Land Before Time (1988)
Five years before his dino magnum opus, Steven Spielberg produced this classic of children’s animation that traumatised Gen X/elder millennials everywhere, and spawned at least a dozen inferior sequels that all featured musical numbers for some reason. The original remains a gem of animation and a poignant story of grief, loss and friendship, as depicted by an unlikely friendship posse.
Jurassic Park (1993)
As if it could be overlooked! Groundbreaking in so many ways, and never bettered, Spielberg rewrote the playbook for the summer blockbuster that he created two decades earlier with Jaws. Incidentally, both the sequel and film were named after the 1925 film.
Tammy & The T-Rex (1994)
When Michael (Paul Walker) is mauled by lions, a mad scientist implants his brain into a mechanical dinosaur to do his bidding – but Michael wants to reunite with his high school sweetheart Tammy (Denise Richards). If that sentence hasn’t sold it to you, then there’s nothing else to say.
Dinosaur (2000)
Disney’s surprisingly gritty creature feature (well, dark by Disney standards) was reportedly the most expensive animated film ever made for a while, due to the years spent creating software sophisticated enough to produce it. The hard work paid off, though, as the film’s protagonists have stood the test of time.
The VelociPastor (2017)
When a priest uncovers an ancient artifact, he gains the ability to transform into a Velociraptor when angry. To paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm, “They were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think whether they should.”
Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)
Please let this one be good. Please.