Denver, the Last Dinosaur

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Denver, the Last Dinosaur
Deverdinosaur.jpg
Title screen of original Denver, the Last Dinosaur opening
Genre animation, children's
Created by Peter Keefe, Calico Productions, World Events Productions
Country of origin  United States
 France
Language(s) English
No. of series 1
No. of episodes 52
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Syndication
Original run September 12, 1988 – November 22, 1988

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 syndicated nationally throughout the US in 1988. 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

[edit] Plot

The show revolved around the adventures of Denver, a dinosaur who was released from his egg by a group of multiracial 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 a knowledge school test about nature, and his friends go to the farm of "Labrea Tar Pit" - A place in Los Angeles (which is spread on a big territory and contains a big collection of animal and plant fossils which were extinct) there they go to the Museum. In the farm they encounter a gang of bullies and while escaping them they manage to hide behind a fence situated on the premises of the farm. Behind the fence they find a pit in the land, And in it they find a prehistoric egg. After they play with the egg and as it suddenly cleaves, out of it emerges a green friendly dinosaur 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. First, Denver is hidden in a pool house at Wally's home but after his sister discovers him they move him to the old school gym. After a while Denver gets kidnapped by the manager Morton Fizback, who gets him on a stage in front of an audience in order to become rich.

At the end Denver is almost sold to scientists who want to do examinations and experiments on him. Eventually everything turns out fine and he gets to return to the gang and even to 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 in time to the dinosaurs' time and visit the place and time where he came from.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

  • Denver the Last Dinosaur - The title character. Voiced by Pat Fraley.
  • Wally - Boy who takes Denver in, Denver's closest friend. 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.

[edit] Minor characters

  • Rocky - Wally's pup.
  • Chet - Heather's boyfriend, voiced by Rob Paulsen.
  • Freddy - 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Merchandise

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 (which sold poorly and disappeared from grocery shelves after less than a year).

World Events Productions (WEP) and TVShowsonDVD.com have announced that DVD series of the first 10 episodes of Denver: The Last Dinosaur would be released. The DVD would only be available online and a limited 1,000 copies would be up for purchase beginning October 8, 2007. The first DVD would include the hour-long pilot episode, and the following eight.[citation needed]

[edit] Episode list

[edit] Season 1

  1. Denver, the Last Dinosaur (Hour Long Pilot Episode)
  2. In the Chips
  3. Videohhhh!
  4. The Monster of Lost Lake
  5. Denver Makes the Grade
  6. Big Top Denver
  7. The Misunderstanding
  8. Lions, Tigers, and Dinos!
  9. Change of Heart
  10. Broncosaurus
  11. Denver, Dino-Star!
  12. Dinoland
  13. Winning

[edit] Season 2

  1. Enter the Dino
  2. Radio Denver
  3. The Phantom of the Movie Theater
  4. Missing Links
  5. Dog Gone Denver!
  6. Party Time
  7. Aunt Shadie's Ghost Town
  8. Moviestarus
  9. Denver at Sea
  10. Ski Denver
  11. Beach Blanket Dino
  12. History Repeats Itself
  13. Battle of the Bands
  14. The Comic Book Caper
  15. Carnival
  16. Pen Pal
  17. China Town Caper
  18. Denver, the Lost Dinosaur
  19. Denver and the Cornstalk
  20. Tea Time for Dinosaur
  21. Camp-Out
  22. Birthday Party From Outer Space
  23. Art Show
  24. Food Wars
  25. Dino-cise
  26. Denver, the Last Dragon
  27. High Flying Denver
  28. Denver at the Digs
  29. Chef Denver
  30. Fizzback's Follies
  31. Dinos are My Life
  32. Bayou Blues
  33. Canatta
  34. Pulto Needs People
  35. Arabian Adventure
  36. Venice Beach Blast
  37. Big News Denver
  38. Viva Denver!
  39. There's No Business, Like Snow Business

[edit] Aired

  • China: CCTV-1
  • Poland: Tele 5
  • Philippines: Island's TV 13 (now IBC 13)
  • UK: Nickelodeon, Sky Channel as part of Fun Factory Saturday and Sunday morning programming.
  • Gibraltar: GBC TV.
  • Israel: Channel 1
  • Italy: Italia 1.
  • Kazakhstan: Khabar TV.
  • Romania: TVR1.
  • Sweden: TV3.
  • Ethiopia: ETV
  • Serbia: TVNS Plus
  • Germany: RTL Plus
  • Kenya
  • Macedonia: MTV1
  • South Korea: EBS
  • Brazil: Globo
  • Chile: Etc...TV
  • Greece: Seven-X
  • Portugal: RTP1
  • Hungary: Magyar Televízió 1 (the national TV)

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver,_the_Last_Dinosaur"