Dino-Riders

Dino-Riders
Product logo
Created by	Paul Kirchner (story)
Starring	Charles Adler Jack Angel Cam Clarke Townsend Coleman Joe Colligan Peter Cullen Ike Eisenmann Dan Gilvezan Noelle North Rob Paulsen Patrick Pinney Frank Welker
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	14
Production
Running time	approximately 23 min (per episode)
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	October 2, 1988 – December 1988

Dino-Riders is a cartoon television series that aired in the late 1980s, primarily as a promotion to launch a new Tyco toy line. Only fourteen episodes were produced, thirteen of which were aired as part of the Marvel Action Universe. Episodes were also released as a collection of Dino-Riders VHS tapes, which are sometimes sought after as collectors' items.

The series told the story of the Valorians, a peaceful race of telepathic humans whose home planet was conquered by the Rulon Empire. 400 survivors escaped on a space ship and time traveled to prehistoric Earth using the experimental Space-Time Energy Projector (also known as the S.T.E.P). But Emperor Krulos and his lead commanders accidentally followed them into the past when a tractor beam locked onto the Valorians' ship during the time jump. Stranded in the past, the two groups recruited the planet's dinosaur population into their struggle. The Valorians used their telepathy for taming dinosaurs to ride and for domestic use. The Rulons captured dinosaurs with 'brain boxes'. These were large metal helmets which fit onto dinosaur's heads and control their brains. Both Valorians and Rulons would often fit dinosaurs with huge arrays of laser and weapon platforms, upon which people could ride, and attack one another. Battles were mostly motivated by the Rulon's desire to steal the S.T.E.P. from the Valorians, and almost always inconclusive, seldom accomplishing more for either side than restoring the status quo from the beginning of the episode. One of the recurring trends throughout the series was the Tyrannosaurus Rex getting de-brain boxed by the Dino-Riders.

Voice talents

In the Dino-Riders cartoon, both Krulos and his most powerful commander Rasp were voiced by Frank Welker. Questar, the heroic leader of the Valorians was voiced by Dan Gilvezan, and the Valorian soldier Gunner was voiced by Peter Cullen. Welker, Gilvezan and Cullen also did voices for the Transformers cartoon, as well as Adler, Angel, and Coleman. It is a popular, but incorrect, belief that Rasp was voiced by Chris Latta, to the extent that it was stated in Toyfare magazine - in truth, Latta had no role in the series.

Overview

As the Valorians are attempting to evade the Rulon forces who are chasing them throughout space, Questar announces that their only hope of survival is to use the Space Time Energy Projector, colloquially referred to as the S.T.E.P. The Valorians are being chased by a fairly large fleet of Rulons, and their ship, along with the S.T.E.P, has come under considerable fire. Turret explains that they may not make it due to the amount of damage but proceeds with the course of action. When attempting to use the S.T.E.P, they come to the realization that they do not have enough power for the operation. However, the Rulons lock on to their ship with a tractor beam, thinking they are about to escape. With the tractor beam locked onto their ship, though, the Valorians use it as a source of energy, allowing them to make the jump through time, and unknowingly dragging the main Rulon ship with them.

The Valorians make a crash landing, soon encounter numerous dinosaurs roaming the land that surrounds them, and realize that they have traveled back to prehistoric earth. The Rulons, having landed further away, in a darker and what appears to be volcanic environment, have not yet discovered that they have traveled through time and have spent two days trying to contact Rulon forces in the area. Numerous beings curiously approach their grounded spaceship. Thinking that they are Valorians, Krulos orders that they are to be fired upon, until he sees that it is a pack of Deinonychus. The Rulons then see that there are dinosaurs everywhere; Krulos curses Questar for dragging him through time. He then vows to get the Valorians’s precious S.T.E.P, so he can return to his empire in the present day. He announces that they must destroy the Valorians. The Rulons make plans to brain-box powerful dinosaurs so they can defeat the Valorians and steal the S.T.E.P, thus allowing them to return to the present day. Upon hearing laser shots outside the valley area, the Valorians find out that they are not alone and prepare their own dinosaurs for a Rulon attack.

In regards to the dinosaur (and other animal) species present, the series is extremely anachronistic, showing late Cretaceous species like Tyrannosaurus rex alongside species from earlier eras, including the Permian genera Dimetrodon, which actually lived 200 million years earlier, before dinosaurs had evolved.

Characters

The plot for the Dino-Riders television show is the continual struggle between the good Valorians and the evil Rulons. The Valorians were a peaceful, super-human race who were driven out of their home planet Valoria by the Rulons. The Rulons are a tyrannical race of various species.

The Valorians are a rebel band of survivors from the planet Valoria. They are led by the heroic and compassionate Questar. Questar assumed the leadership position of the team of remaining Valorians primarily because of his reputation as one of the planet's greatest leaders. The characters that appear prominently in the Valorian group alongside Questar are Yungstar, Serena, Gunner, Turret, and Mind-Zei. They all play different roles and have varying abilities.

The residents of the Rulon ship Dreadlock, which was pulled through time along with the escapee Valorian ship, are led by Krulos, the ruler of the Rulon Empire. Their ranks are filled with various species, notably Vipers (a species resembling a Cobra), Hammerheads and Ants.

Dino-Riders (Valorians)

• Questar: Leader of the Dino-Riders.
• Yungstar: Pilot and dare-devil.
• Serena: Pilot and healer.
• Gunner: One of the lead warriors and trainers.
• Turret: Scientist.
• Mind-Zei: Blind advisor to Questar; Serena's grandfather.
• Llahd: Resident kid.
• Icon: Military advisor.
• Tagg: Dinosaur trainer.
• Aero: Pilot; Yungstar's rival.
• Vector: Repair tech.
• Cub: Caveman from Ice Age.

Dino-Rider Commandos

• Astra: Leader of the commandos.
• Rock: Specialty is crossing rocky terrain.
• Glyde: Specialty is air support.
• Bomba: Specialty is explosives.
• Kameelian: Specialty is wildlife and recon.
• Faze: Specialty is electronics and artillery.

Valorian Dinosaurs

• Diplodocus
• Deinonychus
• Stegosaurus
• Protoceratops
• Pachycephalosaurus
• Pteranodon
• Dimetrodon
• Struthiomimus
• Quetzalcoatlus
• Torosaurus
• Pterodactyl
• Chasmosaurus
• Edmontonia
• Pachyrhinosaurus
• Rhamphorhynchus (included with Brontosaurus)
• Styracosaurus
• Brontosaurus
• Smilodon
• Giant Ground Sloth
• Entelodont (identified as Killer Warthog)
• Woolly Mammoth

Rulons

• Emperor Krulos: Ruler of the Rulon Empire.
• Krok: Krulos' Second-in-command.
• Rasp: Commander of the Vipers.
• Hammerhead: Commander of the Sharrkurs.
• Antor: Commander of the Antmen.
• Skate: Krok's Sidekick.
• Lokus: Lower-level Rulon commander.

Rulon Dinosaurs

• Tyrannosaurus rex
• Triceratops
• Pteranodon
• Ankylosaurus
• Deinonychus
• Monoclonius
• Placerias
• Saurolophus
• Kentrosaurus
• Quetzalcoatlus

Episodes

1. The Adventure Begins (1)
2. Revenge of the Rulons (2)
3. The Rulon Stampede
4. The Blue Skies of Earth
5. Toro, Toro, Torosaurus
6. T-Rex
7. Krulos
8. Tagg, You're It!
9. Thanksgiving
10. To Lose the Path
11. Enter the Commandos
12. Battle for the Brontosaurus (1)
13. One to Lead Us (2)
14. Ice Age Adventure

Toys

The reason for production of the animated series was to launch a Dino-Riders toy line. It was expected that the toys would be produced at a high level of quality. The toys were met with high praise, in particular the detail of the models proved to be beneficial to the line.

The toys were based on a simple concept of combining two themes within popular toys - dinosaurs and futuristic weaponry. Every dinosaur product came with body gear which generally included fitted weapons and stations - each being specific to every individual dinosaur. Each dinosaur also came with at least one action figure, in some cases numerous figurines - depending on the size of the dinosaur. Each dinosaur came in a box that was covered in detailed art which depicted scenes of the Dino-Rider story. Every toy, along with an instruction manual came with an exclusive comic book.

The advertisements for the toy line could be seen at the beginning of the Dino Riders home videos, in which the toys were seen in a real environment, usually battling each other, being handled by kids. The toys were divided into a three part series along with other special releases such as the Ice-Age editions.

Product Dynamics Ltd worked with Tyco in creating the toys. The toys were also released in Japan, where the boxes had variations. Imitation Dino-Riders toys were also produced, and were available in places like Europe. They looked very similar to the original, except for some obvious mistakes such as screws being more visible and so on. The known imitations produced include variations of the Torosaurus, Stegosaurus and a Brontosaurus.

In 1990 the toy-line came to an end. However, the Smithsonian Institution was so impressed with the technical accuracy of the toys they contacted Tyco, and teamed up with them to re-release the dinosaur models. The partnership was advantageous for Tyco, who had excess figurines from the Dino-Riders series. There were few noticeable differences between the original Dino-Riders toys and the Smithsonian ones; a darker paint scheme, and a removal of motorized walking action. The molds used, however, were kept the same, and were sold sans weaponry. There were 20 dinosaurs released, as well as ice age toys. Some dinosaurs had name changes to reflect better accuracy. In 1993 the same figures were used on another Tyco line, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs.

The character Rex in Disney's Toy Story is based on the Tyrannosausus Rex character's toy (List of Toy Story characters).

Comics

Apart from the miniature comics that came with a purchase of one of the Dinosaur toys, Marvel released a three part mini series of Dino-Rider comics. The comics had different story lines to the cartoon and were considered to be much darker than the cartoon as well.

A 'Dino-Riders Annual' was later released as a hardcover book that contained both the first and second issues in the one collection. The Marvel comic books were released in 1989, the first issue, The Path being released in February, being 23 pages long.

Other

In addition to the toys and comics, there were a number of other products released during the Dino-Riders run on television. These were primarily children-orientated products, such as colouring books, puzzles and crayons. Tyco also released a number of Super Dough play sets. In addition to these products, Dino-Riders clothing, kites, stickers and costumes were produced.

Tyrannosaurus riding Dinoriders had a cameo in the South Park episode Imaginationland 3

International titles

• The series was dubbed in European and Asian countries under the same title with the exception of France, where it was renamed Dino Riders, and Japan, Busou kyouryou dainozu -dinoraidāzu- (武装恐竜ダイノス ~ディノライダーズ~ "armed dinosaures dinos ~dinoriders~"). The toy line was distributed by Epoch Inc. (エポック, epokku) in the archipel.

External links

• Dino-Riders at IMDb
• Dino-Riders at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• A complete list of aired episodes
• dinoriders.com A Dino-Riders fan site
• Toy and video information
• Comic book credits
• Dino-Riders by Tyco at www.figure-archive.net