Denver the Last Dinosaur is a CGI-animated television series under the ZAG Toon label. It is a co-production between Zagtoon, Method Animation, Norman Studios, Nexus Factory, and Symbiosys Animation. The series is a reboot of the 1988 television series of the same name by World Events Production.
The series premiered on August 27, 2018 in France on M6.[2] The series finale aired on November 3, 2019, on M6.
Synopsis[]
- For an episode list, see Denver the Last Dinosaur/Episode list.
2016 ZAG website[]
- Where most kids dream of having a dog, a cat, or even a hamster, Cliff has a dinosaur ā Denver! Within adventures revolving around Cliff, Denver and a comedic crew of human friends, thereās an inevitable monkey wrench that is always in play ā Denver is a dino in a china shop! Moreover, being one-of- a-kind puts Denver on everyoneās radar.[3]
2017 On Kids & Family website[]
- In Bones Town, a small city in the southern United States lives the Scott family. A family that has become famous because of one of its members: a small dinosaur named Denver. A dinosaur that grew up with Harry Scott, since both were born on the same day. The series describes the daily life of Denver and the Dinopals: Harry, Charlotte and Super Dan. But daily life with a dinosaur quickly becomes extraordinary, especially in Bones Town, a city where something is always happening![4]
Characters[]
Denver[]
Denver is the titular main protagonist of the series. He is known as "the last dinosaur" from Bones Town and the adopted brother of Harry Scott. Unlike his previous incarnation, Denver is around the same age as the rest of the main characters and attends school with his human friends. Together, he and his three friends form a group called the Dinopals.
Harry Scott[]
Harry Scott (voiced by Ryan Nicolls in the English dub; Julien Crampon in the French dub) is Denver's adopted human brother. He also serves as the de facto leader of the Dinopals.
Charlotte[]
Charlotte (voiced by Lori Gardner in the English dub; Kaycie Chase in the French dub) is the only female member of the Dinopals. She is the smartest of their class and likes to create inventions to help her friends.
Super Dan[]
Super Dan (voiced by Laurie Hymes in the English dub; Emmylou Homs in the French dub) is a member of the Dinopals. He is a cheerful boy who enjoys pretending to be a "superhero" to help people around Bones Town.
Miss Tucson[]
Miss Tucson (voiced by Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld in the English dub; Fily Keita in the French dub) is the main antagonist of the series. She is a rich socialite who is jealous of Denver for being a famous citizen in Bones Town. In nearly every episode, Miss Tucson would come up with schemes to get him kicked out of town but she would always get foiled by the Dinopals.
Spooky[]
Spooky (voiced by Tom Picasso in the English dub; Olivier Podesta in the French dub) is the secondary antagonist of the series. He is an athletic school bully who likes to make fun of the Dinopals.
Pebble[]
Pebble (voiced by Wayne Grayson in the English dub; Mathias Kozlowski in the French dub) is Spooky's meek and submissive "best friend". He would always assist in Spooky's many schemes to bully and humiliate the Dinopals.
Production[]
While it's unknown what the earliest development history for the project was, there were talks about a reboot of the classic 1988 Denver the Dinosaur television series at World Events Production in around 2010.
ZAG's involvement with the reboot was first hinted at on July 4, 2015, when Jeremy Zag's Instagram post featured Denver along with other Zagtoon characters.[5]
On February 1, 2016, an early animation reel for the series was posted on sound designer Jack Goodson's YouTube channel. The reel also revealed that it would be animated in CGI and have fifty-two episodes that are eleven minutes long. Method Animation is also going to be involved with the project. The song that played in the trailer is "Crash" by The Primitives.[6]
On June 15, 2016, Jeremy Zag revealed the logo for the project which is going to be called Denver & Cliff.[7]
On September 2016, the official ZAG website revealed the early synopsis for the project.[3]
Somewhere between 2016 and 2018, the entire project was reworked before the start of production. This includes changing the animation style to emulate the classic 1988 series by having it be similar to the cel-shading animation technique (in the likes of Iron Man: Armored Adventures), redesigning the Dinopals, and renaming the series from Denver & Cliff to Denver the Last Dinosaur. As later revealed by Surendhar Stalin, a 3D artist for the project, all the model textures are hand painted as part of the changes.[8]
International release[]
Denver the Last Dinosaur first premiered in France on August 27, 2018, on M6.[9] The series finale aired on November 3, 2019, on M6.[2]
An English dub of the series premiered in New Zealand on TVNZ on September 2019.[10] The series was later released in Canada on Kidoodle.TV.[11]
Trivia[]
- Despite Zagtoon's involvement with the production of Denver the Last Dinosaur, ZAG doesn't own the full rights to the series. Instead, it is World Events Productions since it created the original 1988 television series of the same name.
- This is the second Denver the Last Dinosaur animated media and the first reboot. On April 25, 2023, it was announced that the franchise would be rebooted a second time with a feature film. However, it's unlikely ZAG would be involved with the second reboot.[12]
- The series was released in 2018 to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the original series.
- Since its release, the series has been met with criticism from fans of the original series. The criticism stems from the animation style and the changes made to the setting of the series.
- As revealed in concept art, a boy named Louie was created to be a fifth member of the Dinopals. However, he was later removed so the series would have only four main characters. While his name isn't mentioned in any concept art, his name is carved on the Dinopals treehouse in the trailer.
- Louie was designed by Axel Blanc. The logo on his shirt is a reference to the Jurassic Park logo.[13]
- The original reel was storyboarded by Mathias Ninot.[14]
- Some of the props seen in the series were designed by Eliette Scherer.[15]
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
Logos[]
Video[]
References[]
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