''Denver, the Last Dinosaur'' is TV an

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

produced by

World Events Productions WEP LLC, doing business as World Events Productions, is an American-based animation and distribution company in St. Louis, Missouri, best known for releasing the anime titles '' Voltron, Defender of the Universe'' and '' Saber Rider and the Sta ...

and . It was nationally syndicated throughout the United States in 1988 with reruns airing until 1990. In the show, a dinosaur hatches from a petrified egg in modern times, and is befriended by a group of teenagers. Episodes often focused on issues of conservation, ecology, and greed. The show ran for two seasons, as the dinosaur boom that had followed the film ''

The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is an American animated film series and media franchise created by Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss, distributed by Universal Pictures and centered on dinosaurs. The series began in 1988 with the eponymous ''The Land Befo ...

'' (1988) waned until ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'' (1993), causing viewership to drop. The series received a recommendation from the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stud ...

. A CG-animated reboot, which originally went, under the name ''Denver and Cliff'' premiered on M6 on August 27, 2018. The new series was produced by Zagtoon.

Plot

The show revolves around the adventures of Denver, the eponymous last

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, who was released from his egg by a group of California teens: Jeremy, Mario, Shades, Wally, and Casey, along with tag-along younger sister, Heather. The kids taught Denver the finer points of

skateboarding Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation ...

and other pastimes while protecting him from rock concert promoter Morton Fizzback who wanted to use the dinosaur to make money. The series begins when Jeremy, while preparing for his Natural History test, and his friends visit the

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gr ...

– a place in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

which contains a large collection of extinct animal and plant fossils - and go to the Museum there. At the museum, the friends encounter a gang of bullies. The friends escape the bullies by hiding behind a fence near the tar pits. Behind the fence they find a pit that contains a large prehistoric egg. As the friends are playing with the egg it suddenly cracks and a green friendly dinosaur emerges who, inexplicably, understands English. The kids name him Denver after they spot an advertisement for the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

on a passing bus. The children decide to keep Denver and to keep his existence a secret. Denver is first hidden in a pool house at Wally's home. After Wally's sister discovers Denver they move Denver to the old school gym. After a while, Denver gets kidnapped by the manager Morton Fizzback, who puts Denver on a stage in front of an audience to become rich. When the children confront Morton about his abduction, he becomes paranoid that someone might find out that Denver is a real dinosaur. At the end, Denver is sold to a scientist named Professor Funt, who wants to examine and experiment on him, and use him to become famous. Eventually, Denver gets to return to the gang and 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 to the time whence he came.

Characters

Main characters

*Denver is the main protagonist of the show and a close friend of the gang. He is a green unknown species of

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, the last of his kind, who has proven to be a good and loyal friend. Denver first met Wally, Shades, Jeremy, and Mario when he hatched from his egg when the boys hid behind a fence in the tar pit from Nick and his friends. He surprisingly understands English. Denver got his name when the boys spotted an advertisement for the city of Denver on the side of a bus. He is a rock 'n roll music fan and likes to play electric guitar, ride skateboard and eat potato chips. Voiced by

Pat Fraley Patrick Howard Fraley (born February 18, 1949) is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated te ...

. *Wally Adams – Boy who takes Denver in, Denver's closest friend. He cares for various animals – including Rocky (his pup), three cats, Ears (a rabbit), and a parrot. Voiced by Adam Carl. *Heather Adams – Wally's older, and sometimes annoying, sister. She has blonde hair in a ponytail. Voiced by

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

. *Jeremy Anderson – the most intelligent and mature guy among the gang. He acts cerebral and possesses extensive knowledge about a wide variety of subjects, including the origin and habits of dinosaurs. Voiced by Adam Carl. *Mario – A brown skin and hair teen with an enormous ego. Voiced by

Cam Clarke Cam Clarke is an American voice actor, known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 ...

. *Shades – A cool teen who always wears sunglasses (where his name is derived from). Voiced by

. *Casey – Youngest of the gang, she is a machinist and often help the other members with the technical problems. She is in love with Mario, more obvious in the first season. Voiced by

Minor characters

*Rocky – Wally's pup. *Chet – Heather's boyfriend, voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

. *Freddy Facknitts – 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.

Villains

*Morton Fizzback – Drawn and voiced as an obvious characterization of actor

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-line joke, one-liner humor, his c ...

, Fizzback is an arrogant, treacherous and greedy rock concert promoter voiced by

Brian Cummings Brian Douglas Cummings (born March 4, 1948) is an American voice actor, known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on '' The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' from 1984 to ...

. *Professor Funt – Evil scientist, sometimes works with Morton, voiced by

. *Nick – Leader of three other bullies, Curt, Scott, and Rod, who cause trouble for the boys, voiced by

Merchandise and home media releases

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 Cereals Ralston may refer to: Place names United States *Ralston, California * Ralston, Iowa *Ralston, Nebraska * Ralston, Oklahoma *Ralston, Wyoming * Mount Ralston in the Sierra Nevada of California *Ralston Creek (Colorado) * Ralston Hall, Belmont, Cal ...

with its new brand Dinersaurs (which sold poorly and was discontinued by the end of 1988). Various episodes of the series were released on VHS by Fries Home Video.

released two DVD volumes through their Voltron.com website. The first volume included the hour-long pilot and the following eight episodes. The second volume includes 10 episodes.

had the complete series on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

; it was removed on December 31, 2010, because of synchronizing problems, but as of February 2012, all but three episodes had been restored. On February 11, 2011,

released the complete series on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

. On September 16, 2014, World Events Productions (distributed by VCI Entertainment) released ''Denver, The Last Dinosaur – The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time.

Episodes

Season 1 (1988)

Season 2 (1988)

2018 reboot

In October 2015, Zagtoon confirmed it was in the

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

phase on a CG-animated reboot of the series. Produced with

Method Animation Method Animation (sometimes called Method Animation Studios or Norman Studios and also known as ON Animation Studios or ON Kids & Family or Mediawan Animation) is a French company which produces CGI-animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the ...

, the new show premiered on M6 in France on August 27, 2018. Distributor

PGS Entertainment PGS Entertainment is a French-Swiss privately owned investment family group dedicated to the financing and brand management of independent producers' children's television programming. PGS' broadcast and media partners include Nickelodeon, Disney ...

sold the series to over 30 markets worldwide. In North America,

Yoopa Yoopa (stylized YOOPA) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Groupe TVA, a division of Quebecor Media. Initially aimed at preschoolers, Yoopa now broadcasts programming targeted toward children, aged 2–11. A magazine for par ...

began airing it in Canada starting June 2, 2019, with TiVi5 Monde in the United States following in April 2020. In Belgium, the series debuted on La Trois on September 4, 2019. An English dubbed version began airing in New Zealand on

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the ...

in March 2019. In South Africa, it debuted on

eToonz eToonz is a South African digital satellite television free-to-air children's channel created and owned by eMedia Investments's e.tv. The channel broadcasts for a duration of 16 hours from Sunday to Friday, 17 hours on Saturday and 18 hours wit ...

on January 15, 2020. In the United States, it premiered on

Primo TV Primo TV is an American English-language children's television channel operated by V-me Media aimed at the 6-18-year-old Latino market in the United States. The channel launched exclusively through Comcast Xfinity cable systems on January 16, 201 ...

on December 7, 2020.

References

External links

Official website from World Events Productions
* {{IMDb title, id=0190178
Denver, the Last Dinosaur
at

1988 American television series debuts 1988 American television series endings Animated television series about dinosaurs 1980s American animated television series 1980s American children's television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States English-language television shows American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series Living dinosaurs in fiction Anthropomorphic dinosaurs