''Theodore Rex'', also known as ''T. Rex'', is a 1996 buddy cop

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by Jonathan Betuel and starring

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

. Though originally intended for theatrical release, the film went

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

, and consequently became the most expensive direct-to-video film ever made at the time of its release. The film was not well-received, and saw Whoopi Goldberg being nominated for Worst Actress at the 1996

Golden Raspberry Awards The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

. It is the first

movie to receive any sort of Razzie nomination.

Plot

In an alternate futuristic society where humans and anthropomorphic

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 ...

s co-exist, a tough police detective named Katie Coltraine (

) is paired with an anthropomorphic

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...

named Theodore Rex ( George Newbern) to find the killer of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals leading them to a ruthless

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

bent on killing off mankind by creating a new

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

Cast

Live action

as Katie Coltrane *

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...

as Elizar Kane *

Juliet Landau Juliet Rose Landau is an American actress, director, producer, and ballerina best known for her role as Drusilla on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spinoff show ''Angel'', the latter appearance earning her a Saturn Award nomination. Sh ...

as Dr. Veronica Shade *

Bud Cort Walter Edward Cox, known professionally as Bud Cort, is an American actor and comedian, known for his portrayals of Harold in Hal Ashby's film ''Harold and Maude'' (1971) and the eponymous hero in Robert Altman's film '' Brewster McCloud'' (19 ...

as Spinner *

Stephen McHattie Stephen McHattie Smith (born February 3, 1946)Other sources cite 1945, 1947, and 1948. is a Canadian actor. Since beginning his professional career in 1970, he has amassed over 200 film and television credits. He won the Genie Award for Best Sup ...

as Edge *

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film '' Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

as Commissioner Lynch * Jack Riley as Alaric *

Joe Dallesandro Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III (born December 31, 1948) is an American actor and Warhol superstar. Having also crossed over into mainstream roles such as mobster Lucky Luciano in the film '' The Cotton Club'', Dallesandro was a sex symbol of g ...

as Rogan * Calvin Scott as Smithersaurus

Voice cast

* George Newbern as Theodore Rex *

Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), '' Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...

as Molly Rex * Hayward O. Coleman as Oliver Rex / Tina The Waitress *

Jan Rabson Jan Rabson (June 14, 1954 – October 13, 2022) was an American actor. Life and career Rabson was born in East Meadow, New York, on June 14, 1954. Jan's voice has been heard on thousands of commercials, films, TV shows, and animated films and se ...

as Tina Rex * Billy Bowles,

Rodger Bumpass Rodger Bumpass (born November 20, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for his long-running role as Squidward Tentacles on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He voices several other characters on the show as ...

Jennifer Darling Jennifer Darling (born Joan Darling; June 19, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American voice, film and television actress. Her best-known role on screen was as Peggy Callahan in ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' and its spin-off '' The Bio ...

Denise Dowse Denise Yvonne Dowse (February 21, 1958 – August 13, 2022) was an American actress and director. She was best known for her roles as Mrs. Yvonne Teasley in the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1991–2000), Judge Rebecca Damsen in ' ...

Bill Farmer Bill Farmer (born November 14, 1952) is an American voice actor, comedian and impressionist. He has performed the voice of the Disney character Goofy since 1987, and has also been the voice of Pluto (Disney), Pluto and Horace Horsecollar since ...

, Anne Lockhart, Sherry Lynn, Mickie McGowan,

Patrick Pinney Patrick Cullen Pinney (born June 30, 1952) is an American television, film and voice actor. Early life, family and education Pinney was born in San Francisco County, California. His mother's maiden name is his middle name. He attended college a ...

, and

Philip Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had ...

as Additional voices

Puppeteers

Kevin Carlson Kevin D. Carlson (born April 12, 1962) is an American puppeteer, best known for his role of Mr. Potato Head in '' The Mr. Potato Head Show'' and the title character in '' The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth''. Early life Kevin D. Carlson was born ...

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of th ...

Dad * Charles Chiodo as Guy In The Bag * Edward Chiodo as

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

* Steven Chiodo as Guy In The Bag * Tom Fisher as

Terri Hardin Terri Hardin Jackson (born June 21, 1957) is an American puppeteer, artist, and former Disney imagineer. Her first Hollywood job came during her college years in which she built the stillsuits for the film version of ''Dune'' and acted as a stu ...

as Molly Rex (face performance) *

Bruce Lanoil Bruce Lanoil (born July 5, 1960) is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company and for The Walt Disney Company. He frequently works with puppeteer David Alan Barclay. Early life Lanoil was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 5, ...

as Theodore Rex (face performance) / Oliver Rex (face performance) *

Pons Maar Pons Maar (born August 4, 1951) is an American actor, puppeteer, artist and filmmaker. Career His first feature film as an actor was ''Return to Oz'' (1985), in which he played the lead Wheeler; he also worked behind the scenes as a performan ...

as Theodore Rex (in-suit performer) * James Murray as Tina The Waitress * Tony Sabin Prince as Molly Rex (in-suit performer) * Dwight Robers as Guy In The Bag * Paul Salamoff as Various Dinosaurs * Michelan Sisti as Various Dinosaurs * Jack Tate as Various Dinosaurs

Reception

''Theodore Rex'' received negative reviews from critics and audiences. It received an approval rating of 0% on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on five reviews. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine gave the film a negative review, saying, "This is one T. rex that won’t be spared the tar pits." William Thomas of ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine gave the film a one out of five stars and said, "Steer Clear". In a 2015 interview with the Brazilian newspaper ''

Folha de S.Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...

'', Goldberg stated that this is the only film she regrets ever having done: "Don't ask me why I did it, I didn't want to", she said.

Goldberg lawsuit

Though

had made an oral agreement to star in the film in October 1992, she attempted to back out. Abramson filed a US$20 million lawsuit against Goldberg, which was settled quickly. Goldberg agreed to star in the film for $7 million, $2 million more than the amount originally agreed upon. One of the attorneys on the case described this as being similar to the legal battle of Kim Basinger when she backed out of the film ''

Boxing Helena ''Boxing Helena'' is a 1993 American mystery thriller and body horror film directed by Jennifer Lynch and starring Sherilyn Fenn, Julian Sands, and Bill Paxton. Before its release, the film's production was hampered by legal battles with Madonn ...

''.

Distribution

The film was originally intended for theatrical release in North America during Christmas 1995, but a glut of competition as well as a rush on post production work for the effects heavy film led to

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

delaying release. They subsequently intended to release it to coincide with Goldberg's hosting stint at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

the following year, but ultimately decided that it was in their best interests to release the film

. This decision came as a result of failed test marketing in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

and

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. The film's $33.5 million budget made it the most expensive direct-to-video release at that time. The international distributors to whom New Line had pre-sold the rights to the film adopted a different release strategy by distributing theatrically in every country except the United States and Italy.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, theodore_rex 1996 direct-to-video films 1996 films American science fiction comedy films American buddy cop films American children's comedy films 1990s science fiction comedy films Films about dinosaurs Living dinosaurs in fiction New Line Cinema direct-to-video films Films about friendship Puppet films Films set in the future 1990s buddy cop films Films scored by Robert Folk 1996 comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films