Dink, the Little Dinosaur
Title screen
StarringR. J. Williams
Anndi McAfee
Ben Ryan Ganger
S. Scott Bullock
Frank Welker
Narrated byKenneth Mars
ComposerJohn Debney
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes21 (42 segments)
Production
Running time30 minutes (2 segments)
Production companyRuby-Spears Enterprises
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 16, 1989 (1989-09-16) –
November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03)

Dink, the Little Dinosaur is an American animated series created by Karen Willson and Chris Weber, produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises.[1] The series originally aired as part of CBS's Saturday morning line-up from 1989 to 1990.[2]

Plot

The series followed Dink, a dinosaur, and his four friends as they explore and dwell in the volcanic landscape of prehistory in a place called Green Meadow.[3] Designed to help children navigate the world of friendship and making friends, the stories fostered positive behaviors such as caring about oneself and others, tolerance, ecology, problem-solving and teamwork.[4]

The second season introduced a weekly segment called "Factasaurus" that taught lessons and fun facts educating children about different dinosaur species.

Characters

Main characters
Name Voice Description
Dink R. J. Williams Kind, brave, smart and has a strong bond with his friends. Dink is a Brontosaurus, similar to Littlefoot from The Land Before Time franchise.[5]
Amber Anndi McAfee Amber is a close friend of Dink's. She is like a big sister figure.
Scat Frank Welker[6][7] Scat tends to be paranoid, but has a humongous appetite and he speaks in third person. Sometimes his appetite gets him in trouble, especially when it involves his favorite food called honey fruit.
Shyler Ben Ryan Ganger Shyler is Dink's shy friend, with a speech impediment and looks up to Dink and Amber as older siblings.
Flapper S. Scott Bullock Flapper tends to be a braggart and a jokester and he speaks with a slight lisp. He constantly tries to land in water, but always fails.
Crusty Frank Welker Crusty is a turtle who mentors the dinosaur youngsters and tells them stories that often help teach them valuable lessons.
Allies
Name Voice Description
Ariel Jennifer Darling Exceptionally courageous and self-sacrificing, Ariel lives at the Lake of Mists and is viewed by other dinosaurs as an almost supernatural figure.
Uncle Longbeak Hamilton Camp Longbeak is Flapper's uncle, whom he talks about a lot.
Pearl Pearl is a female friend of Shyler's.
Scratcher Dick Beals Scratcher is a herbivore by his own choice.
Red Hal Rayle Red is sometimes called Thundermaker. He is actually a spirit who lived in the Cave of Spirits.
Earthshaker Frank Welker Shakes the ground when he walks and talks. None too fond of smaller creatures, but willing to return a favor.
Dippo Dana Hill Dippo is afraid of what other dinosaurs think of his kind. He is good friends with Shyler.
Opo Opo is a friend of the gang who helps Ariel to escape from Tyrannor.
Dim Dim is a dimwitted friend of the gang.
Tubble and Hubble Tubble: Jim Cummings
Hubble: Jack Angel 		Tubble and Hubble are an old pair of pathfinders for their herd.
Squirt Russi Taylor Once thought Crusty was his mother.
Shortspike Shortspike is a friend of Dink and separated from his parents due to a volcano trouble.
Cornelius Cornelius was once a rival of Dink's.
Trail Blazer Trail Blazer used his tail to create Green Meadow and Tarpit Pass (which protects Green Meadow from Hunters like Tyrannor).
Patch and Ridetail Patch and Ridetail are Trail Blazer's children.
Strongfoot Strongfoot was once Trail Blazer's rival.
Tiny Joey Camen Tiny is a friend in need, helped by Dink to get fruit guarded by a bullish Dicraeosaurus.
Brighteyes Jodi Carlisle Brighteyes is a mother to be helped by the gang to protect her eggs from Egghunters.
Buttercup Billie Hayes Buttercup is Crusty's childhood turtle friend.
Beast Michael Bell Beast has a disfigured body structure.
Iggy Shyler helps Iggy find his way home.
Nobbie Nobbie is a good friend of Shyler.
Daisy Scar once had a crush on her.
Brusier Brusier is Daisy's boyfriend.
Glowy Shyler wanted to keep Glowy.
Melodi Kath Soucie Gang helps Melodi in saving her mate.
Forest Cam Clarke Forest once made Dink jealous one time.
Stormfoot Dana Hill Stormfoot fought Dink in the "Challenge of the Desert" duel.
Jerry Kath Soucie Tail gets stuck under a rock but is rescued by Crusty.
Mama Triceratops Once thought Scat was her son.
Villains
Name Voice Description
Tyrannor A Tyrannosaurus who chases Dink and his friends all over their prehistoric world. He is feared by every known dinosaur.
Hunters Various carnivorous dinosaurs that mostly reside in Hunter's Grove.
Scavenger Frank Welker A troublesome flock of Pterodactylus.
Fleetfoot Jim Cummings Hunts Pterosaurs.
Honeyfruit Monster
Sharptooth According to Crusty, he would even scare Tyrannor. He had fought Trail Blazer with the resulting fight creating Green Meadow and Tarpit Pass.
Snakenecks
Sandtooth
Watertooth
Shelleater Known to prey on turtles.
Bolderbuns Frank Welker
Waterhunters
Egghunters A trio that targets Brighteyes' eggs.
Sharpmouth
Slidetooth

Episodes

Season 1 (1989)

No.TitleOriginal air date
1a"The Shell Game"September 16, 1989 (1989-09-16)
Scat's appetite gets him and his friends in trouble when Tyrannor gets Crusty's shell in his jaws.
1b"Shyler's Friend"September 16, 1989 (1989-09-16)
Shyler is unsure of how to approach and befriend Pearl and his friends' assistance isn't helping.
2a"Dink, Come Home"September 23, 1989 (1989-09-23)
2b"White Beauty"September 23, 1989 (1989-09-23)
3a"Crusty's Baby"September 30, 1989 (1989-09-30)
Crusty becomes the unwitting dad of a newly hatched Stegosaurus and names him Squirt, but the latter doesn't eat well, forcing Crusty to unite him with his actual dad.
3b"The Gentle Hunter"September 30, 1989 (1989-09-30)
Scat meets a plant-eating Deinonychus named Scratcher, who was driven away by the Brontosaurus herd, so Dink has to save Scat from becoming the hunted.
4a"Phantom of the Cave"October 7, 1989 (1989-10-07)
Dink and his friends explore the Cave of Spirits to find out more about the Brachiosaurus. They find one named Red who is having trouble with The Scavengers.
4b"Dry River"October 7, 1989 (1989-10-07)
A fall has dammed up the river and the Ultrasaurus, Earthshaker is not willing to unblock it after Dink extracts a thorn from his foot.
5a"Tricera-Scat"October 14, 1989 (1989-10-14)
Scat dozing inside an eggshell is mistaken by a mother Triceratops for one of her hatched babies.
5b"The Search"October 14, 1989 (1989-10-14)
Flapper does impractical pranks on some various dinosaurs of the era, but puts a stop when Shyler is in need of rescuing him.
6a"Amber's Crusade"October 21, 1989 (1989-10-21)
Marooned on a beach, Amber and Shyler have to look for three baby Psittacosaurus. After a close call from Tyranno, they make it soon afterwards.
6b"Old Timers"October 21, 1989 (1989-10-21)
7a"Uncle Longbeak"October 28, 1989 (1989-10-28)
7b"Surprise"October 28, 1989 (1989-10-28)
Dink goes to get a stone for Amber's Hatching Day. With aid from Tiny and two Ichthyosaurus, he finds it in a nearby store.
8a"The Hollow Tree"November 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)
Dink investigates a mysterious inhabitant of a hollow tree. It turns out to be a Diplocaulus named Dippo whose looks are ridiculed, but Flapper rescues him and Shyler from a storm.
8b"Badge of Courage"November 4, 1989 (1989-11-04)
During a hike to Fire Mountain, Dink meets Shortspike and goes with a Fire Bug to rescue his father.
9a"Wish Mountain"November 11, 1989 (1989-11-11)
Shyler's attempt to make a wish with his loose tooth is interrupted by a fake Oviraptor and Ankylosaurus.
9b"Crusty's New Home"November 11, 1989 (1989-11-11)
Tired of fixing the cave, Crusty moves elsewhere. Not finding a new home to his liking, he returns to find Dink and his friends have fixed his old home.
10a"Small Stuff"November 18, 1989 (1989-11-18)
Two Erythrotherium destroy Dink and his friends' digging plans to protect their home. Dink compensates them after saving their lives.
10b"Lights Out"November 18, 1989 (1989-11-18)
Amber gets a crystal rock, but when the rock breaks, Flapper has his own tricks against Tyrannor.
11a"Mystery of the Broken Skull"November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)
Amber is blamed for destroying a watering hole when trying to get a spot there, so she investigates with her friends. They find the hunters that did it and manage to thwart a Spinosaurus ambush at another watering hole and restore the usual watering hole.
11b"Encounter at Flat Rock"November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)
Crusty gets lost while trying to find the Rock. Having failed to join him, Dink goes off to save him from a shell-eating Baryonyx.
12a"The Sky Is Falling at Green Meadow"December 2, 1989 (1989-12-02)
12b"Sea Rescue"December 2, 1989 (1989-12-02)
Scat is lost from a tsunami. Dink and his friends, accompanied by marine creatures, locate and rescue Scat from a storm.
13a"Raiders of the Lost Nest"December 9, 1989 (1989-12-09)
13b"Land of No Return"December 9, 1989 (1989-12-09)
Dink and his friends lure Tyrannor into the 'Land of No Return'. Flapper comes to the rescue, but then, they rescue Tyrannor himself.

Season 2 (1990)

No.TitleOriginal air date
14a"Scavengers"September 15, 1990 (1990-09-15)
The kids save an Ornitholestes named Fleetfoot from a flock of Pterodactylus, but Fleetfoot turns out to be a hunter of flying animals and tries to get Flapper.
14b"Tar Troubles"September 15, 1990 (1990-09-15)
Against Crusty's advice, Dink interferes with a tar pit and frantically tries to stop it spreading, but ends up starting a fire.
15a"The Honeyfruit Hero"September 22, 1990 (1990-09-22)
Scat tries to become a super hero by saving the Compsognathus Honeyfruit supply from a large bone biter, which turns out to be an Iguanodon, instead of bugs.
15b"Tall Tale"September 22, 1990 (1990-09-22)
Crusty tells the story of Trail Blazer, he tells him about he and his herd's survival, the battle against the Allosaurus, Sharpteeth and the formation of Green Meadow many years ago.
16a"Crusty's Reunion"September 29, 1990 (1990-09-29)
16b"Tale of the Beast"September 29, 1990 (1990-09-29)
A disfigured Saurolophus is believed to be a menacing beast. Amber, whom Beast rescued, is able to clear the misunderstanding.
17a"Scat Brained"October 6, 1990 (1990-10-06)
A close encounter with Tyrannor and a bump on the head, convinces Scat that he is a Tyrannosaurus. Meeting Tyrannor again during a fall restores Scat.
17b"Fraidy Scat"October 6, 1990 (1990-10-06)
Scat's fear of animals (possibly monsters, snakes, lizards, spiders, ghost stories or ants) makes him sleepy in the daytime. He overcomes his fear to rescue his friends stuck under a hidden tree.
18a"The Reluctant Head-Banger"October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13)
Shyler befriends a Pachycephalosaurus named Nobby, but his appetite is too big for Dink's lot to handle. However, Nobby rescues them from being buried under the fall.
18b"Wrongs of Spring"October 13, 1990 (1990-10-13)
19a"Overrun"October 20, 1990 (1990-10-20)
19b"The Last of Their Kind"October 20, 1990 (1990-10-20)
Shyler catches a Fire Bug he calls Glowy. A distressed Supersaurus named Melodi is looking for her mate. Shyler and his friends find and rescue Melodi's mate.
20a"Day of the Snake"October 27, 1990 (1990-10-27)
20b"Rivals"October 27, 1990 (1990-10-27)
21a"Challenge"November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03)
The kids challenge a herd of Centrosaurus when they drink from their water hole somewhere in the desert. Dink must kill the herd leader's son, Stormfoot in a "Challenge of Desert".
21b"The Secret"November 3, 1990 (1990-11-03)

Cast

Additional cast

Home media

VHS release

Five years after its television broadcast, Dink, the Little Dinosaur was released on VHS by Turner Home Entertainment under the Hanna-Barbera label on September 14, 1994. Its six volumes are Land Of No Return, Shyler's Friend, The Sky Is Falling, Lights Out, Rivals and Phantom Of The Cave. Each Dink videocassette contains over five episodes from the series. Turner also distributed these videos internationally in different countries such as the United Kingdom through First Independent Films, in Australia through Rainbow Products, and in Germany through Fox Video.

DVD release

Warner Archive released the complete series on October 10, 2017 in Region 1.[8]

References

  1. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 156. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ "Dink, the Little Dinosaur". 80scartoons.net. 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 251–252. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn. "Television". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 24, 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-16.
  6. ^ "Dink the Little Dinosaur @ Toonarific Cartoons". Toonarific.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  7. ^ "Frank Welker Homepage". Frankwelker.net. Archived from the original on 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  8. ^ "Dink, the Little Dinosaur - 'The Complete Series' of the 1989 Ruby-Spears Cartoon! Available online as an MOD release next month from the Warner Archive Collection". TVShowsOnDVD. Retrieved 21 September 2017.

External links

Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s
Children's programming on CBS in the 1990s
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