Get ready to relive the memories of "Not The Momma" all over again! The classic Jim Henson series, Dinosaurs, is finally headed to Disney+ next month.
More than a year after the streaming service launched, an official release date of January 29, 2021, has been bestowed upon us to reunite with the Sinclair family. There were some reports that the show was coming in its entirety by the fall but, for whatever reason, the debut was pushed back. That being said, come January, those who grew up watching the show in the '90s will get their nostalgia boost and it will provide a chance for a new generation to discover the show. Brian Henson, the executive producer of the series, had this to say about its arrival to Disney+.
"Up until pretty recently it was on Hulu and it has had quite a following on Hulu. I think the audience will more easily find it on Disney+, which is terrific. It sits very well on Disney+. When they were divvying up what goes where, they eventually decided Dinosaurs should be over on Disney+. I think it'll find a bigger and new audience base on Disney+."
Dinosaurs premiered in 1991 and originally aired on ABC through October of 1994 for 65 episodes. The project was conceived by Jim Henson less than a year before his death and takes place during the time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. At the center of the series is the Sinclair family which consists of Earl Sinclair, Fran Sinclair, their three children, Robbie, Charlene, and Baby, as well as Fran's mother, Ethyl. Given the fact that Henson passed before the show debuted, there was a lot of tension behind the scenes. Brian Henson, then only 27, had to take over the company and figure out how to make the show work all while the Henson Company was in talks to be acquired by Disney:
"It was a show that benefitted from lack of experience. The way that we decided to make that series was sort of as a progression from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles we barely made with spit and polish and rubber bands. We had no money, made it super-fast, and I wanted to use that same animatronic approach to dinosaurs. Basically, there was nobody who had the experience to do what we were doing. The fact that I was 27 or so didn't matter. I was as much of an expert as anybody else. It was nice to bring everybody together and go, 'Okay, this has never been done. And now we're going to figure out how to do it.'"
Dinosaurs seemed to take its inspiration from shows like The Simpsons and The Flinstones by being a sort of parody of modern life. While the show was pure parody and comedy, the series has become particularly known for its now-infamous series finale which ends things on a bit of an unpleasant note. In the episode called "Changing Nature" (BTW VERY OLD SPOILER ALERT INCOMING), it all ends with the family's patriarch accidentally leading to the beginning of the Ice Age and finds the beloved family freezing to death, with no idea of what is really happening. I know in real life dinosaurs went extinct but it's not the kind of end I personally wanted for the Sinclair family after spending 65 episodes with them.
Are YOU ready to revisit Dinosaurs? The series hits Disney+ on January 29, 2021.