Valley of the Dinosaurs

Valley of the Dinosaurs is an American animated television series produced by the Australian studios of Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from September 7 to December 21, 1974, and in syndication from 1977 to 1983.[1] The series, about a contemporary family sucked by a vortex back to the Stone Age was intended to be educational as well as entertaining, demonstrating the early human uses of fire, clothing, weapons and cooking.[2] It debuted on the same day as Land of the Lost.

Valley of the Dinosaurs
GenreAdventure
Action
Drama
Science fiction
Directed byCharles A. Nichols
Voices ofMelanie Baker
Shannon Farnon
Joan Gardner
Kathy Gori
Jackie Earle Haley
Alan Oppenheimer
Mike Road
Frank Welker
Narrated byDon Messick
ComposerHoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes16
Production
Executive producersWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 7 (1974-09-07) –
December 21, 1974 (1974-12-21)

Plot

Science professor John Butler and his family - wife Kim, teenage daughter Katie, young son Greg, and dog Digger - are on a rafting trip along the Amazon River in an uncharted river canyon when their raft hits a rock and capsizes. They are swept through a cavern and caught in a whirlpool.

Upon resurfacing, they find themselves in a mysterious realm where humans coexist with various prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs. The Butlers meet and befriend a clan of Neanderthal cavepeople led by Gorok, his wife Gara, their teenage son Lok, and their young daughter Tana. Gorok and his family have a pet of their own in the form of a baby Stegosaurus named Glump. Gorok's family saved the Butlers' upon their first arrival.

Gorok's family aid the Butlers' efforts to find a means of returning home. For their own part, John and his family do what they can to make the Neanderthals' daily lives easier. Examples of such included introducing Gorok's family to basic technology, such as simple machines - particularly the lever and the wheel - sailboats and windmills.

Episode list
Nº Title Air date
1"Forbidden Fruit"September 7, 1974 (1974-09-07)
2"What Goes Up"September 14, 1974 (1974-09-14)
3"A Turned Turtle"September 21, 1974 (1974-09-21)
4"The Volcano"September 28, 1974 (1974-09-28)
5"Smoke Screen"October 5, 1974 (1974-10-05)
6"Pteranodon"October 12, 1974 (1974-10-12)
7"The Saber-Tooth Kids"October 19, 1974 (1974-10-19)
8"After Shock"October 26, 1974 (1974-10-26)
9"Top Cave, Please"November 2, 1974 (1974-11-02)
10"S.O.S."November 9, 1974 (1974-11-09)
11"Fire"November 16, 1974 (1974-11-16)
12"Rain of Meteors"November 23, 1974 (1974-11-23)
13"To Fly a Kite"November 30, 1974 (1974-11-30)
14"Test Flight"December 7, 1974 (1974-12-07)
15"The Big Toothache"December 14, 1974 (1974-12-14)
16"Torch"December 21, 1974 (1974-12-21)

Cast

Comics

Charlton Comics published 11 issues of a comic book series based on the TV cartoon featuring new stories from April 1975 until December 1976. Harvey Comics published a one-shot reprint of the comics in 1993.

Home media

On March 22, 2011, Warner Archive released Valley of the Dinosaurs: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[3]

See also

References
  1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series. Scarecrow Press. pp. 304–305. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 884–885. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. "Valley of the Dinosaurs - 'The Complete Series' DVDs Now Up For Sale: Pricing, Specs, 3D Box Art". Archived from the original on 2011-09-13.
  4. "'Jellystone!': C. H. Greenblatt Re-introduces Thoroughly Modern Hanna-Barbera Toons". 26 July 2021.
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