When Mechanical Dinosaurs Roamed The Land Before Time

Did you see that episode of Matt Groening's TV show "Futurama" called "A Clockwork Origin" and think the robot dinosaurs in that show would make cool toys?  I did.  Then I remembered that there were toys similar to them in the 1980s.

They were teeny, tiny Tomy toy Dinosaur robots from Japan.  They could be found in the United States in 1985.

Robo Strux were "Robot Monsters" that looked like a Triceratops (Brutox), a Stegosaurus (Gordox), a Pterodactyl (Radox) and a T-Rex (Terox).

Your children will love trying to take over the world with robotic dinosaurs.

Best slogan ever for Robo Strux, spoken by the kid in this ad: "Once I finish building Terox, the world will never be safe from robot fury again!"

Radox and Terox get into a fight and threaten to destroy your living room.

Terox looks like the offspring of Godzilla and one of the Transformers.

Tonka knew that kids loved robots and dinosaurs.  That's why the dinosaur-like ZOD joined the GoBots in 1984.

Look for Shia LaBeouf to star in Michael Bay's GoBots movie in 2020.

Tyco launched its armor-suited Dino-Riders toy line in 1988.  That was a big year for dinosaurs.

Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and animation director Don Bluth joined forces for Universal's 1988 animated feature "The Land Before Time."  This USA Today article mentions popular tie-ins at Pizza Hut and J.C. Penney.

The Land Before Time proved to be a massive hit, spawning what seems like dozens of sequels, essentially creating the Direct-To-Video market.

By 1997, The Land Before Time hit Burger King in the form of wind-up toy dinosaurs.

Universal's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" was the big summer movie in 1997.  Rather than use that film for its Kid's Meal, Burger King chose to use the latest Land Before Time project.

In 2013, Burger King did release a Kids Meal tied to "Jurassic Park 3D."

Littlefoot is a wind up toy that walks and moves his tail and head.  Back in 1988, I think he would be called a brontosaurus, but I guess the term "brontosaurus" no longer exists, so now he'd be called an "apatosaurus."

Check out the offer from CompUSA.  Better act fast before the chain goes extinct!

The Land Before Time has been described as "Bambi with scales."

Littlefoot does have the same coloring as Bambi.  And the same eyelashes.  And both characters lost their moms onscreen, traumatizing many young children.

Wind-up Ducky does acrobatic tricks.

Ducky did not appear in the movie "Pretty in Pink."  That was Jon Cryer (from "Two and a Half Men") and the character he played was named "Duckie."

Ducky reminds me of Thumper from "Bambi."

I think this tiny character stole the movie.

Technically, the Petrie toy is not mechanical.  It is a squirt toy.

The instructions say "Use water only."  What else would a kid use?  Don't answer that.

Petrie also flaps his wings.

Petrie is famous for having very different and inconsistent color schemes in various forms of media.  For this toy, they decided to make him orange and tan.

Spike chows down on some leaves.

It would have been darkly funny, but inappropriate, to have a Sharptooth (the T-Rex from the first film) toy chowing down on another dinosaur.

Spike was a dinosaur of few words.  He just ate stuff.

As the Land Before Time franchise moved forward, many new dinosaur characters were added.

Like Sharptooth, Chomper is a T-Rex.  That is where the similarities end.

Chomper rolls forward and has some terrifying chomping action.

The Chomper character became a series regular in the Land Before Time animated TV show.

A plush Land Before Time dinosaur toy appears in Universal's 1999 movie "Mystery Men" starring Ben Stiller.

Tomy had another line of robots called "Starriors" in 1985.

This makes me think of "Truckasaurus" from "The Simpsons," another animated Matt Groening TV series.

For more dinosaur fun with Denver the Last Dinosaur, Dinersaurs cereal, cowboys, Snoopy and more, visit Knott's Berry Farm: Kingdom of the Dinosaurs.

Also, be sure to check out Jurassic Park: Carnotaurus And Chaos Effect.

Jurassic Park: Carnotaurus And Chaos Effect---It's A Jurassic World After All

Welcome...to Jurassic Park!

At Jurassic Park, you'd better watch out for a menacing Carnotaurus. Wait a minute. What?

A Carnotaurus bullied visitors to Jurassic Park years before guests at an Orlando, Florida animal theme park (that opened in 1998) counted down to extinction on a dinosaur thrill ride.

The Carnotaurus was one of the dinosaurs featured in Michael Crichton's 1995 book, The Lost World (the sequel to his 1990 novel, Jurassic Park), though it did not appear in the 1997 film adaptation. The Carno did manage to appear on some merchandise.

The Lost World seemed to have a much bigger marketing push than the original Jurassic Park.

It would have been nice if I had enjoyed The Lost World as much as I loved Jurassic Park.


When the original Jurassic Park was released by Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment in 1993, I saw this Steven Spielberg film in the movie theater three times.

I made sure I got these PVC figures of a Triceratops, Dilophosaur, and Tyrannosaurs Rex made by Dakin.

McDonald's and Coca Cola teamed up for Jurassic Park cups. I was only able to get two of them.

McDonald's also had a Jurassic Meal. There was no toy. It featured a HUGE burger. I think it was a triple Quarter Pounder with three slices of cheese and a gigantic serving of fries. Yes, I tried it!

For the Lost World in 1997, Burger King handled the fast food promotion (at the time, McDonald's had an exclusive deal going on with a very famous and powerful Mouse).

This watch features a Stegosaurus, a dinosaur that made its big screen Jurassic Park debut in The Lost World.

The Stegosaurus and Triceratops could be found on tubes of candy, too. The two dinosaur pieces snapped together to form a toy after the tube of candy was finished.

I think the candy was Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Mmmmm!

Nobody would ever dare to leave the T-Rex out of anything involving food. The T-Rex Water Squirter and Stamper were found on the tops of tubes of candy.

I think these toys may have been sold with Hershey's chocolates.

The Jurassic Park Lost World dinosaurs also became Koosh toys.

The T-Rex figure was really nicely done. If I had the money back then, I probably would have gotten all the dinosaurs.

In 1994, I got to see the Triceratops from the Jurassic Park film at an movie prop exhibit at Universal Studios Florida.

Years later, visitors would get to encounter a full fledged animatronic Triceratops at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida.

In 1999, Jurassic Park opened at Universal's Islands of Adventure next to Universal Studios Florida.

I got this pressed penny of a T-Rex during my visit to Universal Orlando in 2009.

Jurassic Park opened with Camp Jurassic, Pteranodon Flyers, the Jurassic Park River Adventure, the Triceratops Discovery Trail and the Jurassic Park Discovery Center.

The Triceratops Discovery Trail had been closed for years.

The Triceratops Encounter may or may not be listed as an attraction, but the buildings are still shown on the park map.

I got to see an animatronic Triceratops in person during my visit in 2009.

Universal spared no expense in bringing Jurassic Park to life.

The Pteranodon Flyers coaster looks really fun in person. I have not been on this ride yet. This is a low-capacity attraction, unfortunately. I visited Islands of Adventure on an uncrowded day in November, and the wait for the ride was one of the longest in the park.

The Jurassic Park River Adventure features some friendly and not-so-friendly animatronic dinosaurs. You will get drenched.

Before the big flume plunge, you are attacked by a Dilophosaur, hassled by Velociraptors, and nearly eaten by a T-Rex.

The Jurassic Park River Adventure first debuted at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California in 1996. The ride can also be found at Universal Studios Japan (2001) and Universal Studios Singapore (2010).

New attractions for Jurassic Park at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Florida have been rumored for years. I have to wonder if Jurassic Park's expansion land has been surrendered to its neighbor, the very popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I'd love to see a new fantasy based attraction for Jurassic Park based on Jurassic Park Chaos Effect.

Chaos Effect was a line of merchandise that was released by Kenner in 1998. This Hasbro Jurassic Park Spin-Off imagined scientists mixing the DNA of various dinosaurs and other animals to create "ultra-ferocious, hybrid dinosaurs---the most aggressive predators ever---wreaking chaos on an unsuspecting world!" Why would anyone ever do something like this? Because they look awesome, that's why.

The Jurassic Park scientists created this deadly 13 foot, 2 ton Compstegnathus using DNA from a Stegosaurus, a Compsognathus and an African Tree Frog.

The Chaos Effect creatures are "genetically mutated dinos gone bad." Really, who would have guessed that?

I only have the Compstegnathus, so I don't have the statistics on the other creatures. We'll have to guess what makes up the other dinos.


Tyrannonops might have some sabre-tooth tiger DNA.

Tanaconda has a bit of anaconda.

Raptor Alpha looks a bit like a T-Rex and a Raptor.

Ian Malcolm doesn't look much like Jeff Goldblum here. Is he on steroids? And he now works with a baby T-Rex.

I wonder if this was a proposed animated series.

I'd love to see a giant animatronic Velocirapteryx in a new ride at Jurassic Park.

Chaos Effect could be a big new interactive ride of some sort, all leading up to an encounter with the biggest, baddest dinosaur ever developed by the mad scientists at Jurassic Park...

Look out for Ultimasaurus! I believe I can see parts of a Triceratops, a T-Rex, a Velociraptor and an Ankylosaur.

I have a marketing slogan for Chaos Effect at Jurassic Park:

Chaos Effect---It'll Kick Jurassic!

*UPDATE 6/6/14:

Chaos Effect will be in full force in the latest Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World.