Dino-Riders

Dino-Riders is an American animated television series that first aired in 1988.^[1] Dino-Riders was primarily a promotion to launch a new Tyco toy line.^[2] Only fourteen episodes were produced, three of which were produced on VHS for the United States.^[2] It aired in the U.S. as part of the Marvel Action Universe.^[2]

The series focuses on the battle between the good Valorians and evil Rulons on prehistoric Earth.^[2] The Valorians were a super human race, whilst the Rulons were a mixture of humanoid creatures — both of which came from the future, however ended up transported back in time to the age of Dinosaurs. Once on Earth, the Valorians befriended dinosaurs whilst the Rulons brain-washed them.^[2]

Overview[]

The Valorians were a peaceful race that had lived in harmony until the evil Rulons came and attacked them.^[2] The Valorians tried to escape from the Rulon assault and attempted to use their "Space Time Energy Projector" (S.T.E.P.) to do so, however something went wrong and they ended up being sent back through time to the age of the dinosaurs.^[2] Unbeknownst to them the Rulons in the spaceship Dreadlock were also sent back through time when the S.T.E.P. was activated.^[2]

The Valorians, led by Questar, after making planet-fall use their AMP necklaces to telepathically communicate with the dinosaurs they come across and befriend them.^[2] The Rulons, led by their leader Krulos, on the other hand used brainwashing devices known as brain-boxes to control dinosaurs for their own ends.^[2] The Rulons then launched an attack on the Valorians, who call upon their dinosaur friends to assist them in fighting back. After successfully defeating the Rulons, the Valorians declare themselves to be the Dino-Riders.^[2]

In regard to the dinosaur (and other animal) species present, the series is extremely anachronistic, showing late Cretaceous species like Tyrannosaurus rex alongside species from earlier eras, including the Permian genus Dimetrodon, which lived 200 million years earlier, before dinosaurs existed.

Characters[]

Valorians[]

Questar — Leader of the Valorians, strong-willed and courageous.^[3]
Mind-Zei — Blind warrior with a sixth-sense for detecting people around him. Offers advice to Questar and is Serena's grandfather.^[3]
Yungstar — Young and eager for action, is prone to letting pride get in his way. He rides a Deinonychus.^[3]
Serena — Able to heal other beings and can sense when someone is in trouble.^[3]
Turret — Technician and scientist. Turret is in charge of the S.T.E.P. crystal.^[3]
Llahd — Youngest of the Dino-Riders.^[3]
Gunnur — Hardened war veteran and high-ranking official who often helps train other Dino-Riders.^[3]
Tagg — A mid-level official, who also helps instructs in the training of the Dino-Riders. He rides a Pachycephalosaurus.^[3]
Ikon — Statistician as well as a pragmatist, Ikon is one of Questar's top advisors. He possesses a staff that allows him to answer Questar's questions almost instantly.^[3]
Vector — General contractor who has a computerized wrist strap that allows him to assess projects that need carried out such as camp expansion and infrastructure repair.^[3]
Aero — The competitive rival of Yungstar. Flies a Quetzalcoatlus.^[3]
Ayce — Usually teaches training and equipment familiarization classes.^[3]
Neutrino — Assists in various training courses.^[3]

Commandos

The Commandos are a special forces military unit within the Dino-Riders.^[3]

Astra — Hardened war veteran and leader of the Commandos. Formerly a teacher at the Valorian University and once counted Questar as a student.^[3]
Kameelian — Specializes in surveillance, and reconnaissance, and is a master of disguise.^[3]
Bomba — Explosives expert, who is utilized to make clearings or remove obstacles.^[3]
Glyde — Aerial reconnaissance and artillery cover. Uses a glider to navigate through the air.^[3]
Faze — Artillery expert.^[3]
Rok — Expert in crossing rocky terrain such as mountains.^[3]

Cro-Magnons

Zar — Leader of a clan of Cro-Magnons. Leads his clan against the evil Neanderthals of Grom.^[3]
Kub — Young but courageous.^[3]
Maya — Cro-Magnon equivalent of Serena, as she is the healer of the tribe.^[3]

Rulons[]

Krulos — Evil leader of the Rulons, Krulos is a frog-like humanoid creature who seeks world domination.^[3]
Rasp — Leader of the Viper group, and Krulos second in command. A snake-like creature, Rasp tries to usurp Krulos's place.^[3]
Hammerhead — Leader of the Sharkurrs, and one of Krulos's top generals.^[3]
Antor — Leader of the Antmen, and one of Krulos's generals. Usually vies with Hammerhead and Rasp for second-in-command status.^[3]
Krok — A crocodile-like humanoid creature, and one of Krulos's generals. Is entirely obedient to Krulos and focuses on serving his master rather than getting involved in the petty-squabbling his fellow generals get into.^[3]
Skate — Low-ranking official.^[3]
Lokus — Low-ranking official.^[3]

Neanderthals

Grom — Leader of a deadly clan of Neaderthals who seeks to control or annihilate all neighboring tribes.^[3]

Episodes[]

The Dino-Riders cartoon consisted of a single season of 14 episodes.^[4] Below is a list of each episode along with the date they first aired.^[1]

Episode #	Title	Aired
1	The Adventure Begins	01/10/1988
2	Revenge of the Rulons	08/10/1988
3	The Rulon Stampede	15/10/1988
4	The Blue Skies of Earth	22/10/1988
5	Toro, Toro, Torosaurus	29/10/1988
6	T-Rex	05/11/1988
7	Krulos	12/11/1988
8	Tagg, You're It!	19/11/1988
9	Thanksgiving	26/11/1988
10	To Lose the Path	03/12/1988
11	Enter the Commandos	10/12/1988
12	Battle for the Brontosaurus (1)	17/12/1988
13	One to Lead Us (2)	24/12/1988
14	Ice Age Adventure	31/12/1988

Voice actor cast[]

The voice actors for the Dino-Riders cartoon were:^[5]

Rob Paulsen - Faze/Kameelian
Charles Adler- Hammerhead, Lokus
Peter Cullen - Gunnur/Antor/Bomba
Dan Gilvezan - Questar
Noelle North - Serena
Frank Welker - Krulos/Rasp/Glyde
Jack Angel - Additional Voices
Cam Clarke - Additional Voices
Townsend Coleman - Additional Voices
Joe Colligan - Additional Voices
Patrick Pinney - Additional Voices
Ike Eisenmann - Additional Voice

Contrary to popular belief, Chris Latta did not work on the series—let alone voice the character of Rasp.^[6]

Toys[]

In total there were four series of Dino-Riders toys: Series 1 (1988), Series 2 (1989), Series 3 and Ice Age (1990).^[7]^[8] In contrast to the rest, the Ice Age line focused on Ice-Age mammals rather than dinosaurs.^[8]

The larger toys in the range also had a motorized walking action with the dinosaurs head swaying from side to side.^[9] Each Rulon faction toy came with a different self-automated trap.^[9]

The dinosaurs were acclaimed for their highly detailed bodies and color and impressed the Smithsonian Institution who contacted Tyco to reproduce the dinosaurs for their "Dinosaur and other Prehistoric Reptile Collection".^[10] In contrast to the Dino-Riders versions, all mechanisms such as motorized walking action and wheels were removed.^[10] Dinosaur illustrator William Stout was credited for dinosaur design on the show's credits.

Series 1 (1988)[]

The release of the first series of Dino-Riders toys was timed to coincide with the animated cartoon series on television.^[9] It initially consisted of 5 Valorian and 6 Rulon toys along with eight 2-figure packs.^[9] A sixth Valorian toy, Torosaurus, would be released at the end of the series.^[11] The Diplodocus,^[12] Torosaurus,^[11] Tyrannosaurus Rex,^[13] and Triceratops^[14] all had motorized walking mechanisms.

Dino-Riders Series 1 toys:^[7]^[9]

Valorians	Rulons
Diplodocus, with Questar, Mid-Zei and Aries	Tyrannosaurus rex, with Krulos, Bitor & Cobrus
Torosaurus, with Gunnur and Magnus	Triceratops, with Hammerhead and Sidewinder
Deinonychus, with Sky	Deinonychus, with Antor
Styracosaurus, with Turret	Monoclonius, with Mako
Quetzalcoatlus, with Yungstar	Pteranodon, with Rasp
Pterodactylus, with Llahd	Ankylosaurus, with Sting

Series 2 (1989)[]

The second series of Dino-Rider toys consisted of eight new Valorian toys and only three new Rulons.^[15] Along with this was eight more 2-figure packs as well as six "Commandos". The Commandos consisted of a human figure with unique weapons and accessories.^[15]

The most notable toy from the range was the Brontosaurus which was the biggest toy in the entire range measuring 34 inches long and 15 inches tall.^[16] It is claimed that Tyco in an effort to keep costs for the figure down had to abandon several features that where originally intended to be part of the figure.^[17] These included motorized walking action, four figures instead of three, and an entirely different weapons system.^[17]

The Stegosaurus toy had motorized walking action,^[18] whilst the Pachycephalosaurus and Saurolophus both had a mechanism that allowed their bodies to thrust from a horizontal position with their tail in the air into a vertical position with their tail on the ground.^[19]^[20]

Dino-Riders Series 2 toys:^[7]^[15]^[21]

Valorians	Rulons
Brontosaurus, with Serena, Ayce & Ion, also included three Rhamphorhynchus pterosaurs	Kentrosaurus, with Krok
Stegosaurus, with Tark and Vega	Saurolophus, with Lokus
Edmontonia, with Axis	Placerias, with Skate
Dimetrodon, with Shado
Pachycephalosaurus, with Tagg
Struthiomimus, with Nimbus
Protoceratops, with Kanon

Commandos

Astra, commander
Bomba, munitions expert
Kameelian, infiltrator
Glyde, paratrooper
Faze, artillery expert
Rok, mountain warfare expert

Series 3 (1990)[]

Series 3 of the Dino-Riders toyline was split into two assortments: three new dinosaurs for the regular series and four prehistoric mammals for the new Ice Age concept.^[22] The dinosaur sets are amongst the rarest of the entire range due to a limited production run.^[23]

The Quetzalcoatlus had originally been released as a Valorian in Series 1 of the Dino-Riders toyline, however was re-released as a Rulon with a new yellow and spotted black paint scheme.^[24]^[25] The Pachyrhinosaurus in the line had motorized walking action.^[23]

Dino-Riders Series 3 toys:^[7]^[22]

Valorians	Rulons
Pachyrhinosaurus, with Atlas	Quetzalcoatlus, with Algar
Chasmosaurus, with Llava

Ice Age[]

The Ice Age subline of Series 3 was unique in that all of the animals produced belonged to the Valorian faction, and with the rest of the Series 3 line are very hard to find.^[26] The largest figure in the range was the Wooly Mammoth which also had motorized walking action.^[27]

Dino-Riders Ice Age toys:^[7]^[26]

Valorians
Woolly mammoth, with Grom
Giant Ground Sloth, with Ulk
Killer Wart Hog, with Zar
Sabre Tooth Tiger, with Kub

Action figure 2-packs

Onk and Buzz
Tor and Goor
Urg and Rayy
Agga and Gill
Ecco and Squish
Wizz and Gutz

Comics[]

Apart from the miniature comics that came with a purchase of one of the Dinosaur toys, Marvel released a three part mini series of Dino-Rider comics. The comics had different story lines to the cartoon and were considered to be much darker than the cartoon as well, sometimes focusing on conflicts between the Valorians. For instance, one storyline involves Questar being accused of murdering his jealous, scheming brother, Tark.

A 'Dino-Riders Annual' was later released as a hardcover book that contained both the first and second issues in the one collection. The Marvel comic books were released in 1989, the first issue, The Path being released in February, being 23 pages long.

Other media[]

The character Bix in the Dinotopia series is modeled after the Dino-Riders Protoceratops toy.^[28]
It is claimed that the character Rex in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story is based on the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Dino-Riders line, with both toys having very apparent similarities.^[29]
In the South Park cartoon episode "Imaginationland Episode III", a Dino-Rider Tyrannosaurus can be seen for several seconds marching in the background.^[29]
In the Robot Chicken cartoon episode "G.I. Jogurt", the Dino-Riders have a rock song.
In addition to the toys and comics, there were a number of other products released during the Dino-Riders run on television. These were primarily children-orientated products, such as colouring books, puzzles and crayons. Tyco also released a number of Super Dough play sets. In addition to these products, Dino-Riders clothing, kites, stickers and costumes were produced.