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Dinotopia: Difference between revisions
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The tale of a mythical [[Lost World|lost continent]]. It is an idealistic [[Utopia|Utopian]] society ruled over by [[Intellectual Animal|Intellectual Animals]]. As the title suggests, many of the animals are dinosaurs who are [[Old Master|very wise]] and very vague about how they survived the [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|Cretaceous extinction]]. Other species, including humans, were marooned on the island over time. Once there, they are taught the ways of pacifism and vegetarianism by the other animals and are integrated into society.
And as goofy as the premise may sound, it works. This is largely thanks to the insanely detailed, gorgeous illustrations of [http://dinotopia.com/ author/illustrator James Gurney], previously best known for his book covers, animation background art, and especially for his incredibly detailed illustrations of historical cultures in ''National Geographic''. Those illustrations certainly inspired the incredible amount of thought he has put into the project, which has resulted is a fantasy setting that is every bit as believable and appealing as [[The Lord of the Rings|Middle-earth]].
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* [[Deathbringer the Adorable]] - See the [[Shrouded in Myth]] example below.
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Done to some extent to Will in ''Journey To Chandra''; previously he'd had equal pagetime to his father, but in this he appeared fleetingly, twice; as might be expected, the role of his [[Love Interest]] Sylvia was similarly reduced. Done much more severely to Oriana, who had been Arthur's traveling companion and budding [[Love Interest]] in ''The World Beneath''. Neither of them are even mentioned at the end, when Arthur's reflecting over the places he's seen on the way.
* [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons]] - Run into the ground, then taken out back and shot in the otherwise well-liked spinoff novel ''Dinotopia Lost''. Among the pirates who land on Dinotopia there is one from China (''sigh'') who insists on referring to every dinosaur regardless of species as a "dragon" (''sigh''), even the Ornithomimid family they kidnap and plan to sell to a mainland circus (''sigh''). For the record, [http://www.draconian.com/dragons/chinese-dragon.php your typical Chinese Dragons look like this], and [
* [[Most Writers Are Human]] - Very oddly applied, even leading to some uncomfortable [[Fridge Logic]]. Dolphins (who bring shipwrecked humans to the island) and humans are the most prominent modern-day species on the island. We are assured that [[Humans Are Special|there's something about humans]]. Yeah... Also, according to the text only ten percent of the Dinotopia population is human, but the illustrations suggest otherwise.
** [[Justified Trope|Then again,]] the human narrator would naturally be drawn to the human population centers; loitering too long in "wilder" regions like the Rainy Basin would prove hazardous to one's health.
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* [[Historical In-Joke]] - It's implied that Dinotopians from the advanced lost city of Posidos escaped destruction and began all of human civilization. Egyptian, Mayan, and Indian art motifs are seen in the pre-Egyptian daguerreotypes, as well as in the Greek-ish language used to name the city.
* [[Horse of a Different Color]] - The animal characters are not, strictly specking, anthropomorphic, which avoids some uncomfortable [[Furry Confusion]] here.
* [[Instant Messenger Pigeon]] - ''[
* [[Intellectual Animal]] - Most of the cast.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]] - Lee Crabb points out that [[From the Latin "Intro Ducere"|Dinotopia directly translates not to "dinosaur utopia", but "terrible place"]].
* [[Literary Agent Hypothesis]] - The original book was presented as a reproduction of a book Gurney found in a university library.
** ''Journey to Chandara'' is another journal that Gurney found in an antique bookstore.
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** And who can forget the robot dinosaurs of Poseidos?
* [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]] - It's never made clear exactly what sort of scientist Arthur Denison is, but he has so far shown the skills of a paleontologist, zoologist, botanist, geologist, anthropologist and even engineer.
* [[Ptero
* [[Power Crystal]] - See above.
* [[The Power of the Sun]] - The sunstones absorb sunlight.
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* [[Sapient Cetaceans]]: Although every creature in and around the island of Dinotopia is at least intelligent enough to communicate with humans, dolphins were the first to interact with humans.
* [[Scenery Porn]]
* [[Schizo
* [[Science Is Bad]] - Essentially the [[Anvilicious]] plot of the second illustrated novel.
** Hammered painfully into the ground by ''First Flight'', which also featured an [[Egregious]] example of [[Rock Beats Laser]].
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* [[Team Pet]] - Subverted. Bix would probably bite you in the thigh if you called her this. Really, she sometimes appears to think Arthur is her pet human.
* [[Translation Convention]] - In the first book, the main characters have to learn the Dinotopian language, but it's all presented as English. Same may go for why all the dinosaurs are referred to by their genus names. Lee Crabb makes it clear that there is no translation convention going on for Dinotopia's name, though. ''The World Beneath'' does the same for ''Tyrannosaurus rex''.
* [[Tree
* [[Tyrannosaurus Rex]] - They guard ancient temples in the Rainy Basin and must be bought off with smoked fish to ensure safe passage. ''Journey to Chandara'' also features another variant that feeds only on carrion.
* [[Underwater Ruins]] - Poseidos at the end of ''The World Beneath''
* [[Utopia]]
* [[Veganopia]] - Although this appears to have been retconned to mere [
* [[What Could Have Been]] - James Gurney has recently published a non-fiction book, ''Imaginative Realism'', which serves as both a behind-the-scenes look at his painting method and a collection of his lesser known art. Several of the newly-published pieces practically beg for elaborations. Generally speaking, there were going to be a '''lot''' more ''Dinotopia'' spin-offs including a [[Theme Park]], a line of dolls and toys, and a theatrical animated film (which, from the looks of it, would have been made by people who bothered to read the book).
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