DinoSquad

DinoSquad is an American animated television series that was produced by DIC Entertainment Corporation and aired on the KEWLopolis block on CBS from November 3, 2007[1][2] – December 6, 2008.

DinoSquad
Genre
Developed byJeffrey Scott
Voices ofBenjamin Beck
Dana Donlan
Nils Haaland
Ian Eli Lee
Moira Mangiameli
Vincent Michael
Kelcey Watson
Theme music composerRon Wasserman
ComposerRon Wasserman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersAndy Heyward
Michael Maliani
EditorsRobert Brousseau
Jo Martin
Running time22 minutes
Production companyDIC Entertainment Corporation[lower-alpha 1]
DistributorDIC Entertainment
Release
Original networkCBS (KEWLopolis)
Picture formatNTSC / 480i
Audio formatStereo
Original releaseNovember 3, 2007 (2007-11-03) 
December 6, 2008 (2008-12-06)

The show was about five teenagers, each with the power to turn into a respective dinosaur. They use this power to fight the villainous Victor Veloci, who is intent on returning the world to the age of dinosaurs by turning humans and animals into new mutant dinosaurs and accelerating global warming.

This show, along with Sushi Pack, were the final two series produced by DIC before their acquisition with Cookie Jar Entertainment.

Show summary

Five teenagers, Rodger, Max, Caruso, Fiona and Buzz, gain the power to turn into dinosaurs by getting covered in Victor Veloci's primordial ooze that mutated their DNA on a school field trip to the tide pools when they were rescuing Rump. With the help of their mysterious science teacher, Ms. Moynihan (who is an anthropomorphic Velociraptor), they learn to use their unique abilities to protect the planet from Victor Veloci. Victor is widely known as the head of company Raptor Dyne, but is also a 65-million-year-old anthropomorphic Velociraptor. His secret identity is unknown to everyone except himself and the audience. His true plan is to turn everyone into dinosaurs by using primordial ooze and increase the climate to that of the Mesozoic era with the goal of returning the world to how it was when dinosaurs ruled and tries capturing them in their dinosaur forms, not knowing they are humans. However, his plans always backfired and thus the return to the age of the dinosaurs was never meant to be. Dino Squad is set in Kittery Point, Maine.

Season 2 episodes began airing online on August 4, 2008 before airing on CBS on September 13, 2008.

Dino Squad members

  • Ms. Moynihan (Joanne Moynihan)  A science teacher who is a Velociraptor that survived extinction and gained a human form. She can communicate telepathically with the teens.
  • Max (Rolf Maxwell)  A hunky 18-year-old high school senior in Ms. Moynihan's class. He is the team leader and captain of the football team. His Dino form is a Tyrannosaurus (although it has three fingers, unlike the real Tyrannosaurus which had two). Max is voiced by Ian Eli Lee.
  • Caruso (Erwin Caruso)  A handsome high school senior in Ms. Moynihan's class. He is vain and obsessed with the idea of fame, as well as his "good looks". He can be a pain sometimes though as his selfishness and arrogance hurt the team. Though he did prove himself worthy to the squad in episode 23. In that same episode he is revealed to have created his own line of moisturizers. He also practices yoga. His Dino form is a Stegosaurus (although his dino form has five tail spikes, teeth and no beak, unlike the real Stegosaurus). Caruso is voiced by Benjamin Beck.
  • Fiona (Fiona Flagstaff)  Another high school senior in Ms. Moynihan's class. She is the only girl on the Squad (with the exception of Ms. Moynihan), and has a penchant for fast things like rollerblades or race cars. What grosses out Fiona entices Buzz (spiders, insects, etc.). She is allergic to spider bites, as revealed in "Never Judge a Dinosaur by its Cover". Fiona is the squad's resident mechanic and gear head, and is also a tomboy. Max and Buzz may have a crush on her, but she doesn't seem to notice. Her Dino form is a Spinosaurus. Fiona has a little sister called Terri. Fiona is voiced by Dana Donlan.
  • Rodger (Rodger Blair)  Another high school senior in Ms. Moynihan's class. He is very smart and has a prankster streak. He is able to come up with gadgets even though his creations sometimes fail. He is somewhat arrogant like Caruso but helps the team when duty calls. He has a little brother named Mikey. His Dino form is a Styracosaurus (albeit with three horns, making it look more like a Triceratops). Roger is voiced by Kelcey Watson.
  • Buzz (Neil Buzmati)  Another high school senior in Ms. Moynihan's class. He is 17, then turned 18. He is the youngest member. He's the "punk" kid, who is scared of his own shadow. Several times throughout the series, he also shows affection for small creatures traditionally considered "gross", such as rats, snakes, cockroaches, and spiders. Buzz is anything but a coward when he is needed in action. His alternate form, a Pteranodon, is one of the two non-dinosaurs in the Dino Squad.
  • Rump  The Dino Squad's mischievous pet bull terrier. He can transform himself into a strange animal that looks like a hybrid between a pig and a horse. The Dino Squad has not yet determined the species of dinosaur his "dino form" is supposed to be (although since Ms. Moynihan never "taught" him how to control his transformations as she did the kids, it's likely his dino form is mostly canine and it bears a resemblance to a Gorgonopsid or even an Andrewsarchus). Rump usually gives Caruso a hard time from when he took his jacket in "The Beginning" as a stray dog, up until the episode "Runaway Ugly" when he ate Caruso's cupcake.

Supporting characters

  • Terri  Fiona's brainy little sister. At first she is jealous of Fiona. She appears in 3 episodes ("A Mole Lotta Trouble", "Wannabe", and, "Never Judge a Dinosaur by its Cover"). Although she may be as intellectual as Rodger, she has also exercised substandard judgment. Terri is voiced by Sarah Heinke.

One-time characters

  • Liam  A student with Asperger syndrome. He only appears in "The World According to Liam".
  • Peter  Veloci's assistant who only appears in the first episode.

Raptor Dyne

  • Victor Veloci  The main antagonist of the series and a business magnate who owns Raptor Dyne. He wants to revert Earth back to the way it was millions of years ago in order to facilitate the return of dinosaurs as the dominant species on the planet by using his primordial ooze. He also wants to capture the Dino Squad members as dinosaurs not knowing they are actually humans. His dino form is a Velociraptor. He and Ms. Moynihan were the only survivors of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
  • Henchman  There are many henchmen who work for Raptor Dyne. They wear helmets with faceplates as part of their uniform. In episode 23, Caruso dresses up as one to fake out Veloci's real henchmen.

List of Dino Squad episodes

Season 1: 2007–2008

NO. # Title Written by Airdate
1 1 "The Beginning" Jeffrey Scott November 3, 2007
2 2 "Growth Potential" Robert N. Skir November 5, 2007
3 3 "Tangled Web" Michael Ryan November 10, 2007
4 4 "T-Rex Formation" Jeffrey Scott November 12, 2007
5 5 "Who Let the Dog Out?" Robert N. Skir November 19, 2007
6 6 "Bully 4 U" Michael Ryan November 23, 2007
7 7 "The Lost Worldwide Web" Jeffrey Scott November 27, 2007
8 8 "Headline Nuisance" Robert N. Skir December 11, 2007
9 9 "Who'll Stop the Rain?" Michael Ryan December 15, 2007
10 10 "Zoom in on Zoom" Jeffrey Scott December 30, 2007
11 11 "A Mole Lotta Trouble" Robert N. Skir January 20, 2008
12 12 "The Not so Great Outdoors" Michael Ryan April 15, 2008
13 13 "Pet Peeve" Jeffrey Scott May 20, 2008

Season 2: 2008

NO. # Title Written by Airdate
14 1 "The World According to Liam" Robert N. Skir September 30, 2008
15 2 "Runaway Ugly" Michael Ryan October 6, 2008
16 3 "Attack of the Brain-A-Saurus" Jeffrey Scott October 14, 2008
17 4 "Wannabe" Robert N. Skir October 21, 2008
18 5 "Fire and Ice" Michael Ryan November 14, 2008
19 6 "Never Judge a Dinosaur by its Cover" Jeffrey Scott November 17, 2008
20 7 "Easy Riders and Raging Dinos" Robert N. Skir November 18, 2008
21 8 "One Percent Inspiration" Michael Ryan November 19, 2008
22 9 "Howa Loa Can you Goa?" Jeffrey Scott November 20, 2008
23 10 "Scents and Scents Ability" Robert N. Skir November 21, 2008
24 11 "I Think I Can't, I Think I Can't" Jeffrey Scott November 22, 2008
25 12 "Perseverance" Michael Ryan November 29, 2008
26 13 "The Trojan Dinosaur" Jeffrey Scott December 6, 2008

Broadcast history

The series originally aired on CBS on the KEWLopolis block until being removed during the blocks rebranding to Cookie Jar TV in 2009.

The series later reaired on the Syndicated Cookie Jar Kids Network block,[3] and on This TV's Cookie Jar Toons block from 2011 until the block's end in 2013.

Home Media and Streaming releases

From April 2009 until July 2010, NCircle Entertainment released 5 DVDs of the series, each containing 3 episodes (except for the last volume, which has 4).

DVD/VHS name Episodes Release date
Go Dino! The Beginning
Growth Potential
T-Rex Transformation
April 14, 2009
Raptor Attack! Tangled Web
Zoom In On Zoom
Who'll Stop the Rain
April 14, 2009
Prehistoric Problems! The Lost World Wide Web
Headline Nuisance
Who Let The Dog Out
August 18, 2009
Mutant Mayhem! A Mole Lotta Trouble
Pet Peeve
The Not So Great Outdoors
February 2, 2010
Fire & Ice! Bully 4 U
Fire & Ice
One Percent Inspiration
Howa Loa Can You Goa
July 13, 2010

The series was also available to stream on Netflix from September 2014 until January 1, 2018, and is currently available to stream through Kid Genius and CONtv.

References

  1. Bynum, Aaron H. (August 24, 2007). "CBS & DiC Establish KEWLopolis, Saturdays". Animation Insider. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  2. Ball, Ryan (November 1, 2007). "Dino, Sushi Join CBS Menu". Animation Magazine. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  3. "Network A" (PDF). Ascent Media. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
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