"We really wanted to design our characters' motion with a knowledge of the reality of their structure," adds Leighton. "The more we follow the subtleties of reality, the more believable they are, even subconsciously, and the more powerful they're going to be to the viewer."
With regard to story development, Enriquez observes, "Because 'Dinosaur' relied on shooting live-action plates all over the world in advance of the animation, our challenge was to come up with solutions for story changes. In traditional animation, to change a sequence you would have a background painter do another painting. Here, if the story changed, you couldn't very easily send the crew back to Venezuela.
"I grew up loving dinosaurs. One of the reasons I learned to draw in the first place is because I saw a reissue of 'King Kong' in 1955 and it just took me to another world. The art direction had this great atmosphere, which is what I tried to capture with my work on this film."
Enriquez adds, "Ralph (Zondag) was really great at story and he just bowled me over with the sensitivity of his story sketches and the way he could use a simple head turn or something to capture an emotion. He's got a real beautiful sense of storytelling. I also have a lot of respect for Eric's story sense and what he was able to contribute to the process."
According to director/storyman Zondag, "One of our biggest challenges in telling this story was to give the characters distinct personalities and create a chemistry between them that would show how they would work together during the course of their journey. This became the theme of the story where working together and adapting is what really helps you survive."
Shirley Pierce, who worked very closely with the project and is credited with writing additional story material for the film, says, "I consider it to be one of the best honors and privileges of my life to have worked on this film. It was a real joy. I always thought of Aladar as being the boy next door, who just happened to live a couple of million years ago. He was funny, had a good heart and he was just trying to find his way through the world. Your heart just goes out to him. Plio was like Mother Earth. As things were going insane around them, she was always centered and just trying to keep everybody together. Eema was my favorite because she spoke her mind. She reminded me of my Aunt whose feet were always hurting and I kept thinking about that Aunt when I was writing for her."
She adds, "I really liked the theme of the film that survival of the fittest includes having the most compassion. The fittest were those who stayed together. It's not about one strong individual but rather the strength of the group. I was particularly moved when all the dinosaurs in the group who had been so afraid up to this point turn and join Aladar. They find this courage to bellow back at this Carnotaur that they have been running away from."
From a design standpoint, the characters in "Dinosaur" had to look realistic and still have the ability to meet the acting requirements that the role demanded. This creative challenge required input from the directors, inspirational artists and illustrators, and the Visual Development & Character Design department, which was responsible for creating and finalizing the look of the characters in the film.
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