Dinosaur Train


Dinosaur Train is an animated children's television series aimed at children ages 3 to 6 and created by Craig Bartlett, who also created Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!. The series features an anthropomorphic orange Tyrannosaurus rex named Buddy who, together with the rest of his family, who are all Pteranodons, takes the Dinosaur Train to explore the Mesozoic, and have adventures with a variety of dinosaurs. It is produced by The Jim Henson Company, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Sparky Animation, FableVision, Snee-Oosh, Inc., and Tail Waggin' Productions in association with Reel FX and Sea to Sky Entertainment. A film based on the series for Universal Pictures and Universal 1440 Entertainment titled, Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island premiered on April 12, 2021.
A revival is currently in the works at the Jim Henson Company.

Premise

The show is set in a whimsical prehistoric world of jungles, swamps, active volcanoes, and oceans, all filled with dinosaur and other prehistoric animal life, connected by a railroad served by an eponymous passenger train, the Dinosaur Train. Its passenger cars can accommodate dinosaurs of all kinds: windows accommodate long-necked sauropods, there is headroom in the Observation Car for the larger theropods, and the AquaCar is an aquarium for sea-going passengers. The train itself is run by Troodons, being one of the smartest dinosaurs in this fictional universe. The Dinosaur Train circles the whole world, crossing oceans and inland seas, with stops to visit undersea prehistoric animals. It can travel through the entire Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Dinosaurs", passing through magical Time Tunnels to the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous time periods.
The world of Dinosaur Train is seen through the eyes of Buddy the Tyrannosaurus rex. According to the show's main title song, Buddy was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon. He hatched at the same time as his Pteranodon siblings Tiny, Shiny, and Don. By traveling in the Dinosaur Train around the Mesozoic, supplied with dinosaur facts by the train's Troodon Conductor, Buddy learns that he is a Tyrannosaurus rex. As an adopted child in a mixed-species family, Buddy is curious about the differences between species and likes to learn about all the dinosaurs he can by riding the Dinosaur Train. The dinosaur species featured in the show are actual dinosaurs discovered by paleontologists.
Dinosaur Train is produced and animated by Sparky Animation in Singapore, with casting by Vidaspark and voice-overs recorded at Kozmic Sound in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It premiered on Labor Day 2009 and aired daily on PBS Kids, and in various countries around the world. 40 half-hour episodes were ordered by PBS Kids for the first season. After that, 49 additional episodes were made. PBS Kids had ordered 11 more episodes, taking the total number of episodes to 100. Each episode is followed by a live-action segment featuring Dinosaur Train educational consultant and paleontologist Dr. Scott D. Sampson, who appears onscreen to explain the show's dinosaur curriculum in greater detail.

Episodes

Voice cast

Main cast

The UK dub only aired the first two seasons on Nick Jr. in the UK and Ireland from 2012 to 2015.
  • Alex Starke as Buddy Pteranodon
  • Sophia Andrews as Tiny Pteranodon
  • Isobel Doran as Shiny Pteranodon
  • Jack Graham as Don Pteranodon
  • Christina Denham as Mrs. Pteranodon
  • Hugo Chandor as Mr. Pteranodon
  • Keir Stewart as Mr. Conductor and King Cryolophosaurus
  • Joe Mills as Old Spinosaurus, Mayor Kosmoceratops and Vlad Volaticotherium