Series Review: Bad Dinosaurs — Netflix

If you want prehistoric slapstick at its worst, this is the show for you

I’m just a mother trying to parent a toddler who has seen Paw Patrol too many times. I am also the mother of a toddler who is hopelessly obsessed with dinosaurs. So imagine how thrilled I was to see this new series pop up in my Netflix recommendations.

Well, I turned it on and… Cue deep and tragic disappointment.

Maybe it is a sign that I am actually losing touch and getting old, but I found this show to be excruciatingly unenjoyable.

Hold the phone — This Trash Panda always works to focus on positivity and giving all content the benefit of the doubt. So, as you may see if you stick around and read more of my reviews — even the ones I despise with every fiber of my being like this one — we will genuinely try to start with the positives.

Aside from various sound effects, it is a silent show. There is no dialogue at all, which makes it super easy to ignore if you’re stuck watching it while your child watches on in glee. I also love that the t-rexes have feathers, based on the research that shows that dinosaurs of all types may actually have been feathered. It’s a very small nod to real research, and a detail that is both often ignored in dinosaur-related content, and which they easily could have left out.

In addition, the artistic value of the show is excellent, there is nothing bad to be said about the quality of the art and animation. Although, in this day and age I don’t think we could expect anything less, but it would be unfair of me not to mention that it was, indeed, designed and developed well.

Finally, as difficult as it is for me to admit, the show certainly appeals to children’s most base instincts: poops, farts, pukes, and happenstance injuries are hilarious to children, it doesn’t matter if it is done well or not. While adults may have a more refined palate for humour, kids just want to see the falling and the farting. In that department, the show is a great success.

Allow me to set the scene: We have our main characters, a family of Tyrannosaurus Rexes who are just trying to survive in the unforgiveable environment of the prehistoric world. Among the trials they must endure are: being discriminated against by other dinosaurs (hey wait, this sounds promising), warding off the romantic advances of a bird (mmmkay…), and being stuck together by *checks notes* bug glue (annnnnnd promising hopefulness is gone).

While working through these various issues, our main dinosaurs and their dinosaur companions are subject to various badly-played-out slapstick-style falls, slaps, flings, farts, poops, burps, pukes, and other various acts that are the lowest form of comedy at best.

For example, the first episode depicts a baby tyrannosaurus rex farting into a Pteranodon's mouth which ultimately makes the Pteranodon float. Then, the unconscious flying dinosaur expels the fart from its mouth and begins to fall from the sky. The baby T-rex must tickle the Pteranodon to wake it up so they don’t both fall to their deaths.

Another episode depicts a baby triceratops peeing in a pond. The baby t-rex splashes the pee-water away, unintentionally flicking some into the baby triceratops’ eye and making him cry which causes a fight between the parents of the two children.

I get that it’s a kid’s show. I get that kids find this kind of stuff funny. But the part that is difficult for me is that there are no redeeming factors. Think of nearly any other kids show or movie that you may have ever seen — there is almost always a lil’ something in there for the parents. The creators know we are going to be stuck there watching this crap too. So they make it… well, not crap.

The creators of Bad Dinosaurs, on the other hand, seem to have been aiming to punish adults, because the absolute ridiculousness in this show is maddening.

Let me be clear, I am not opposed to poop and fart jokes. Shrek is one of my all-time favourite movies, and he is a walking poop and fart joke machine. Neither am I opposed to the idea of a silent show or slapstick style entertainment. I think it is a brilliant idea to bring different forms of content to the attention of children, and allow them to explore these different forms of content. I think what has me feeling so disappointed is that there is no underlying benefit. We don’t learn or gain anything — even the story lines are so weak that there is no lesson or real outcome half the time. Well, I guess in one episode the baby t-rex does pee in a pre-historic anglerfish-cross-crab’s eye to escape being eaten. So I guess that’s something?

I also am not the kind of mom who thinks every single show or piece of content my kid experiences needs to be hyper-educational. While I think shows are a great way for us to present educational concepts to our kids, none of us adults can deny that The Real Housewives, Say Yes to the Dress, or whatever drivel we are watching are very educational or edifying either. Kids can be allowed to just enjoy things, too, sometimes.

So, while I didn’t completely remove this show from my child’s rotation, I have definitely limited her from watching it too often, both for my sanity and in the hopes of promoting shows that have more purpose and value, in my eyes. The power of suggestion has saved me from several hours of prehistoric poop jokes, and for that I am infinitely grateful.

I give this show 1/5 dinosaur farts, but my kid would probably give it 5/5 dinosaur farts, because she thinks farts are infinitely funnier than I do.

If you watched this show, what did you think? And what should I review next?