Prehysteria trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Prehysteria trilogy is a trilogy of family-oriented films made in the early to mid-1990s about the adventures of five miniature baby dinosaur
s named after famous pop musicians. The dinosaurs were Elvis, a male Tyrannosaurus Rex, Paula, a female Brachiosaurus
, Jagger, a male Stegosaurus
, Hammer, a male Chasmosaurus
, and Madonna, a female Pteranodon
. The films were made by Moonbeam Entertainment, the family-oriented sub-brand of B-movie
producer Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment. Richard Band
, Michael Bishop, and Fuzzbee Morse
composed the music for the movies.
supplied the special effects to bring the dinosaurs to life for all of the films.
The first Prehysteria was co-directed by Charles and Albert Band and it was released in 1993. The film was such a huge success, and it gained over $100,000,000 in rental sales. Due to its outcome, a sequel was quickly developed, and released in 1994. No character from the first film returned, however Albert Band returned to direct. In 1995, Moonbeam developed a second sequel, entitled "Prehysteria! 3". David DeCoteau directed the film. The only returning character was Owen Bush
, from the second film. All of the films were released by Paramount Home Video.
, and discovers a nest of five eggs
. He steals them and brings them back to his museum. Frank Taylor (Brett Cullen
), a farmer
, sells fossils to Rico and in a mix up, the Taylor's dog takes a cooler, which has the eggs. The kids, Monica (Samantha Mills) and Jerry (Austin O'Brien
) discover the dinosaurs when they hatch and try to keep it a secret, until their father finds out. Vicki (Colleen Morris), a woman who works for Rico, sees the dinosaurs, she tells the Taylors not to give them back to Rico because he will expose them. Rico finds out the Taylors have them and hires two robbers to help him get the dinosaurs back.
) who she helped hide in the box car because he was being chased by bullies who were about to attack him. When the two discover the raisin crate, they get into an argument on who should keep the dinosaurs, Brendan claiming that he saw them first and Naomi claimed them on the fact that it's her box car. Brendan pays a worker for the crate knowing that the dinosaurs are inside. Brendan is unhappy because he has no friends and is desperate for attention because his father doesn't spend much time with him. Naomi and Brendan later become friends and the miniature dinosaurs help the boy get the attention he needs, and try to save him from his abusive Mistress
who is allergic to animals. When she finds out about Brendan having pets (not knowing they are dinosaurs) she hires two exterminators
. She also views Brendan as a child with a lot of problems and wants to send him to a disciplinary school.
. Ella MacGregor, (Whitney Anderson) is in love with her Scottish culture, but is sad that the mini-putt golf course is going under. She finds the dinosaurs, and with her family's help, they re-build the golf course with a dinosaur theme, which helps them a lot. But Ella's evil uncle Hal MacGregor (Bruce Weitz
) is determined to take over the course by all means, and Ella and her parents must hide the mini dinosaurs to protect them from danger.
and laserdisc
. As of September 26, 2010, no news has been released by either Paramount Pictures
or Full Moon Features
about a future DVD
release of the series.
External links=
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s named after famous pop musicians. The dinosaurs were Elvis, a male Tyrannosaurus Rex, Paula, a female Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,...
, Jagger, a male Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
, Hammer, a male Chasmosaurus
Chasmosaurus
Chasmosaurus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period of North America. Its name means 'opening lizard', referring to the large openings in its frill . With a length of and a weight of , Chasmosaurus was a ceratopsian of average size...
, and Madonna, a female Pteranodon
Pteranodon
Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
. The films were made by Moonbeam Entertainment, the family-oriented sub-brand of B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
producer Charles Band's Full Moon Entertainment. Richard Band
Richard Band
Richard Howard Band is a composer of film music. He has scored more than 70 films, including From Beyond, which won the award for Best Original Soundtrack at the Catalonian International Film Festival in Sitges Spain...
, Michael Bishop, and Fuzzbee Morse
Fuzzbee Morse
Fuzzbee Morse is a composer for films, as well as a performer, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer.He is known for his command of a variety of instruments, including guitar, keyboards, bass, flute, soprano saxophone, mandolin, alto flute and many others...
composed the music for the movies.
Development
In the early 1990s, Charles Band was working on a new label from Full Moon Entertainment, called Moonbeam Entertainment. Moonbeam Entertainment was created specifically for family, science fiction and fantasy films. Films created for children and adults, with no "hard edge" to them. Around the same time, storyboard artist Peter von Sholly, approached Band with a concept about creating a movie about miniature dinosaurs. Band, intrigued with the idea, thought that it was perfect to be the first Moonbeam film. David Allen Productions and Mark RappaportMark Rappaport (creature effects artist)
Mark Rappaport is an American special effects/makeup artist.His main body of work is with special effects in a wide variety of films from science fiction to horror, to comedy and theater. Mark has created hyper-realistic animatronic animals including the horse used by Tom Cruise in The Last...
supplied the special effects to bring the dinosaurs to life for all of the films.
The first Prehysteria was co-directed by Charles and Albert Band and it was released in 1993. The film was such a huge success, and it gained over $100,000,000 in rental sales. Due to its outcome, a sequel was quickly developed, and released in 1994. No character from the first film returned, however Albert Band returned to direct. In 1995, Moonbeam developed a second sequel, entitled "Prehysteria! 3". David DeCoteau directed the film. The only returning character was Owen Bush
Owen Bush
Owen Bush was an American actor. Born in Savannah, Missouri, he went on to have a lengthy career in television and film. His best known roles were on the Soap opera Passions and in the last 2 Prehysteria! films as Mr. Cranston.-External links:...
, from the second film. All of the films were released by Paramount Home Video.
Prehysteria!
The first film in the series that was released in 1993, Prehysteria! tells the story of Rico Sarno, a museum curator, who enters a forbidden temple in South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, and discovers a nest of five eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
. He steals them and brings them back to his museum. Frank Taylor (Brett Cullen
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
), a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
, sells fossils to Rico and in a mix up, the Taylor's dog takes a cooler, which has the eggs. The kids, Monica (Samantha Mills) and Jerry (Austin O'Brien
Austin O'Brien
Austin O'Brien is an American actor. He may be best known for playing the co-lead Danny Madigan in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-movie Last Action Hero, followed by his turn into romance as Nick Zsigmond in My Girl 2, and a part in both The Lawnmower Man and its sequel.Austin O'Brien got married on...
) discover the dinosaurs when they hatch and try to keep it a secret, until their father finds out. Vicki (Colleen Morris), a woman who works for Rico, sees the dinosaurs, she tells the Taylors not to give them back to Rico because he will expose them. Rico finds out the Taylors have them and hires two robbers to help him get the dinosaurs back.
Prehysteria! 2
Prehysteria! 2 was the sequel to the first film and was released in 1994. Mr. Cranston is a friend of the Taylors and he watches the mini dinosaurs while they are on vacation. The five miniature dinosaurs break out of the Taylors' farm and accidentally get shipped into a crate of raisins. The crate is found in a box car by Naomi (Jennifer Harte), a girl whose father works at the train station and a rich kid named Brendan Wellington (Kevin ConnorsKevin Connors
Kevin Connors is a sports television journalist for ESPN. He is a host of ESPN SportsCenter. For the 2010-11 NBA Season, he served as the network's primary host for NBA Coast to Coast and NBA Fastbreak in addition to other NBA programming duties. He is also a fill-in host, for NFL Live and...
) who she helped hide in the box car because he was being chased by bullies who were about to attack him. When the two discover the raisin crate, they get into an argument on who should keep the dinosaurs, Brendan claiming that he saw them first and Naomi claimed them on the fact that it's her box car. Brendan pays a worker for the crate knowing that the dinosaurs are inside. Brendan is unhappy because he has no friends and is desperate for attention because his father doesn't spend much time with him. Naomi and Brendan later become friends and the miniature dinosaurs help the boy get the attention he needs, and try to save him from his abusive Mistress
Mistress (form of address)
Mistress is an old form of address for a woman. It implies "lady of the house", especially a woman who is head of a household.An example is Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The title did not necessarily distinguish between married and unmarried women.The title Mrs. is...
who is allergic to animals. When she finds out about Brendan having pets (not knowing they are dinosaurs) she hires two exterminators
Pest control
Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy.-History:...
. She also views Brendan as a child with a lot of problems and wants to send him to a disciplinary school.
Prehysteria! 3
Prehysteria! 3 is the third and final film of the series, and was released in 1995. This time, the five dinosaurs fall out of the back of Mr. Cranston's truck, and they make their way to another family's home. The dinosaurs help the MacGregor family, who is struggling with their mini-putt golf courseGolf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
. Ella MacGregor, (Whitney Anderson) is in love with her Scottish culture, but is sad that the mini-putt golf course is going under. She finds the dinosaurs, and with her family's help, they re-build the golf course with a dinosaur theme, which helps them a lot. But Ella's evil uncle Hal MacGregor (Bruce Weitz
Bruce Weitz
Bruce Peter Weitz is an American actor. He is perhaps best-known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the 1980s TV series Hill Street Blues for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1984.-Early life:Weitz was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son...
) is determined to take over the course by all means, and Ella and her parents must hide the mini dinosaurs to protect them from danger.
Characters
Full cast and crew information from the films can be found their IMDb profiles.Prehysteria!
- Brett CullenBrett CullenPeter Brett Cullen is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs. Early in 2007, he was cast as the role of an estranged father to one of the American football players, Tim Riggins , in the NBC drama series Friday Night Lights.Cullen was born in Houston,...
as Frank Taylor - Colleen Morris as Vicky
- Samantha Mills as Monica Taylor
- Austin O'BrienAustin O'BrienAustin O'Brien is an American actor. He may be best known for playing the co-lead Danny Madigan in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-movie Last Action Hero, followed by his turn into romance as Nick Zsigmond in My Girl 2, and a part in both The Lawnmower Man and its sequel.Austin O'Brien got married on...
as Jerry Taylor - Tony LongoTony LongoTony Longo is an American actor who has appeared in many well-known television series such as Laverne & Shirley, Simon & Simon, Alice, Perfect Strangers, Sydney and Monk...
as Louis - Stuart FratkinStuart FratkinStuart Fratkin is an American actor, best known for playing Fitz in the movie Ski School. Fratkin also starred in They Came from Outer Space with Ski School co-star Dean Cameron....
as Ritchie - Stephen LeeStephen Lee (actor)Stephen Lee is an American actor, from Englewood, New Jersey. He has appeared in over 200 TV shows as a guest star.-External links:...
as Rico Sarno - Tom Williams as Whitey
- Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer and Madonna
Prehysteria! 2
- Kevin Connors as Brendan Wellington
- Jennifer Harte as Naomi
- Dean ScofieldDean ScofieldDean Scofield is a voice actor who has provided the voice of the recurring "joke character" Johnny Sasaki in Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but was not brought back for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.He was credited as Dino...
as Mr. Wellington - Bettye AckermanBettye AckermanBettye Ackerman was an American actress primarily known for her work on television.Ackerman was born in Cottageville, South Carolina and grew up in Williston in Barnwell County in southwestern South Carolina, one of four children. She graduated from Columbia College in South Carolina in 1945 and...
as Miss Winters - Owen BushOwen BushOwen Bush was an American actor. Born in Savannah, Missouri, he went on to have a lengthy career in television and film. His best known roles were on the Soap opera Passions and in the last 2 Prehysteria! films as Mr. Cranston.-External links:...
as Mr. Cranston - Greg Lewis as Ivan
- Michael Hagiwara as Mr. Hiro
- Larry HankinLarry HankinLarry Hankin is an American actor, performer, director and producer.Hankin studied acting at Syracuse University. He is known for his roles in TV shows Friends and Seinfeld; as well as for his major role in the movie Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood...
as Ketchum - Alan Palo as Killam
- Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer and Madonna
Prehysteria! 3
- Whitney AndersonWhitney AndersonWhitney T. Anderson is an American politician and businessman from Waimanalo, Hawaii. He is the younger brother of D.G. "Andy" Anderson.He served for a total of 20 years in both chambers of the Hawaii State Legislature...
as Ella MacGregor - Owen BushOwen BushOwen Bush was an American actor. Born in Savannah, Missouri, he went on to have a lengthy career in television and film. His best known roles were on the Soap opera Passions and in the last 2 Prehysteria! films as Mr. Cranston.-External links:...
as Mr. Cranston - Dave Buzzotta as Heath MacGregor
- Thomas Emery Dennis as Dole
- John Fujioka as Mr. Yamamoto
- Matt LetscherMatt LetscherMatthew Letscher is an American actor.-Biography:Letscher was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He attended college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity....
as Needlemeyer - Pam Matteson as Michelle MacGregor
- Michael R. Thayer as Jeff
- Bruce WeitzBruce WeitzBruce Peter Weitz is an American actor. He is perhaps best-known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the 1980s TV series Hill Street Blues for which he won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1984.-Early life:Weitz was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son...
as Hal MacGregor - Fred WillardFred WillardFred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
as Thomas MacGregor - Frank WelkerFrank WelkerFranklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
as Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer and Madonna
Trivia
- Besides the dinosaurs, Mr. Cranston (Owen BushOwen BushOwen Bush was an American actor. Born in Savannah, Missouri, he went on to have a lengthy career in television and film. His best known roles were on the Soap opera Passions and in the last 2 Prehysteria! films as Mr. Cranston.-External links:...
) is the only returning character in the series.
- The StegosaurusStegosaurusStegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
, Jagger, never appeared on the first three film posters.
- Prehysteria! was Austin O'BrienAustin O'BrienAustin O'Brien is an American actor. He may be best known for playing the co-lead Danny Madigan in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-movie Last Action Hero, followed by his turn into romance as Nick Zsigmond in My Girl 2, and a part in both The Lawnmower Man and its sequel.Austin O'Brien got married on...
's first lead role.
- The TyrannosaurusTyrannosaurusTyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
, Elvis, and BrachiosaurusBrachiosaurusBrachiosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America. It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax,...
, Paula, have appeared on all of the film posters.
- The dinosaurs in the first three films were realized by traditional stop motion animation and rod puppets.
- Prehysteria! 2 and Prehysteria! 3 were both aimed at younger audiences.
- Madonna the PteranodonPteranodonPteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
hurt her wing in Prehysteria! 2, so that the producers could save money on the cost of stop motion animation. In Prehysteria! 3, Madonna does not fly.
- Prehysteria! was the first Moonbeam Entertainment film.
- Prehysteria 2 was Moonbeams first sequel.
- The characters of "Richie", played by Stuart Fratkin and "Louis", played by Tony Longo from the first Prehysteria!, were brought back to star in another Moonbeam Production, "Remote", because they've done so well as comedic thugs in Prehysteria.
Series release
By 1995, all of the three films in the Prehysteria! series were out on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
. As of September 26, 2010, no news has been released by either Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
or Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features
Full Moon Features is a motion picture production and distribution company headed by B-movie veteran Charles Band. It is known for the direct-to-video series Puppet Master and Subspecies, as well as the innovative VideoZone featurette at the end of films through 1989 to 2000.-Full Moon...
about a future DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the series.
External links=