Dinosaur

The breathtaking opening of Disney's computer-generated family entertainment - a swooping bird's eye view of Earth's fauna and flora 65 million years ago - knocks spots off earlier CGI movies, but must have eaten so much of the budget that the rest looks strangely pedestrian. That's a shame, because aurally and visually this creature feature is a treat, no matter that it's a palaeontological/climatalogical/geological pick 'n' mix. The script nods towards the meteorite theory of dinosaur extinction, but allows little iguanodon Aladar to survive among a cutesy lemur community. The dull plot concerns a cross-species dinosaur drive through the desert to fresh breeding grounds and sees ideological battle between nasty down-mouthed Kron and young Aladar. Kron's sister, meanwhile, is caught between the two. Disney has gained a lot from its relationship with the smaller more adventurous Pixar, which shows in the marvellous point-of-view shots, backgrounds and surface textures.