Awe-Inspiring Dinosaur Shot

"Wait, for some reason, we now have a 'look how amazing dinosaurs are' tracking shot."

— RickRaptor105 in his review of Dino Time

Since their discovery and research, dinosaurs have remained one of the most intriguing and fascinating animals, both in historical context and for the wide variety in their appearance and size. It's not for nothing that they have remained a phenomenon in popular culture, having appeared in multiple sorts of works ranging from films and artworks to television shows and video games.

Due to the fact that dinosaurs are (mostly) an extinct group of animals, they inspire a very larger-than-life, almost fantastical reputation and vibe for those who are interested in them. They were likely very similar to any modern-day animal, but their unique and often bizarre looks end up making them very majestic and awe-inspiring to look at. This has been emphasized in more recent depictions of dinosaurs since then; someone sees them for the first time and they're taken aback by just how amazing and grand the experience is. Sometimes, someone would just stare in sheer excitement without saying a word, others would geek out and mention dinosaur facts, particularly when they see a particular one performing some kind of act. And yes, even something as simple as eating leaves or waddling through a riverbank is made a bigger deal than usual.

Other times, wide-tracking shots of either a herd of dinosaurs or a number of species doing different things, up to hunting and fighting, will be shown in quick shots, complete with booming orchestral music to enforce the audience of just how dinosaurs are the modern day equivalent of fantasy creatures like unicorns or even dragons. Epic Tracking Shot and The Oner are often at play here, with either a smaller dinosaur or a pterosaur being used as a "guide" of sorts to introduce the audience to the prehistoric world, with Knee-High Perspective also playing a role should the tracking shot be done from a dinosaur's ankle down.

Compare Kids Love Dinosaurs for a specific demographic about someone who is a fan of dinosaurs and expresses excitement in wanting to talk about them. Also, compare Establishing Series Moment if dinosaurs are the main focus of a franchise and time is given to individual characters or the narrator to emphasize the majesty of those animals. Can also be considered a more positive example for Age of Reptiles.

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Examples:

Animation

• Pangea – The Neverending World: Half of the movie plays out like this; a baby Tyrannosaurus rex named Rexy is used as a tracking shot, which then transitions to a flock of Pteranodon flying over a ravine. Later on, Rexy is running past a herd of sauropods having a fun adventure where a Hard Rock track plays throughout.

Anime & Manga

• Digimon Adventure: (2020): Parodied in episode 4. When Taichi's group explores the Digital World, they witness a herd of Stegomon and a Brachiomon. Both dinosaur-like Digimon play out as this trope goes.
• Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur: The film begins with Nobita and friends looking in awe at a cast of dinosaurs doing everyday things, though it turns out that this is a figment of Nobita's imagination. Later on, the opening title is portrayed in life evolving from its earliest state from the Pre-Cambrian time to the Mesozoic era where the camera tracks to pass through several dinosaurs and ending with all sorts of them from different time periods walking in a herd as the film's title card flashes. Much later on, the kids and Doraemon explore the Late Cretaceous world and are awed by the myriad of dinosaurs and pterosaurs living at that time.
• In the Magic Tree House anime film, as Jack and Annie explore the Late Cretaceous there is a montage of awe-inspiring shots of prehistoric creatures such as Ankylosaurus, Alamosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and Ornithomimus.

Comic Books

• Supergirl: In Action Comics #259: "The Cave-Girl of Steel" (1959), Supergirl travels to the prehistoric age to find dinosaurs, and becomes fascinated by the ferocious countenance of a looming Ceratosaurus and the sheer size of a Brontosaurus.

Films — Animated

• Dino Time: A rather unorthodox example as not only does this take place midway in the film, but also shortly after the main trio has met and interacted with the Tyrannosaurus, Tyra. The trio come across a watering hole where several groups of dinosaurs including Alamosaurus, Triceratops, Parasaurolophus and Sauropelta are gathered around for a drink.
  Julia: This is really amazing!
• Dinosaur: The film begins with an Iguanodon overseeing her nesting grounds, followed by grand shots of other herbivores. The uplifting mood is ruined, however, when a Carnotaurus attacks a herd and indirectly tramples the Iguanodon's nest. Strangely, the trope plays out again when the one surviving egg is taken from one place to another, with an emphasis on scope and occasional peril as predators like Oviraptor and Pteranodon fight for said egg before it is dropped onto an island. Indeed, the egg would hatch to be the film's protagonist, Aladar.
• Fantasia: The "Rite of Spring" segment is probably the Trope Maker. While some perilous scenes are shown, the dinosaurs make their appearance in a rather harmonious tone, and with the herbivores doing what any normal animal would be doing, such as Brontosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Anatosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Ornithomimus grazing through leaves and waters, playing and looking after one another. All seems well, that is until rainfall occurs, and immediately a Tyrannosaurus shows up.
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Subverted; the gang is initially awed at the sight of an underground world where dinosaurs have survived. The dinosaurs, not so much, as an Ankylosaurus immediately attacks them on sight not long after this, and then surrounded by a crowd of herbivorous dinosaurs who do not like the presence of the Pleistocene group and are prepared to attack them before Buck shows up to save the gang.
• The Land Before Time: The original film begins with a narration about Earth's history before introducing dinosaurs into its description. The dark, grungy atmosphere is contrasted by hopeful music with dinosaurs doing stuff like a Longneck overlooking a lake, a Swimmer looking after her nest, a Swimmer infant (Ducky in particular) surviving the jaws of an agitated tortoise, a flock of Fliers flocking, and a Threehorn family observing their children playing.
• Speckles: The Tarbosaurus: After an introduction to Speckles's birth, the film properly begins with a tracking shot of an Haenamichnus as it soars over a herd of Charonosaurus and Pukyongosaurus. An orchestral theme is built up throughout the scene, eventually booming once a dinosaur herd shows up. It plays out similarly to its spiritual predecessor, Koreanosaurus, except with dinosaurs actually being visible in the tracking shot.

Films — Live-Action

• Dinosaur Island (2014): Sometime into the film, Kathryn leads Lucas to a lake where the two witness a herd of Iguanodon. Despite having already seen dinosaurs, Lucas expresses surprise and excitement upon looking at them, whilst the Iguanodon simply acts like a family of deers.
• Jurassic Park: This is a staple in the franchise.
  • Jurassic Park (1993): The Trope Codifier is the first appearance of the Brachiosaurus, whose appearance is treated as majestic and awe-inspiring the moment the dinosaur is properly revealed. It's also built up by Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler's jaw-dropping reaction, followed by them geeking out about the dinosaur and seeing that they could walk on land just fine after Dr. Sattler muses how it doesn't live in a swamp. A particularly epic piece of music plays out as Grant takes a close look at a lake where a herd of Brachiosaurus and Parasaurolophus are shown together drinking and walking beside the water.
    Alan Grant: They're moving in herds. They do move in herds.
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park has the scene with the family of Stegosaurus crossing the riverbed.
  • Jurassic Park III: After narrowly surviving one hazard and threat after another, including a Velociraptor family, a startled herd of hadrosaurs, an aggressive flock of Pteranodon, and an insanely persistent Spinosaurus, Dr. Grant's party has one non-confrontational encounter with a dinosaur, which comes from a herd of Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Brachiosaurus. It comes off as a relieving breather moment to remind the audience that in spite of their ferocity, dinosaurs are still normal if fantastical animals when not provoked.
  • In Jurassic World, the sequence of Gray and Zach traveling through the valley area in a gyrosphere is this trope to a T.
• King Kong (2005): Carl and his crew are stunned at the sight of a Brontosaurus herd. Jack attempts to exploit the trope as he believes getting footage of the dinosaurs would prove the validity of their time filming in Skull Island. However, a tense and foreboding track plays in the background, indicating that something bad is about to go down, which eventually does in the form of a pack of Venatosaurus.
• Transformers: Age of Extinction: In the climactic fight, Optimus busts out a group of warriors held up in Lockdown's ship, and asks them to fight alongside the Autobots. One of them steps forward, and immediately tries to smush him with a mace. They fight for a moment, and then the big one turns into a T-Rex. (That the Dinobots were involved at all wasn't much of a surprise, given most of the advertising about the movies was based on the fact this one had giant robot Dinosaurs).
  Crosshairs: Oh, no...
  Drift: I was expecting a giant car!

Live-Action TV

• Dinotopia: Downplayed; the first shot of the titular city shows a bazaar with dinosaurs including Parasaurolophus and Brachiosaurus coexisting alongside humans. While fantastical, it's downplayed because it's been quite some time since the main human characters have been marooned there, leading to them reacting to the scene with a sense of familiarity.
• Koreanosaurus: The feature begins with a narration about Earth's prehistory and the numerous geological events that occurred before the camera shifts from the Earth and into a tracking shot via a pterosaur flying above a valley and a lake.
• Last Day of the Dinosaurs: Averted hard. The documentary special opens on a rather large-scale note, with the narrator emphasizing how dinosaurs dominated the Earth and shots of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Alamosaurus, Saurornithoides, and Charonosaurus being involved in action sequences. However, the narration ends on a grim note, hammering the fact of how the dinosaurs met a sudden and devastating end, with the last shots of the opening showing a meteor hail, sandstorm, and a tsunami before the title card appears.
• Prehistoric Park:
  • The opening of the series starts off with a building orchestral tune that swells up by the end with a wide shot of an Ornithomimus flock running across the hills of the titular park followed by a wandering Elasmotherium, a soaring Nyctosaurus, and a herd of titanosaurs. Interestingly, in addition to Elasmotherium not being a dinosaur, but rather a prehistoric rhino from the Ice Age, Nyctosaurus was never bought back to the present age in the series proper.
  • Nigel's first encounter with the Tyrannosaurus rex plays out like this, despite Nigel being the one who is under threat, complete with a thematic tune playing out. While the Ornithomimus leave a decent impression, a trio of T. rexes makes Nigel stop and stare for a good amount of time, partially in fear and awe at looking at the king of the dinosaurs. Of course, it's followed by a chase sequence.
• Prehistoric Planet:
  • David Attenborough, the series' host, wastes no time about how majestic and wonderful dinosaurs are during the openings of all the episodes, which feature dinosaurs doing all sorts of actions as hopeful, uplifting music plays in the background. The series also makes a point to present its more dramatic shots as such, such as a Tyrannosaurus leading its brood to swim to a nearby coast, two male Dreadnoughtus fighting for dominance, and a collection of dinosaurs from all sorts of clades gathering close to a water hole, and an Olorotitan laying her eggs and looking after her young.
  • The final shot of the Forests episode is a rare example of this trope occurring at the series's end; a Hatzegopteryx flying into the sunset with a booming if sentimental track playing to represent how successful and triumphant archosaurs were during their time on Earth.
• Planet Dinosaur: Downplayed; Series host John Hurt makes a point to tell the audience that dinosaurs are fantastical and wondrous creatures while shots of different dinosaurs either resting, gazing, herding, and attacking are shown with an intense orchestral track, but there's also significant emphasis on scientific analysis and fossil records, not to mention there are a few moments of violence, including a dead Majungasaurus whose blood leads to the title card unfolding.
• Terra Nova: On their first day of entering the Cretaceous Period, the Shannon Family encounter a Titanosaur overlooking them through a high-walled fence. The family is awed by the dinosaur's appearance and scope and barely says a word, that is until the youngest child, Zoe, decides to pluck out a branch of leaves and feed the sauropod one, establishing that while in a more healthier and stable community, the Shannons would also have to deal with a primordial world, as fantastical as it looks.
• Walking with Dinosaurs:
  • The conclusion of the first episode, "New Blood" shows the Coelophysis pack stumbling across a herd of Plateosaurus walking through a waterfall, with a triumphant theme playing throughout and more focus being given to the prosauropod rather than the smaller theropod. The scene symbolizes the upcoming scope and majesty dinosaurs are yet to show as "New Blood" takes place during the Late Triassic when dinosaurs were a then-fledgling group of animals who were yet to dominate Earth, with Plateosaurus serving as a prelude.
  • The second episode "Time of the Titans" begins with a female Diplodocus laying her eggs in the deep forest. As she joins her herd, the music quickly changes from a slow melody to the same triumphant fanfare from the previous episode. This is done again in a later moment when the audience is introduced to the largest animal of the Morrison formation, Brachiosaurus, which easily towers over a group of subadult Diplodocus and keeps a pair of Allosaurus nearby at bay.

Video Games

• Fossil League Dino Tournament Championship: When Taiga and Dr. Smith travel to the Early Jurassic Period to prepare the former in becoming a licensed user of dinosaurs for care and battle, Taiga expresses joy and excitement upon seeing a dinosaur for the first time whilst the main menu theme of the music plays.
• Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis: The opening of the game begins with John Hammond narrating how you are the one who is to be responsible for building Jurassic Park. The opening features shots of Brachiosaurus, Triceratops, and Parasaurolophus eating, grazing, and socializing with each other peacefully whilst the main theme of the Jurassic Park franchise plays. Then the opening becomes more intense with the introduction to raptors and the T. rex, though Hammond still affirms that you need to be careful in a grandfatherly tone.
• Primal Carnage: In stark contrast to the main game, one of the promotional trailers is simply a showcase of Parasaurolophus and Brachiosaurus walking alongside together with a calming and wondrous piece of music playing alongside.
• Turok: The 2008 game has one such example when Turok glances at an Apatosaurus herd at a distance. This is subverted in that Turok had just saved himself from a Velociraptor and that looking at the sauropods does nothing to ease Turok's situation other than the fact that he's stuck in a primordial world left to fend for himself.

Western Animation

• Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous: The camp is awed by their very first encounter with a herd of herbivorous dinosaurs, but none more so than Darius, the only one in the sextet with any interest in dinosaurs. He takes the time to geek out on any species he lays his eyes on and takes a longing look at a passing Brachiosaurus while going down a zipline, all whilst "Welcome to Jurassic Park" plays throughout the scene. The final shot of the series is a mild Call-Back to the above one as Darius encounters a Brachiosaurus outside his home window and smiles in response while an anticipating type of music builds up throughout.
• March of the Dinosaurs: Downplayed; the show mentions the grand and epic scale of the winter migration the Edmontosaurus would embark on, all told through a triumphant theme and shots of the hadrosaur in the midst of their migration and doing everyday actions. That said, the narration also emphasizes the dangers of said migration with shots including the Edmontosaurs struggling with the cold and being attacked by an Albertosaurus during the night.
• Mickey Mouse (2013): "Outta Time" has Mickey and Donald go back to Hollywood Prehistory to rescue Goofy before all life becomes descended from the latter. When the obligatory use of this trope occurs, all of the dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures are shown to have Goofy-like heads.
• The Simpsons: In the "Treehouse of Horror V" segment "Time and Punishment", Homer accidentally makes a time machine out of a toaster. It sends him back in time to prehistory, and Homer is amazed by the field of dinosaurs before him.
  Homer: I've gone back to the time when dinosaurs weren't just confined to zoos.
• We Baby Bears: In "Modern-ish Stone Age Family", the Bears end up in a prehistoric-type world and are amazed by the sight of dinosaurs.

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