Super Dinosaur is the All-CGI Cartoon Animated Adaptation of the likewise titled children's comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, the mind behind The Walking Dead and Invincible. Produced between Canada's Spin Master Entertainment (the creators of PAW Patrol) and America's Skybound Entertainment (the publishers of the original comic books) with animation services by Atomic Cartoons, the show premiered in Teletoon on September 8, 2018 and ran for a total of 26 episodes.
Translating the Saturday-Morning Cartoon sensibilities of the comic books into the animated format, the TV show, like the comics, follows the adventures of Derek Dynamo, a 10-year-old kid whose best friend is none other than the eponymous Super Dinosaur (SD for short), a friendly, intelligent, and fun-loving T-Rex in a suit of Powered Armor. As the son of Absent-Minded Professor Dr. Dexter Dynamo, Derek is an agent of Earth Corps, a global organization dedicated to studying the mysterious Hollow World of Inner-Earth, where dinosaurs still roam and the mysterious mineral Dynore is found. Also in pursuit of the secrets of Inner-Earth is the villainous Max Maximus, a former colleague of Dr. Dynamo who seeks to harness the power of Dynore to take over the world, having already used it to create an army of Dino-Men under his command.
Naturally, only Derek Dynamo and Super Dinosaur stand in the way of Maximus' plans of conquest. With the help of a circle of Earth Corps allies, Derek and SD use all kinds of hi-tech gadgets, their owns wits and skills, and The Power of Friendship to foil the schemes of Max Maximus and a host of other baddies in action-packed adventures running as much on Rule of Cool as they do Rule of Fun.
Super Dinosaur contains examples of:
- Adaptation Name Change: Terrordactyl's name is instead Terroropterx...even though he's still very clearly a pterodactyl, not an archaeopteryx.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Tricerachops has a more feminine figure than in the comic.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: The Megaraptor (and the Humongous Mecha built by the Kingstons and used to fight it), who debut in Issue #4 of the comic, don't appear until the season finale.
- Adaptational Villainy: At the beginning, Tricerachops is working for Max Maximus; as opposed to her comic counterpart, who starts out already having defected.
- Adapted Out:
- The Exile makes no appearance in the show. Averted with the Reptiloids, however, for they appear in the form of ancient paintings in a cave and some lore, in "The Legend of the Ghost Lizard".
- The Kalish don't appear either.
- Alliterative Family:
- Derek Dynamo and his dad, Dexter.
- Sisters Erin and Erica.
- Alliterative Name: Max Maximus.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: In "DynOre Quest", an infuriated Erica disables the Dynamo Dome's firewalls, thus revealing their location... and allowing Max Maximus to open a floor door there and come through with his Dino-Men. To Be Continued in "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome"...
- And the Adventure Continues: The Megaraptor has been taken down, Maximus and Minimus have been locked up and are unlikely to escape... but Julianna, Derek's mom, still hasn't been found. However, since Dr. Dynamo has gotten back the memories taken by Maximus, and now knows where she is, he announces: "It's gonna take some time to gear up for our expedition... to Inner Earth."
- Arm Cannon: What Doometrodon has instead of his usual flail in "The Floor Door Shuffle".
- Artificial Human: Minimus, a clone of Maximus.
- Artificial Limbs: Maximus has a big robotic left arm.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Megaraptor, in the season finale.
- Bald of Evil: Maximus, the Big Bad, is bald.
- Beard of Evil: Maximus also has a goatee.
- Big Bad: Max Maximus, the man commanding the Dino-Men and Arch-Enemy of Dr. Dynamo.
- Big "NO!": From Erupticus, right before his defeat in "BFF's".
- Brain Uploading: Hilda, Dr. Oliver Manchester's late grandma, who had her mind transferred into a robot by her grandson.
- Brainwashed: In "The Great Race", once Squidious has mutated thanks to the liquid DynOre, it progressively becomes harder for him to think. This is because Maximus — who had struck a deal with him prior — manipulates the frequencies of the DynOre, thus gaining control of Squidious.
- Burping Contest: Derek and SD have one during the dinner with the Kingstons in "Under the Dome", SD winning with a killer belch that rattles the whole Dynamo Dome. Near the end of the episode, the Kingstons start one themselves, to which even Dr. Dynamo joins in.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: Derek and SD tend to chat and snark at their opponents in battle, sometimes even discussing their battle banter.
- Catchphrase: When Tricerachops throws a big hit with her axe, she shouts, "TriceraCHOP!".
- Chekhov's Gun: After the Cold Open, "Out of Our Depth" begins with SD performing a Hand Puppet show. During the Lair Leviathan infiltration, SD distracts the Shark-Men with the puppets.
- Cliffhanger:
- The episode "DynOre Quest" ends when Maximus and his Dino-Men arrive at the Dynamo Dome.
- "The Rogue Ones" ends with the arrival of the Megaraptor.
- Department of Redundancy Department: A line from Erupticus to SD."You always ruin everything, you... ruiner of everything!!"
- A Dog Ate My Homework: When Ms. Finkle visits the Dynamo Dome in "BFF's", Derek says SD ate his study sheet as an excuse to not take an exam.
- The Dragon: Tricerachops, to Max Maximus. Until she and the Dino-Men overthrow him...
- Enemy Mine:
- "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome": After being imprisoned by the Dino-Men, the Dynamos have to work together with Maximus to get back the Dynamo Dome.
- "Out of Our Depth": After the Shark-Men's betrayal, Derek and SD strike a deal with Squidious to work together against Minimus. This eventually leads to his Heel–Face Turn.
- "The Dino Liberation Front": When Minimus and his Dino-Men attack and he starts controlling the pterodactyls, the DLF has to team up with Derek and SD to stop him.
- Epic Flail: Doometrodon has a flail as his right arm.
- Expendable Clone: Maximus cares little about the Dino-Men. Made clear in "Under the Dome"...Tricerachops: [Terroropterx] is not nothing. He is one of us; one of the Dino-Men.Maximus: If I need a dino, I can make one. There's nothing special about him; about you. You're an extension of my will; nothing more!
- Fake Arm Disarm: Maximus gets his robot arm ripped off by the Dino-Men in "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome".
- Flat Scare: In "Mind Over Mammal", all it takes is a Dino-Man saying "boo." to make an Earthcore agent freak out and run for the hills.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: In "Mind over Mammal", SD touches a random button on one of Dr. Manchester's machines, and gets body-swapped with Derek as a result.
- Goal in Life: Played For Laughs in "The Great Race" when SD mentions his life goals: making friends with a fish, building a rollercoaster with flaming loops, forming the world's greatest rock band, performing a slam dunk from space, turning the Dynamo Dome into a racetrack...
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: The Dynamos have a red/white motif with yellow DynOre and holo-screens, while Maximusnote has a lime green motif.
- Grudging "Thank You": After being saved from Maximus' control by Derek and SD in "The Great Race", Squidious thanks them, but reminds them that they're still enemies.
- Large Ham: Squidious' lines come out rather hammily.
- Hand Puppet: SD mounts a show with these in "Out of Our Depth", starring the Dynamo Dome crew and also General Casey. After Squidious' Heel–Face Turn, SD shows him a newly made puppet of him and plays with it.
- Heel–Face Turn: In "Out of Our Depth", after being betrayed by the Shark-Men, having to work with Derek and SD, and being saved by the latter, Squidious realizes that not all humans are terrible people and decides to help Earthcore against Minimus.
- Henchmen Race: The Dino-Men were created by Max Maximus and serve him.
- Hulk Speak: Squidious has a moment of this when he's mutated from consuming liquid DynOre in "The Great Race"."ME STRONGER! ME CRUSH!"
- I Can't Believe I'm Saying This: Derek expresses disbelief after saying "good job" to Maximus, who's helping the Dynamos take back the Dome from the Dino-Men in "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome".
- Jerkass:
- Maximus is one to his creations, the Dino-Men, considering them completely expendable, and to his "son" Minimus.
- KAL is this to SD throughout "BFF's", bragging about proving to Derek that he's superior and replacing SD as his BFF.
- Laser Blade: The blades of Tricerachops' axe are made of Maxinite energy.
- The Legend of X: Episode 14, "The Legend of the Ghost Lizard".
- Magma Man: Erupticus can shoot lava blasts.
- Make My Monster Grow: In "The Great Race", Squidious grows to an enormous size upon absorbing the tanks of liquid DynOre in an Earthcore facility.
- Mid-Season Twist:
- Near the end of "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome" (Episode 12), it's revealed that Maximus might know something about Dr. Dynamo's absent wife...
- "Minimum Requirements" (Episode 13) introduces Minimus, a clone of Max Maximus made to continue commanding the Dino-Men in case the original ever got incarcerated.
- Missing Mom:
- The Dino-Men, having been artificially made by Max Maximus, have no "maternal unit", as pointed out by Tricerachopsnote .
- Derek's mom is also absent. Though it's revealed mid-season that Maximus might know something about her...
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome", when Maximus tests her loyalty by having her strike down SD, Tricerachops and the Dino-Men finally overthrow him and lock him up with the Dynamos and Kingstons.
- Mooks: Maximus' Dino-Men and Squidious' Shark-Men.
- Previously on…: "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome" opens with Derek narrating what happened in the previous episode, "DynOre Quest".
- Protagonist Title: The title character, Super Dinosaur, is a main character.
- Right Behind Me: In "BFF's", while Derek is messing with a Holo-bot's projection of Ms. Finkle, the real one shows up. Cue an Oh, Crap! from Erin...
- Save the Villain: While infiltrating the Lair Leviathan with Derek and SD after Minimus' takeover, Squidious gets stung by several DynOre-mutated security jellyfish that render him unconscious... but SD swims in and saves him from falling.
- Temple of Doom: In the episode "Temple of Secrets", an ancient temple discovered by Earthcore, said to be a passage to Inner Earth.
- We Can Rule Together: In "Jurassic Golf", after a brief battle with SD, Tricerachops tries talking him into joining her and Maximus.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Minimus' greatest desire is for his dad to be proud.
- Wham Line: Near the end of "Invasion of the Dynamo Dome".Dr. Dynamo: I don't have time for any more of your tricks.Maximus: Interesting... Your wife once told me the same thing.
- Younger Than They Look: Minimus comes out of his cloning chamber already looking like a preteen.
