Random Behind-The-Scenes Facts About 'Dinosaurs' (20 items)

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  (#1) "Not The Mama" Came From A Real Baby

  The show's most famous catchphrase "Not the mama!" came from creator Bob Young. Young had an infant son named Ethan who used to say those words at home.
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  (#2) No Press Was Allowed On Set During Season One

  Producers and the network forbade any members of the press from coming to the set during the first season because they didn't want any photos taken of puppeteers with just portions of the costumes on. They thought it would kill the vision for children and upset them if they saw a dinosaur with its head off.
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  (#3) The Original Design For Earl Was Purposefully Frightening

  Designers initially made the father Earl a lot scarier looking, but producers thought he was too "fierce."  So, they gave him a second chin and made him chubbier to soften his look.
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  (#4) The Dinosaurs' Last Names Are Petroleum Companies

  The family's last name "Sinclair" was in reference to Sinclair Oil Corporation which used a dinosaur in its logo. Other characters had names such as Phillips, Hess, Richfield, B.P., and even Ethyl which were in reference to oil companies and the fuel they produced.
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  (#5) The Voice Of Earl Was In 'Fatal Attraction'

  Stuart Pankin did the voice of Earl on Dinosaurs, but he had a successful career as an actor prior to that role, including playing Michael Douglas's best friend in the thriller Fatal Attraction. You can also find him as a frequent guest on The $100,000 Pyramid and several late night infomercials.
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  (#6) Earl Sighed A Lot Because The Puppeteer Needed To See

  The puppeteer inside the Earl costume could only see out of the character's mouth.  So, in order to allow him to see where he was going, they created a character trait where Earl sighed a lot as he crossed the room.  Otherwise the puppeteer had to move based on his memory of previous steps.
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  (#7) Puppeteers Often Fell Asleep In Their Costumes

  The puppeteers would have to stay in their costumes because it was so difficult to get them in and out. Thus, many of them would just take naps inside their get-ups while sitting down or even while filming.
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  (#8) Henson First Collaborated With A Designer Of Neverland Ranch

  When Jim Henson was creating the dinosaur family idea in the first place, he worked with William Stout, an artist and illustrator who also helped create the layout of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
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  (#9) Some Episodes Didn't Air In The Show's Original Run

  Seven additional episodes of the show were shot before it got canceled and thus never aired on TV. However, when the show went into syndication, the additional episodes were finally shown to the world.
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  (#10) Three 'Seinfeld' Stars Had Roles On The Show

  Jason Alexander played an announcer in seven different episodes, while Michael Richards is credited as playing a "director" in one episode. Julia Louis-Dreyfus also had a brief role, playing the role of Heather Worthington in one episode in 1992.
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  (#11) The Series Finale Started With A Warning For Children

  The series ended in 1994 in a totally dramatic fashion. The dinosaurs themselves were causing terrible changes in climate and needed rain, so they dropped bombs in volcanoes to create clouds. Unfortunately, it created snow which then led to the Ice Age, and the family knew they were going to die.

  Knowing how heavy this stuff was, producers put up a CHILD WARNING graphic before the episode aired.
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  (#12) 'The Simpsons' Paved The Way For 'Dinosaurs'

  The only reason ABC green lit Dinosaurs was because of the success of The Simpsons. Networks were desperate to copy the tongue-in-cheek, commentary humor that defined The Simpsons. Dinosaurs does touch upon many issues with humor such as war, global warming, and feminism in ways only puppets could get away with.
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  (#13) The Show May Have Inspired A Running Gag On South Park

  One of the characters known as Mr. Lizard (a spoof of Mr. Wizard) had a lab assistant that would continuously die during various lab experiments. One of the show's well-known catchphrases became "We're gonna need another Timmy!" South Park didn't air until 1997.
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  (#14) The Children Are Not Actual Species Of Dinosaur

  Though Earl was a megalosaurus and Fran was a tyrannosaurus rex, it was never stated what kind of species their offspring were. Perhaps the show created a new hybrid dinosaur?
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  (#15) The Studio Borrowed Money To Pay For The Show

  Disney, the studio behind the show (though it aired on ABC), had to come up with creative ideas to raise money to finance the show (and the rest of its slate). The company offered public bonds for the public to purchase and, specifically with Dinosaurs, they had to borrow money from ABC against the start-up cost of the series, which they paid back incrementally.
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  (#16) The Voice Of Baby Sinclair Was Accused Of Child Abuse

  That's right. Kevin Clash, who also did the voice of Elmo, voiced Baby Sinclair. Clash was later accused of multiple child molestation charges which ultimately led to him leaving Sesame Street and was later dismissed.
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  (#17) One Of The Cavewomen Married An Actor From 'Titanic'

  Paula Marshall starred as a cavewoman on Dinosaurs (remember how cave people were kept as pets?). She then went on to star on shows like Seinfeld, Nip/Tuck, and Snoops, where she met her future husband, Danny Nucci, who is most well known as Fabrizio from Titanic.
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  (#18) The VP Of ABC Called It 'The Hardest Show To Produce'

  According to a network executive, Dinosaurs was one of the hardest shows for the network to produce at the time. The crew of six people in the Henson Creature Workshop sprung to a whopping 90. It took 65 hours a week to shoot the 23 minutes for each episode And the network didn't even shoot a pilot because that would have cost them an additional $6 million.
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  (#19) Producers Created A Character Spoof Of Barney The Dinosaur

  Obviously thinking the "new" dinosaur was snarky, dysfunctional, and modern, the producers ridiculed that other TV dinosaur on the air: Barney. They created a character named Blarney who had a very similar theme song, and the older characters couldn't stand him.
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  (#20) Producers Had Planned A Feature Film Spin-Off

  Dinosaurs producers had big plans to bring the show to life in a movie theater near you. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled and ratings dropped which led to them scrapping the idea in the end.

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