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Dinosaurs

Real-World Collectives

Prehistoric Peeps

[writer unknown], directed by Lewin Fitzhamon
After falling asleep, Professor Chump finds himself being chased by dinosaurs and curvaceous cavewomen. Intended as a dream, I suppose. In any case, this is one of a series of live-action films based on E. T. Reed’s cartoons from Punch. I ran into several websites, including Palaeontology Online, that blamed this one movie for cementing the juxtaposition of dinosaurs and men in the cinema forevermore. According to IMDb trivia, the dinosaur special effects were accomplished with simple costumes.
— Michael Main
Prehistoric Peeps [writer unknown], directed by Lewin Fitzhamon (at movie theaters, UK, August 1905).

The Ghost of Slumber Mountain

written and directed by Willis H. O’Brien
Unk tells a story to his two nephews about the time when he and Joe visited the stone-covered grave and haunted cabin of Mad Dick where they (and their dog, Soxie) were able to view the prehistoric past through a queer looking instrument that accidentally allowed T. Rex onto Slumber Mountain. Sadly, at the end, Unk suggests that it was all a dream, but what does he know?!

The IMDb lists Herbert M. Dawley as a co-writer, but Wikipedia lists him as only the producer. The initial three-reel film premiered at the Strand Theater, but an unhappy Dawley cut it from over 40 minutes to about 12. Around six extra minutes were later restored by the Dinosaur Museum of Blanding, Utah, in 2016, but the full version no longer exists.

— Michael Main
Far, far away, at the foot of a cliff, a Thunder Lizard—which must have been at least one hundred feet long—appeared out of the mists of forty million years.
The Ghost of Slumber Mountain written and directed by Willis H. O’Brien (premiered at the Strand Theater, Dorcester, Massachusetts, 17 November 1918).

Sands of Time 1

The Sands of Time

by P. Schuyler Miller
Terry Donovan realizes that it’s possible to travel through time in 60,000,000-year increments, so naturally he travels back to the Cretaceous where he meets dinosaurs and aliens.

This story was under Tremaine’s Astounding editorship, but the sequel, “Coils of Time,” (May 1939) appeared after Campbell became editor.

— Michael Main
Incidentally, I have forgotten the most important thing of all. Remember that Donovan’s dominating idea was to prove to me, and to the world, that he had been in the Cretaceous and hobnobbed with its flora and fauna. He was a physicist by inclination, and had the physicist’s flair for ingenious proofs. Before leaving, he loaded a lead cube with three quartz quills of pure radium chloride that he had been using in a previous experiment, and locked the whole thing up in a steel box.
“Sands of Time” by P. Schuyler Miller, in Astounding Stories, April 1937.

Time’s Arrow

by Arthur C. Clarke
Barton and Davis, assistants to Professor Fowler, are on an archaeological dig when a physicist sets up camp next door and speculations abound about viewing into the past—or is it only viewing?
— Michael Main
The discovery of negative entropy introduces quite new and revolutionary conceptions into our picture of the physical world.
“Time’s Arrow” by Arthur C. Clarke, in Science-Fantasy, Summer 1950.

Day of the Hunters

by Isaac Asimov
A midwestern professor tells a half-drunken story of time travel and the real cause of the dinosaur extinction.
— Michael Main
Because I built a time machine for myself a couple of years ago and went back to the Mesozoic Era and found out what happened to the dinosaurs.
“Day of the Hunters” by Isaac Asimov, in Future Science Fiction, November 1950.

Journey into Mystery #8

Time Reversal

by an unknown writer 
A blackmailer demonstrates his ability to send an entire city back to prehistoric times.
— Michael Main
We received a note telling us that unless we paid the sum of three million dollars this great city would be taken back to prehistoric days.
“Time Reversal” by an unknown writer , in Journey into Mystery #8 (Atlas Comics, May 1953).

Unusual Tales #1

La Caverna del Pasado

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno
Hoping to sell a big story to his editor, reporter Jim Foster fakes photographs of prehistoric animals in a legendary Latin American cave, but when he takes Professor charles Beaduy to the cave, they find more than what was promised.

The cave does bring together animals and people from different times, but whether any actual time travel occurs is debatable. And before you ask, I don’t know what a mastondia is either.

— Michael Main
Time must have stood still in this region of Earth. Take a picture of this mastondia before it goes for us.
“La Caverna del Pasado” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Molno, Unusual Tales #1 (Charlton Comics, November 1955).

Tyrannosaurus Rex

by Ray Bradbury
We could have told special effects meister John Terwilliger that the only way to get a truly monstrous T. rex on film is to build a time machine, but alas, he relied solely on stop-motion animation with no time travel, and look at the abuse he gets for his efforts from the renowned producer Joe Clarence.
— Michael Main
Step by step, frame by frame of film, stop motion by stop motion, he, Terwilliger, had run his beasts through their postures, moved each a fraction of an inch, photographed them, moved them another hair, photographed them, for hours and days and months.
“The Prehistoric Producer” by Ray Bradbury, in The Saturday Evening Post, 23 June 1962.

Gorgo 23

The Land of Long Ago

by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Montes
Charlton’s Gorgo comic was inspired by the the 1961 movie of the same name Unlike the movie, however, the comic book Gorgo had one adventure in time when Dr. Hobart Howarth rescues Gorgo from YaPa* by sending the giant reptile back to the late Jurassic. Sadly, as a child, I bought only one Gorgo comic, which was not the time-travel issue, although that one issue I had was drawn by Steve Ditko, hooray!
* Yet another Pentagon attack
— Michael Main
I will send Gorgo back into is own era in the stream of time. Here he is an anachronism . . . In his own time, he would be in harmony withhis surroundings!
“The Land of Long Ago” by Joe Gill [?] and Bill Montes, in Gorgo #23 (Charlton Comics, September 1965).

Journey to the Center of Time

written and directed by David L. Hewitt
The writer, David L. Hewitt, took chunks of plot and script from The Time Travelers (1964), swapped the blonde for a brunette, swapped the accidental time gate for an accidental time rift that drags the whole lab through time as if it were a time ship, added a anachronistic dinosaur, and ended up with an unwatchable movie.

Like the 1964 version, this version has a brief mention that it’s impossible to change events that have already happened, but unlike the original, the montage at the end of the film is mere chaos that no longer reinforces the idea of a single deterministic, nonbranching timeline. Despite that, I enjoyed the consequences of the villainous character running into himself, but at the same time, I dismayed at the discussion of how meeting yourself could instantly cause a disastrous explosion or implosion or maybe something-or-other (the audio was unintelligible at 1:12) would cease to exist. (I pray that the space-time continuum wasn’t in peril).

— Michael Main
Well, isn’t it obvious, Manning? The war did happen. We didn’t get back with our warning.
Journey to the Center of Time written and directed by David L. Hewitt (at movie theaters, USA, a forgettable day in 1967).

Dinosaur Machines 4

The Day of the Dinosaurs

by Eve Bunting
When one of them pulls the lever on the museum's dinosaur display, three children are transported back to a prehistoric dinosaur land.
— the Library of Congress
Allosaurus stopped as the water rushed over his feet. They could see the bulk of him, his neck and heavy legs; his tail that was flattenedon the sides. He was big as a full grown tree. Then he turned and Joe saw his teeth. They were jagged as steak knives.
“The Day of the Dinosaurs” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 3

Death of a Dinosaur

by Eve Bunting
Carmen, Joe, and Riley go back through time once more to witness the end of the dinosaurs.
— the Library of Congress
“Death of a Dinosaur” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 2

The Dinosaur Trap

by Eve Bunting
Joe and Riley go back to dinosaur land determined to bring back Carmen who stayed behind on their last trip. [Whew!]
— the Library of Congress
“The Dinosaur Trap” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

Dinosaur Machines 1

Escape from Tyrannosaurus

by Eve Bunting
Kids today are pandered to way too much in that every book they’re given to read presents an unrealistically rosie view of life. No, that’s not for me! Give my kids the harsh reality of life and time travel! Case in point: Three kids travel to the Cretcaeous where they meet a T. rex. Two return.
— Michael Main
“Escape from Tyrannosaurus” by Eve Bunting (EMC, 1975).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s02e10)

Tyrannosaurus Rex

by Ray Bradbury, directed by Gilles BĂ©hat
It’s hard to believe with a title like this, but just like Bradbury’s original “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” this adaptation for TV had no time travel.
— Michael Main
My beauties. Not alive, but alive. Dead, but not dead. Clay and then liquid rubber. Yes, oh yes. I moved you and then frame by frame photographed you.
The Ray Bradbury Theater (s02e10), “Tyrannosaurus Rex” by Ray Bradbury, directed by Gilles Béhat (HBO, USA, 14 May 1988).

Ripples in the Dirac Sea

by Geoffrey A. Landis
A physics guy invents a time machine that can go only backward and must always return the traveler to the exact same present from which he left.
— Michael Main
  1. Travel is possible only into the past.
  2. The object transported will return to exactly the time and place of departure.
  3. It is not possible to bring objects from the past to the present.
  4. Actions in the past cannot change the present.
“Ripples in the Dirac Sea” by Geoffrey A. Landis, in Asimov’s Science Fiction, October 1988.

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s03e06)

A Sound of Thunder

by Ray Bradbury, directed by Pat Robins
Bradbury himself wrote the teleplay for this first on-screen adaptation of his famous story, and somehow he managed to do it without the word “butterfly” appearing in the script (though we do see the critter at the end).
— Michael Main
Travis: We might destroy a roach—or a flower, even—and destroy an important link in the species.

Eckles: So?

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s03e06), “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury, directed by Pat Robins (USA Network, 11 August 1989).

The Magic Tree House 1

Dinosaurs before Dark

by Mary Pope Osborne
Eight-year-old prospective scientist Jack and his imaginative little sister Annie discover a tree house full of books, the first of which magicks them into the age of reptiles with a friendly Pteranodon they call Henry, a not-so-friendly T. Rex, and a drove of other dinosaurs.
— Michael Main
“Wow,” whispered Jack. “I wish we could go to the time of Pteranodons.”

Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky.

“Ahhh!” screamed Annie.

“What?” said Jack.

“A monster!” Annie cried. She pointed out the tree house window.

Dinosaurs before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne (Random House, July 1992).

Scherzo with Tyrannosaur

by Michael Swanwick
The director of Hilltop Research Station extinguishes various fires while hosting a donor dinner in the Cretaceous and planning predatory behavior of his own to keep the donor funds flowing, all while ensuring that the mysterious beings known only as the Unchanging remain in the dark about a quagmire of time travel violations.
— Michael Main
It would bring our sponsors down upon us like so many angry hornets. The Unchanging would yank time travel out of human hands—retroactively.
“Scherzo with Tyrannosaur” by Michael Swanwick, Asimov’s Science Fiction, July 1999.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e09)

It’s a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas

by Dan Kael, directed by Melissa Joan Hart
While on a Christmas trip to Florida, Sabrina and Salem travel back in time to see who robbed the condo where everyone is staying
— Inmate Jan
Oh, oh, oh—I think you went back a little too far!
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (s07e09), “It’s a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas” by Dan Kael, directed by Melissa Joan Hart (The WB-TV, USA, 6 December 2002).

Horrid Henry [s01e16]

Horrid Henry’s Time Machine

by Francesca Simon
In the cartoon version of the short story, Henry imagines that his time machine is an elaborate time ship, at least until his perfect little brother brings him out of his daydream and back to the real world of cardboard.
— Michael Main
Peter: “I'm going to the future. I want to see it for myself!”
Horrid Henry’s Time Machine by Francesca Simon, from Horrid Henry [s01e16] by Malcolm Williamson, directed by Dave Unwin (ITV, UK, 18 December 2006).

Spy vs. Spy Animated Segment #63

Black Spy and the DeLorean

[writer and director unknown]
White Spy thinks he can win a drag race against Black Spy and his DeLorean, all in just thirty seconds of stop-motion animation!
— Michael Main
88 MPH
“Black Spy and the DeLorean” [writer and director unknown], short segment of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid / Adjustment Burro,” from Mad [s03e11] (Cartoon Network, USA, 27 September 2012).

The Theta Prophecy

by Chris Dietzel
The treasure at Oak Island. JFK’s assassination. A tyrannous regime’s inner-workings. Welcome to The Theta Prophecy, where alternate history meets modern dystopian.
— based on publicity material
The Theta Prophecy by Chris Dietzel (Watch the World End Publications, December 2014) [print · e-book].

One Giant Step

by John H. Dromey
A damaged time probe provides an ominous warning for human time travel.
— Michael Main
[. . .] all of the data-gathering instruments are kaput.
“One Giant Step” by John H. Dromey, in Chronos: An Anthology of Time Drabbles, edited by Eric S. Fomley (Shacklebound Books, August 2018).

Arthur Travels Back in Time

by Gene Lipen and Judith San Nicolas
Arthur the fearless dog travels to different times in a large blue cannister. The story is written in verse that ignores meter and uses rhymes that don’t quite work.
— Ruthie Mariner
With sights on events his eyes have never seen, Arthur is ready for his new time machine.
Arthur Travels Back in Time by Gene Lipen and Judith San Nicolas (Gene Lipen, November 2020).

The Magic Tree House: Graphic Novel 1

Dinosaurs before Dark: The Graphic Novel

adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews
The adaptation and artwork are faithful and delightful, although I’m disappointed that commercial pressures resulted in a graphic novel for what was explicitly designed to engage early readers.
— Michael Main
Wow. I wish we could go there.
Dinosaurs before Dark: The Graphic Novel adapted by Jenny Laird, Kelly Matthews, and Nicole Matthews (Random House Children’s Books, June 2021) [print · e-book].

The Hero of Your Own Story

by Anthony W. Eichenlaub
A bad egg creates chaos by leaving time portals open between various times in various parts of the multiverse.
— Michael Main
Your time portals are not big enough for any of the really exciting monsters.
“The Hero of Your Own Story” by Anthony W. Eichenlaub, Daily Science Fiction, 23 May 2022 [webzine].

Seven Rules 3

Time Travel Tribulations

by Roy Huff
When something knocks Quinn Black and his team through an anomaly, he finds himself on a crash course with what appears to be an uninhabited planet. With an object of mysterious origin orbiting the system and his crew under attack from an unknown source, one thing is clear: they are not supposed to be there. Unfortunately, that’s just the beginning of their problems. Thrust into time loops and a seemingly parallel world where dinosaurs roam, someone is deliberately sabotaging them.
— from publicity material
It hadn’t been that long ago when the world calmed to something resembling almost a normal life and he could finally catch his breath without worrying about time jumps and the destruction of the human race.
Time Travel Tribulations by Roy Huff (independently published, June 2022) [print · e-book].
as of 1:16 a.m. MDT, 6 May 2024
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