AllMovie

The half-hour anime series Dinosaur King (original Japanese title: Kyoryu Kingu D-Kizzu Abobencha was based on the Sega card-arcade hybrid game Ancient Ruler Dinosaur King. The original game was similar to the internationally popular Mushiking, with dinosaurs replacing the beetle characters. After its Japanese TV debut on February 4, 2007, the cartoon version came to America via the Fox Network on September 8 of that year, with most of the character names changed but the basic premise intact. The star of the series was young Max Taylor, son of paleontolgist Dr. Taylor, who while on an expedition with his dad and with best friend Rex Owen stumbled upon a magic stone slab decorated with images of dinosaurs. Miraculously springing to life, the dinos begged Max and Rex to help them do battle against Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang (Ursula, Zander and Ed), a pack of evil time travellers who'd gone back millions of years for the purpose of hunting down and killing the gigantic lizards. Teaming with new friends Zoe Drake, Max and Rex represented the "D Team", dedicated to rescuing the dinosaurs and thwarting the Alphas--and in the process earning the title "Dinosaur King". Foremost amongst the "good dinos" were Chomp, Ace and Paris, while the Alphas had their own stable of "bad" dinos, Terry, Spiny and Tank; all the nonhuman characters boasted unique fighting skills, based on such natural elements as wind, rain and fire. Seen on weekend mornings, the English-language version of Dinosaur King was a joint production of Sunrise Entertainment, FUNimation and 4Kids.