johnstonjames In my opinion this is Disney's best live-action comedy. It's also one of Disney's best live-action special effect fantasies produced during the classic age of the Burbank studio. Sure it was filmed a EMI London, but it was conceived by Disney veterans Bill Walsh and Robert Stevenson and was distributed and produced by the studio in Burbank. It really is an American product that was filmed in England.I've always loved Helen Hayes involvement with Disney and felt the collaboration led to some of Disney's best live action products, 'Candleshoe' and 'Dinosaurs' are two of the studios finest live-action films, and 'Herbie Rides Again' is a very funny follow-up to the 1967 hit 'Lovebug'. Helen Hayes is a real asset to the Disney legacy and was a real 'Disney' star along with the likes of Fred MacMurray, Dean Jones, Don Knotts, Haley Mills and Jodie Foster, and of course the incredibly accomplished Peter Ustinov. All three of Hayes's film were big money makers for Disney and it's surprising they are not better remembered by Disney buffs. I had to go to England to purchase a foreign region copy of this film.The studio seems afraid to give this a serious DVD release in the States probably because they fear the broad comedy in this will be perceived as racist. I am not Chinese, but I am of mixed ethnicity and have suffered from racial discrimination myself,and I wouldn't worry about it. Ustinov is simply parodying the Asian stereotypes that were typical in spy thrillers and films from the 1930's. It's basically a send-up of the Charlie Chan stereotypes from that period(although this film is obviously set in the 1920's).I mean how racist can a movie actually be when the Chinese make comments about how "all English look alike" or "we Chinese were making tea when you English were swinging from the trees by your dirty tails." Hilarious.The special effects and 1920's production design are first rate and hold up remarkably well with CGI effects of today. The effects are very colorful and cartoonish looking, and the opening scenes in China have a real fantasy, fairy tale quality to them.Anyone saying this film is worthless or dull has something personal against it. This is an easy film to like and laugh at. And it's definitely worth a look simply for it's lavish production design alone, which, knowing Disney studios films of the past, was probably filmed on a modest budget with lots of cost cutting. A definite must see for anyone interested in the old classic Disney films.

Rob_Taylor A recent discussion led me to recall this movie from my childhood. As a kid into dinosaurs (is there any other sort?) at the time I remember being taken to watch this as a "treat".Let's just say I remember being totally bored, feeling totally like I had been lied to. Had I known what the movie was about beforehand, I would have politely told my mum "no thanks" to the treat and stayed at home.The whole thing is a dull mess that just drags on and on. The dinosaur of the title is a skeleton that, from my recollection, spends most of the film being driven around the countryside in an "amusing" manner. Add in Bernard Bresslaw playing a Chinese henchman (no I'm not making it up) and the whole thing sinks into peurile nonsense.It's all very well to remember crap old films fondly. But some crap old films deserve to be expunged from one's memory entirely. This is one such film. Absolutely avoid it at all costs!

chuffnobbler What enormous fun! Nannies, toffs with monocles, drunken Scots, loud Yanks, inscrutable Chinese ... every cliché under the sun chases around London in pursuit of a dinosaur skeleton on the back of a lorry.Such energy, fun, and real "oomph" make this film utterly lovable. it's not subtle, but it's not meant to be. It's a kids' film. I love it as I love the Carry Ons: rip-roaring laughter, unsubtlety, old gags, and corking performances from a range of brilliant character actors.Look at the cast list! How can anyone not love this film, just from the cast list alone?! Peter Ustinov and Helen Hayes lead the proceedings. Derek Nimmo has a key role. Carry On-ers Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Amanda Barrie and the supreme Joan Hickson give 100% to their roles.People seem to be a bit sniffy about this film, but it's so good-natured, warm and funny that it's really rather rude to pick it to pieces for its stereotyping or its clichés. This film is glorious as it is.

lucy-66 And it's in my top ten best films. Hilarious from the very start, with Lord Southmere hitching a lift from the yeti ("Thanks for the lift old boy - I don't think you're abominable at all!") and then escaping from the villains in the Natural History Museum disguised as a baby. It may be racist in the same way as Carry on Up the Khyber (most of the Chinese are occidentals in terrible eye makeup) but it's certainly feminist, celebrating the power of women in grey stockings fuelled only by nice cups of tea. (What if this great beast should fall on us, Hetty? Then we would be the first people in two million years to be killed by a dinosaur!) xxxxxx