VALLEY OF THE DINOSAURS
(CBS, September
7-December 21, 1974)
Hanna-Barbera
Productions
Melanie Baker – Tana
Shannon Farnon – Kim Butler
Joan Gardner – Gara
Kathy Gori – Katie Butler
Jackie Earle Haley – Greg Butler
Alan Oppenheimer – Gorok
Mike Road – John Butler
Frank Welker – Glump, Digger, Lok
Don Messick – Narrator
Valley
of the Dinosaurs was a prehistoric-themed animated series created by Hanna-Barbera actually
not connected to The
Flintstones franchise. Along with their live-action entry Korg,
70,000 B.C. on ABC, and Krofft Productions’ Land
of the Lost on NBC, it was the third
dinosaur-themed program to hit Saturday mornings that year.
 |
| The Butlers and Gorok's clan. |
The show centered on modern family
the Butlers—high school science teacher John (Mike Road), his wife Kim (Shannon
Farnon), teenaged Katie (Kathy Gori), young Greg (Jackie Earle Haley) and their
dog, Digger (Frank Welker)—as they embarked on a rafting trip down the Amazon River.
However, they hit a rock and capsized, leading to them being swept through a
cavern and into a whirlpool. When they emerged, they found themselves in a lost
valley where dinosaurs continued to thrive.
 |
| Lok, Katie and Glump relaxing by the fire embers. |
Their
survival might have been questionable if not for a chance encounter with a
kindly family of Neanderthals that took them in. They were clan leader Gorok
(Alan Oppenheimer), his wife Gara (Joan Gardner), teenaged son Lok (Welker) and
young daughter Tana (Melanie Baker), as well as their pet baby Stegosaurus, Glump (Welker). The Butlers had to overcome their prejudices about the primitive
family and the clan their distrust over the new strangers to work together. The
Butlers introduced modern scientific advancements to the valley such as wheels
and levers as situations arose, and Gorok’s clan taught them basic survival
skills in the wild and served as their guides while helping them find a way
home.
 |
| The dinosaurs of the valley. |
Valley
of the Dinosaurs debuted on CBS on September
7, 1974. Like Korg, the series was meant to be entertaining while also
educational; teaching basic science and engineering and prehistory (while of
course taking liberties with that as humans and dinosaurs were living together,
although the nature of the valley’s origin was never fully explored). The
series was written by Peter Dixon, Peter Germano, James Henderson, Ernie Kahn, Ben Masselink, Dick Robbins, Henry Sharp
and Jerry Thomas, with Sam Roeca serving as story
editor. Marty Murphy was the
character designer with Hoyt
Curtin as musical director and Paul DeKorte as music
supervisor.
 |
| The DVD cover. |
Much like Korg,
Valley ended up being cancelled after its sole season; leaving the similarly-themed
Land of the Lost the undisputed winner of dinosaur shows, lasting three
seasons. Valley was shown in syndicated reruns from 1976-83, then found
its way to Cartoon Network off and
on between 1993 and 2004, and finally on Boomerang
from 2001-11. From 1975-76, Charlton Comics
published a comic series
that ran for 11 issues. Harvey
Comics reprinted several stories from the Charlton run in a new one-shot in 1992, which was topped
off with a couple short stories from Charlton’s The Flintstones comics. Rand McNally also published a storybook
adaptation in 1975. 1977 saw the release of the board game
from Arrow Games Ltd. In 2011, Warner Archive
released the complete series to DVD as part of their Hanna-Barbera
Classics Collection.
 |
| Harvey Birdman captured by the cavemen of the valley. |
The 2005 Harvey Birdman, Attorney At
Law episode “Beyond the Valley of the Dinosaurs” took place in the
valley, with Harvey (Gary Cole)
and Peter Potamus (Chris Edgerly) being
sucked down to it through a hot tub. Gorok (Edgerly) and Tana (Mary Birdsong) appeared. Glump
(Fajer Al-Kaisi) would later
appear on the 2021 episode of Jellystone! titled “Ice
Ice Daddy” as a patient of therapist Top Cat (Thomas Lennon), discussing his
fear of meteors.
“Forbidden Fruit” (9/7/74) – Greg ignores the warnings about
harvesting a certain fruit which ends up luring a Brontosaurus to the gave and
trapping them all inside.
“What Goes Up” (9/14/74) – The humans must work to defeat
the threat of voracious army ants that frighten even the dinosaurs.
“A Turned Turtle” (9/21/74) – The Butlers use a giant shell
to create a submarine to explore an area ruled by a hungry Tyrannosaurus.
“The Volcano” (9/28/74) – The Butlers attempt to save the
village from an erupting volcano.
“Smoke Screen” (10/5/74) – The Butlers must fortify the
village when they inadvertently anger a tribe of primitive “missing links”.
“Pteranodon” (10/12/74) – The two families must work
together to get the ingredients needed to cure Kim’s illness.
“The Saber-Tooth Kids” (10/19/74) – Greg and Tana must
rescue Glump from a pack of hungry wolves.
“After Shock” (10/26/74) – The Butlers are amused by Gorak’s
desire to replace their guardian statue’s head until a string of bad luck
befalls them.
“Top Cave, Please” (11/2/74) – Lok faces exile when he’s
accused of losing the village’s lucky hunting mascot.
“S.O.S.” (11/9/74) – When Tana spots a plane the Butlers get
to work trying to make contact with it for rescue.
“Fire” (11/16/74) – A malicious brush fire prompts the
Butlers to introduce firefighting tools and methodology to the valley.
“Rain of Meteors” (11/23/74) – The Butlers and the tribe
accidentally injure the Sky People chieftain’s son, which he takes as an act of
war and holds Lok and Katie hostage when they try to explain.
“To Fly a Kite” (11/30/74) – Greg’s kite-flying skills may
be what saves his family from foul weather and an angry Iguanodon.
“Test Flight” (12/7/74) – John builds a glider plane that he
must use to find Tana and Greg who are lost in a thick fog.
“The Big Toothache” (12/14/74) – Gorak, Lok, Katie and John
investigate what strange creature is causing stampedes in the valley.
“Torch” (12/21/74) – The Butlers plan to block the mountain
pass to keep night raiders out of the village.
No comments:
Post a Comment