For the Adherent of Pop Culture
Adventures of Jack Burton ] Back to the Future ] Battlestar Galactica ] Buckaroo Banzai ] Cliffhangers! ] Earth 2 ] The Expendables ] Firefly/Serenity ] The Fly ] Galaxy Quest ] Indiana Jones ] Jurassic Park ] Land of the Lost ] Lost in Space ] The Matrix ] The Mummy/The Scorpion King ] The Prisoner ] Sapphire & Steel ] Snake Plissken Chronicles ] Star Trek ] Terminator ] The Thing ] Total Recall ] Tron ] Twin Peaks ] UFO ] V the series ] Valley of the Dinosaurs ] Waterworld ] PopApostle Home ] Links ] Privacy ]


Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
-at-popapostle-dot-com
Valley of the Dinosaurs: The Big Toothache Valley of the Dinosaurs
"The Big Toothache"

TV episode
Written by: Unknown
Directed by: Charles A. Nichols

 

A saber-toothed cat emerges from the mountains, frightening off the usual animals of the valley depended upon by the cave dwellers.

 

Didja Know?

 

The writers of each TV episode are not specifically revealed, but the end credits of every episode listed the series writers as: Peter Dixon, Peter Germano, James Henderson, Ernie Kahn, Ben Masselink, Dick Robbins, Henry Sharp, and Jerry Thomas.

 

Didja Notice?

 

The small dinosaur at 1:30 on the DVD may be a Compsognathus or Procompsognathus.

 

The hoofed ungulates that run across screen at 2:14 on the DVD appear as if they may have a single pronged horn on their heads. I've not been able to identify what species that would likely make them.

 

In the animal stampede at 2:26 on the DVD can be seen a possible Gallimimus or Coelophysis, a possible wooly rhino (though the horns here are blunt as opposed to the usual sharp ones depicted historically), a white bear (what is that doing here?), a warthog (normally found only in Africa), a Triceratops, a mammoth, and several other unidentified dinosaurs and mammals. Notice in this scene that the animation of the stampede repeats itself a couple times to give the impression of large numbers of animals.

 

At 2:40 on the DVD, Katie shouts to Lok, "Wait for me, Tarzan." The nickname "Tarzan" has been used a number of times in the series by the Butlers, given their jungle environment and adventures. This refers, of course, to the world-famous character of Tarzan created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, a British boy who was lost in the African jungle and raised by apes. 

 

Running from the stampeding animals, Katie trips and Lok picks her up in a shoulder carry. At 3:32 on the DVD, it looks like he's goosing her!
Goosing Katie Katie's reaction
Goose Reaction

 

A species of saber-toothed cat are the protagonists of this episode. The cave dwellers refer to them as nebra. 

 

Gorok states that nebra do not like to get wet. The writers probably borrowed this trait from the common house cat, but most large, wild felines do not overly mind the water.

 

Gorok and Lok realize the female nebra is sick when they see her eating what they refer to as "medicine grass".

 

Gara asks the Butlers what a Burma pit is and they explain it is a hole in the ground covered with branches and leaves to harmlessly capture an animal. Apparently, the Butlers told her it was called a Burma pit, but I have found no corroboration of this term; mostly this kind of pit is called simply a trapping pit.

 

As Gara makes a powerful sedative out of native berries and Kim cuts large thorns from a plant, Kim explains to her that they will coat the thorns with the sedative and throw them as darts at the female nebra to put her to sleep long enough to ascertain what is wrong with her. Kim states, "Our veterinarians and zookeepers tranquilize dangerous animals in the very same way." I don't think most veterinarians and zookeepers use hand-thrown darts to effect this! They would use a dart fired by a gun instead.

 

When the animals have returned to the valley after the nebra leaves, at 20:22 on the DVD, we see a few giant sloths and a dwarf elephant. 

 

Memorable Dialog 

 

some kind of work.wav

meowl.wav

walla.wav 

 

Back to Valley of the Dinosaurs Episode Studies