A Turned Turtle
- Studio
- Hanna-Barbera Studios
Synopsis
Valley of the Dinosaurs is loosely based on the same format as the popular TV show Land of the Lost, where a modern-day family gets sucked into a whirlpool in the Amazon River and is transported to a land that time seems to have forgotten. Its new home is an inescapable valley, complete with cavemen and dinosaurs long thought extinct.
Characters
John Butler, Kim Butler, Katie Butler, Greg Butler, Gorak, Gara, Tana, Lok
Credits
Directing
- Director
- Charles Nichols (as Charles A. Nichols)
Producing
- Producer
- Zoran Janjic (Associate)
- Executive Producers
- William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
- Creative Producer
- Iwao Takamoto
Writing
- Writer
- Peter Dixon, Peter Germano, James Henderson, Ernie Kahn, Ben Masselink, Dick Robbins, Henry Sharp, Jerry Thomas
- Story Editor
- Sam Roeca
Voices
- Voice
- Melanie Baker (Tana), Shannon Farnon (Kim Butler), Joan Gardner (Gara), Jack Haley (Greg), Alan Oppenheimer (Gorak, Narrator), Mike Road (John Butler), Kathy Gori (Katie Butler), Frank Welker (Lok, Glump), John Stephenson (Digger the Pet Dog), Andrew Parks, Stacey Bertheau
Music
- Music
- Hoyt Curtin
Animation
- Animation Director
- Peter Luschwitz
- Animator
- Susan Beak, John Burge, Gairden Cooke, Chris Cuddington, Richard E. Dunn, Don Ezard, Cam Ford, Peter Gardiner, Warwick Gilbert, Sebastian Hurpia, Greg Ingram, Paul McAdam, Yvonne Pearsall, Vivien Ray, Kevin Roper, Robert Smit, Stan Walker, Gerald Wylie
- Layout Unit Manager
- Moe Gollub
- Layouts
- Bob Fosbery, Milton Fredlund, Wallace Logue, Alex Nicholas, Joe Shearer, Milan Zahorsky, Jr.
- Checking and Scene Planning
- Evelyn Sherwood, Glenn Dolan, Lesley Blayney, Klaus Rick, Louise Luschwitz
- Xerography
- Robert "Tiger" West
Art Department
- Production Design
- Bob Singer
- Character Design
- Marty Murphy
- Backgrounds
- Zophia Mylonas, Sue Spear, Milan Zahorsky, Snr, Richard Zaloudek
- Storyboard Editors
- Clark Haas, Cullen Houghtaling, Lew Marshall, Paul Sommer, Irv Spector, Howard Swift
- Executive Story Consultant
- Myles Wilder
- Color Design
- Paul Julian
- Ink and Paint Supervision
- Billie Kerns
Camera
- Camera
- George Epperson, Jerry Smith, Wayne Smith
Editing
- Editor
- Larry Cowan (Supervising Film Editor)
Sound
- Sound Effects Editor
- Terry Moore
- Sound Direction
- Richard Olson, Bill Getty
Music Department
- Music Editor
- Pat Foley
- Musical Supervisor
- Paul DeKorte
Casting
- Recording Director
- Wally Burr
Production Management
- Production Manager
- Art Scott
- Production Supervision
- Victor O. Schipek
- Post Production Supervision
- Joed Eaton
- Assistant Production Manager
- Jayne Barbera
Crew
- Titles
- Iraj Paran
- Negative Consultant
- William E. DeBoer
- Production Co-Ordination
- Elly Kennedy
Companies and other credits
- A Hanna-Barbera Production
- © 1974 Hanna-Barbera Productions
- Inc
Production notes
Debuting on the same day as Sid and Marty Krofft's Land of the Lost, Hanna-Barbera's animated Valley of the Dinosaurs told the story of a family unwittingly transported back to the Stone Age. While rafting on the Amazon, John Butler, his wife Kim and their two children, Katie and Greg, were sucked into a whirlpool, only to emerge in a strange, prehistoric world.
The Butlers were taken under the wing of a Neanderthal family- Gorak, Gera, Tana and Lok- whose ages closely paralleled their own. Even the Butler's dog, Digger, found a counterpart in Lok's pet Stegosaurus, Glomb.
The episodes dealt largely with the relationship between the two clans. At first both families were reluctant to trust each other, but they finally came to accept and ultimately learn from one another. The cave family had to shed its distrust of others and learn to use common sense, while John had to learn patience and respect before he could teach the cave family what he knew about civilization.
While Valley of the Dinosaurs didn't have the staying power of Land of the Lost, it did outlast Hanna-Barbera's other 1974 prehistoric program, the live-action Korg: 70,000 B.C.
The Butlers were taken under the wing of a Neanderthal family- Gorak, Gera, Tana and Lok- whose ages closely paralleled their own. Even the Butler's dog, Digger, found a counterpart in Lok's pet Stegosaurus, Glomb.
The episodes dealt largely with the relationship between the two clans. At first both families were reluctant to trust each other, but they finally came to accept and ultimately learn from one another. The cave family had to shed its distrust of others and learn to use common sense, while John had to learn patience and respect before he could teach the cave family what he knew about civilization.
While Valley of the Dinosaurs didn't have the staying power of Land of the Lost, it did outlast Hanna-Barbera's other 1974 prehistoric program, the live-action Korg: 70,000 B.C.
Reviews
A Turned Turtle
Kim,Katie and Lok take a trip to see a hermit about a secret way out of the valley. The hermit tells them it is past the three giant peaks. At first Gorak refuses to lead them to the three giant peaks because a Tyrannosaurus lives in that valley. He reluctantly agrees to take them. A turtle shell is used as a boat to get to the three giant peaks. A dinosaur attacks them in the water. John,Gorak and Lok stay in the boat to fight the creature while the others run to hide in the jungle. Two volcanos explode causing a tidal wave. It carries the men away from the others. A new mountain peak is formed separating the men from the others. Gorak says they must rescue the others before nightfall because of the Tyranosaurus. It hunts in the night. A tunnel that connects the two valleys is now underwater because of the volcano eruptions. John tells them they will use the turtle shell like a submarine to go through the flooded tunnel. The shell is buffed with wet sand to make it transparent. It is weighted down with rocks. They take a bladder filled with air in case they need it.As they are going through the tunnel a giant turtle attacks them. Lok has to bust the bladder of air to scare it away. They just barely make it through before their air runs out. Meanwhile the others have been looking for the lost trail. They find out it's gone and they are stuck in the valley for now. All of them go back through the flooded tunnel in the turtle shell.