Some fun with the movies

If you're around my age, you may remember a childhood movie called The Land Before Time. It's a cute movie about cute singing dinosaurs. It is also full of filthy lies.

Since I'm quickly getting to the end of my school year, I'd like to take the fun and easy route of talking about dinosaurs and their portrayal in the movies.

What you learned from Godzilla: Dinosaurs were slow moving, stupid killing machines.
Verdict: False
In an act that I find funny for several reasons, Toho studios designed everyone's favorite monster in a rubber suit after what people thought dinosaurs were like in the 1950s. As such, one of Japan's most favorite citizens was shown as a slow walking, tail dragging beast with nothing on the mind but death.
At the time, Paleontologists thought that dinosaurs were probably just oversized lizards. With the finding of transitional fossils and dino DNA, we now think that dinosaurs were something of a mix between crocodiles and birds. Behaviorists think that dinos behaved more like birds in terms of intelligence and being warm blooded.

What you learned from Jurassic Park: If Velociraptors were reintroduced to this world, we would all be dead.
Verdict? False
The raptors from the movie never really existed. The was a dinosaur about the same size and build, but it was called Utah Raptor. Apparently, velociraptor sounds scarier. The truth is, if you ran into a velocirator, you'd be able to punt it.
These raptors were around the size of a big turkey. Interestingly enough, the might have looked like one too. Many raptor fossils show feather imprints.
Jeff Goldblum was afraid of this guy? Credit goes to Marmelad

What you learned from The Land Before Time: Long necked dinosaurs could lift their heads up to pick leaves off of trees (obstensively to give to their children)
Verdict: False
When you raise your arm, your heart needs to pump at a greater rate. If your arm was 30 feet long and required hundreds of gallons of blood in it at all times, well, that could raise blood pressure by...a lot. A brontosaur lifting its head to tree level would lead to it immediately passing out, or possibly a dino anurysim.


What you learned from The Land Before Time: Dinosaurs could sing
Verdict: absolutely, unbelievablely... True.

What have I been saying all this post? Courtesy of Soto Ayam.