Diplo: The Mighty Dinosaur Film Analysis – Children’s Dino Animated Film Turns Self-Aware Rebelling Against ‘Cute’
The story starts in typical territory for family films: a tiny well-meaning dinosaur, a slightly tiresome protagonist, a snarky companion, and an assortment of background characters. Yet this Czech/Polish/Slovakian film takes a startling turn.
Out of nowhere, the story shifts into a real-world setting. We see a cartoonist working in a dim studio, designing the identical cartoon that was just on screen.
The creator is disturbed by a very annoying character – reminiscent of an over-the-top cinematic stereotype. She insists that he remove his current designs and create something more marketable and “cute”.
What follows is a tragic destruction of non-compliant elements. Diplo loses his parents and, despite being a bit annoying, it’s emotional that he feels the destruction happened because of him.
The layered fiction continues as kookier figures are removed to pave the way for more commercial content. This gives the feature deeper meaning – given that animated film are the medium most shaped by the attraction of adorableness.
That said, even if the ideas are more interesting than typical kids’ fodder, the characters lack charisma. This isn’t about cartoon characters needing to be likable, but rather audiences need to desire to follow with them. Here, that isn’t completely accurate.
Diplo debuts in British and Irish movie houses on 19 September.
