Fear Of Dinosaurs Is A Prehistoric Issue, Fueled By Scary Dinosaurs And Cinema

“Dad, I saw something scary at school today,” my oldest daughter said. I was naturally interested, preparing for a speech I’d ​​been preparing for years about how horror movies don’t happen in real life, that there are cute clowns, and that most dolls aren’t as murderous as Chucky. “There was this cartoon about a scary dinosaur that almost ate a kid. It was creepy,” she whispered. The truth is, I was less prepared for this conversation, but I tried to improvise. “Look, dinosaurs don’t exist anymore. They went extinct millions of years ago,” I said in a tone that was supposed to be knowledgeable and convincing. “Besides, it’s just a cartoon. It is not real!” I’m not sure these brilliant arguments worked, but I immediately went online and saw that my daughter wasn’t alone. Movies (from horror movies about dinosaurs to “cute” cartoons) and consumer culture could be blamed.

On paper, a fear of dinosaurs sounds like something that shouldn’t exist because dinosaurs don’t exist. In practice, of course, the picture is different. Children (and adults) may also be afraid of objects that do not exist in reality but that they are exposed to, for example, monsters or characters from cartoons or computers (did someone say Huggy Wuggy?). So it is true that you can try to mediate these fears on the one hand, but on the other hand, it is very worthwhile not to ignore them and understand that it is “logical” for children to see dinosaurs as scary creatures.

In the following article, we will explain what is scary about dinosaurs and why many still suffer from nightmares about them. We will list some terrifying types of dinosaurs, try to decide whether films (including horror films) contributed to the threatening myth of dinosaurs, and show you how you can meet dinosaurs today or even let them on your doorstep.

What Is The Fear Of Dinosaurs Called?

Fear of dinosaurs is known by the term “Deinophobia.” There are some more complicated foreign terms: “Ornithoscelidaphobia” or Paleontophobia.”

The truth is that the fear lies in the terms that describe these enormous creatures. The word “Dinos” in Greek means “terrible, strong, powerful, wonderful, large, frightening,” and “Saurus” means “lizard.” You can understand how these terms arrived if you add the well-known word “Phobos,” or fear.

Why Are People Afraid Of Dinosaurs?

When you examine the characteristics of dinosaurs, you can understand why quite a few people see them as frightening. Dinosaurs, which lived on Earth but became extinct about 65 million years ago (thank God!), are enormous, impressive, and fearsome creatures. We can explain the fear of Dinosaurs from an evolutionary perspective; that is, humans have developed an innate fear of large and threatening predators throughout history. This mechanism helped our ancestors survive against large, frightening creatures, perhaps even dinosaurs.

Many dinosaurs are gigantic and monstrous, as evidenced by the fact that they may have been omnivores, whose appearance and behavior associated with them can trigger nightmares in children. Of course, arguments such as “Don’t worry dear! There was an asteroid that hit the Earth and caused the extinction of all dinosaurs” will not necessarily be understandable among children or may even develop in them another fear that the fate of humanity will be similar someday.

Some films emphasizing “Jurassic Park” present dinosaurs as smart, fast, and bloodthirsty, who overcome modern technology at some point. They are often even “resurrected” by science, which eventually becomes uncontrollable. This fact raises the idea that man harms nature, or at least cannot control it effectively, and that uncontrolled science may endanger us.

Why Are Dinosaurs So Scary?

Although dinosaurs left our world long ago, they have remained an integral part of popular culture, some would say also of the collective imagination of children and adults. Although today it is clear that we cannot encounter real dinosaurs on the street or in the zoo, their massive presence in popular culture – including films, television series, books, computer games, and, of course, other toys and games for children – ensures that children may still look for them, to some extent.

The presentation of dinosaurs in popular culture is, in many cases, dramatic and frightening. Visually, dinosaurs are often presented as massive, powerful, and predatory creatures, combining features that arouse primary fear in humans. The enormous size of dinosaurs and their sharp teeth and long claws provide visual images that threaten our sense of control and security.

Children’s imaginations work overtime; up to a certain age, it’s hard for them to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Therefore, arguments like “but dinosaurs don’t exist anymore” don’t hold water. First exposure to dinosaurs often happens at an early age, including in movies and TV series aimed at young audiences, which can increase their confusion.

Some may argue that in quite a few cases, the fear of dinosaurs sometimes comes with a specific attraction to them. Children and adults alike may be fascinated by the mystery and power of these prehistoric creatures but simultaneously afraid of them. The combination of fear and curiosity fuels popular culture, which continues to produce content about dinosaurs, from amusement parks to computer games and cinema.

Really Scary Dinosaurs You Should Not Meet

A few years ago, I bought my girls a meal at McDonald’s (oh my God), and we received dinosaur cards as a toy. Some parameters were supposed to rank all dinosaurs from 1 to 10 on size, speed, and level of danger/fear. The truth is that I did not precisely understand the inner logic of these ratings, but I am far from being an expert on dinosaurs or understanding the strange gifts of McDonald’s.

The types of dinosaurs that people perceive as horrific sometimes share specific characteristics we connect to their deep fears of animals or creatures as a whole, real or fictional: enormous size, aggression, speed, and lethal means such as sharp teeth or long claws.

Here are some of the scariest dinosaur names:

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Often, the top spot on the list of scary dinosaurs goes to Tyrannosaurus Rex, or T-Rex for short, which has been considered for years to be the largest and most ferocious apex predator of all, and one of the most terrifying creatures that ever lived.

It’s easy to see why, given its enormous size, immense strength, and sharp teeth that could devour almost anything. The fact that Tyrannosaurus Rex is often portrayed as an intelligent creature with excellent hunting skills can only add to the fear of it.

T. Rex had about 60 very sharp teeth, each 20 cm long, and it quickly grew new teeth when they were damaged because it simply dismantled the shape of some unfortunate creature with them. According to the findings, the strength of T. Rex’s bite was about three times greater than that of a lion, which helped it tear apart flesh relatively quickly and even crush and swallow bones.

The T. Rex’s well-developed senses, especially its keen sense of smell and excellent eyesight, made it a perfect predator. The fact that it could run at speeds of up to 30 km/h despite its enormous size, according to research conducted at the University of Manchester, makes it even more terrifying.

Maybe some educational videos about the T. Rex for kids would reduce the fear level a bit or at least explain why they should be afraid of it from a scientific perspective:

Spinosaurus

When it comes to scary dinosaurs, size matters. Spinosaurus (meaning “spiny lizard”), which lived in what is now the northern part of the African continent, is considered the largest carnivorous dinosaur that ever lived. Its body length ranged from 16 to 18 meters, including a spine of about 2 meters. According to standard estimates, its weight was about 7-9 tons, or even about 20 tons, according to more extreme opinions.

Spinosaurus was a predator that hunted its victims both at sea and on land. Its long jaws resembled those of crocodiles, and its long, sharp teeth made it easy to carry out its plan. Its main visual characteristic was the unique sail resulting from long, spiky spines that grew on its vertebrae, reminiscent of prehistoric or mythological monsters at sea or on land.

Here is a short video about Spinosaurus from the BBC Earth:

Velociraptor

Velociraptor, whose name loosely translates to “nimble thief,” was not one of the most enormous dinosaurs that ever lived, with an “average” size of about 80 centimeters tall, a little over 2 meters long, and a weight that reached up to about 90 kilograms. It was also not among the fastest dinosaurs, although its jumping power was exceptional.

Velociraptor is a terrifying dinosaur because it was brilliant, with a high brain and body size ratio by any measure. Thanks to its high intelligence, it could set traps and ambushes and hunt in packs almost as effectively. By the way, the NBA team Toronto Raptors is named after its common nickname.

The stiff tail and sickle-shaped claws on the hind legs of Velociraptors helped it capture and kill its prey. They got a relatively central place in the “Jurassic Park” films, even if their representation was not accurate physically and in terms of their intelligence qualities. For example, the movie showed that they could open doors, which is unclear if it is scientifically correct. Still, it may contribute to their scary persona because this feature indicates that human technology and wisdom are not necessarily enough to overcome velociraptors. 

Ankylosaurus

Although it is not a predator in its essence, Ankylosaurus (whose name means “fused lizard” in Greek) may inspire fear because of its appearance: an armored body like a tank with a deadly tail capable of crushing bones. Its size resembles an adult elephant, with a weight that can reach about 6 tons, even if it were shorter.

For many, an ankylosaurus represents an impenetrable creature, which adds to the mystery and sense of menace.

The Evolution Of Dinosaurs In Movies

When discussing scary dinosaur movies, the first name that always comes to mind is the “Jurassic Park” film series. The cinematic representation of this series began in 1993 with Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, based on a book by Michael Crichton that was published three years earlier (Crichton also wrote the screenplay for the film).

“Jurassic Park” was a huge hit, grossing almost a billion dollars worldwide. It begins with a rational explanation for how dinosaurs returned to our lives due to cloning and genetic reconstruction by scientists and entrepreneurs gone wrong: they wanted to build a zoo and theme park starring cloned dinosaurs, and for some reason, it didn’t work. As a teenager, I remember seeing the film in the cinema and being fascinated but terrified by the giant dinosaurs Spielberg had artistically brought to life. More than 30 years have passed since then, but the film is far from looking dated even today.

The “Jurassic Park” films are alive and breathing to this day and are considered one of the most successful franchises in film history. “The Lost World” from 1997, also based on the book of the same name by Michael Crichton, takes place on an island near the dinosaur island from the first film. An intervention also tries to bring the dinosaurs back to our lives, or more precisely, to make money from them by transferring them to a closed zoo in San Diego, as a group of people try to hunt dinosaurs to sell them. But things quickly go wrong, and the film’s heroes – in an impressive cast that includes names like Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Richard Schiff, and even Vince Vaughn – must help them and themselves fight for their lives. “The Lost World” was also a huge hit, with more than $618 million in worldwide revenues.

It would be too short to list every film in the Jurassic Park series here. Still, we will note that there are numerous and very successful films: “Jurassic Park III” (2001) is considered by many to be the worst in the franchise, which you can tell by looking at its revenues, of “only” $368 million. In 2015, “Jurassic World” arrived, with new names like Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Robinson, and others, which was essentially a direct sequel to the first film.

The film was a huge success. At the peak, it was third on the list of the highest-grossing movies ever, with revenues of more than $1.67 billion (!). The franchise continued to live on with “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (2018) and “Jurassic World Dominion” (2022), which was a kind of “reunion” between actors from the original trilogy and those from the innovations.

In July, “Jurassic World Rebirth” will arrive, with a new cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and others. There is something to look forward to from the film trailer.

Big, But Cute: Kids Movies About Dinosaurs

It is important to note that the world of dinosaurs is not limited to the “Jurassic Park” movies. In the world of children, we have seen them star – sometimes in a cute way, and sometimes more threatening – since the dawn of cinema, with the character of Gertie the Dinosaur, for example, who starred in short films and comic strips since 1914, being considered one of the first animated characters.

In recent decades, we have seen quite a few animated films about dinosaurs for children, such as:

🦖 “The Land Before Time” film series that began in 1988, and describes the adventures of several dinosaurs.

🦖 “Dinosaur Island” from 2002, based on a book by Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) from 1912. The film gave the story a modern twist, with a story about a group of children who arrive on an island in South America where dinosaurs live and face “survival”-style missions.

🦖 “The Good Dinosaur” by Walt Disney and Pixar from 2015, which describes the adventures of a family of dinosaurs in a world where an asteroid missed Earth. Our hero is young Arlo, who tries to prove himself and, at some point, saves his family.

🦖 Some of the “Ice Age” films took place in the world of dinosaurs, such as the third film, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” (2009), “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild” (2022), and others.

In many of these films, dinosaurs have some human qualities, which contrast their appearance but happen very often in children’s movies – as we have seen, for example, in representations for children of scary mythological characters such as the Yeti The Abominable Snowman or even the character of Shrek. It is possible that films of this type can “mediate” the image of the dinosaur, even if, in practice, you will also find scenes in them that may be scary for some children.

Horror Movies About Dinosaurs: Most Are Bad, But There Are Surprises

You can count on horror movies, which feature the fight against almost every scary creature that has ever existed or could exist in our world, also to feature the character of dinosaurs. The bad news is that to produce a decent dinosaur movie, you need a decent budget, which explains why many of the films on the subject are terrible, horrible, or ridiculous “B movies,” where the main reason to see them is probably to laugh at them. On the other hand, you will find a few films that are far from perfect but are enjoyable and plausible in a certain way.

One of the more significant products in recent years is “65”, starring the excellent Adam Driver (the villain Kylo Ren from the new “Star Wars” trilogy and a two-time Oscar nominee for “BlacKkKlansman” and “Marriage Story”). The film, which combines science fiction, action, and a bit of horror, sees Driver play a space pilot whose ship hit an asteroid during a research mission to a mysterious planet. The pilot and a mysterious girl named Roa (Ariana Greenblatt, with relatively minor roles in “In the Heights” and “Barbie,” and we will soon see in “Now You See Me 3” and “Fear Street: Prom Queen,” a standalone sequel to the successful “Fear Street” trilogy that aired on Netflix) being the only survivors. They must fight for their lives against the planet’s dangers, which turned out to be Earth 65 million years ago. These dangers include a lot of menacing dinosaurs and the forces of nature, such as quicksand.

In the list of scary, or at least funny, dinosaur movies, we can mention:

🦖 “Extinction” (2014) – is about a group of researchers who arrive in the Amazon rainforest to protect vulnerable and endangered animal species. Supposedly, they are abandoned by their guide and find themselves in a fight against low-budget prehistoric creatures

🦖 “Tape 407” (2012) – The plot revolves around survivors of a plane crash who arrive on a deserted island, where you probably already understand who is on your own. As you can deduce from its name, it is a found footage-style movie

🦖 “The Invisible Raptor” from 2023 received more reasonable reviews (a score of 5.6 on IMDB!). The film is about a paleontologist at an amusement park and a security guard trying to save their town from an invisible predator. Well, invisible, at least as long as they don’t burn it if the trailer is anything to go by

🦖 The horror comedy “The Velocipastor” from 2015 – A priest who travels to China after losing his parents and receives a mysterious ability there, which allows him to turn into a fucking dinosaur – which will enable “the man of the claw” to fight evil, among other things. Believe it or not, but here too, the reviews are pretty reasonable (5.1), and some even claim that it is a cult film

🦖 “Dinosaur Prison” from 2023, whose plot, according to IMDB, boils down to “A prison that has caged dinosaurs.” This may be why the film’s score is ridiculous (2.9), and only a few hundred people have seen and rated it so far.

🦖 “Poseidon Rex” (2023) – Is about an evil prehistoric creature that comes from the depths of the sea, thus creating a low-budget horror film

Where Can You See Dinosaurs Today?

Note that even from a tourist perspective, it is still possible to encounter dinosaurs – or at least a specific version. In recent years, many dinosaur exhibitions have been held around the world. We saw impressive, large models of dinosaurs (sometimes with movement and sound effects) and other attractions from the world of dinosaurs, such as the opportunity to ride a “dinosaur” or a show.

You can also find stuffed animals, dolls, and other dinosaur displays at natural history museums around the world, such as:

🦕 The impressive Dinosaur World at the Natural History Museum in London, which also includes a giant robotic model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex at the entrance and a dinosaur footprint, supposedly outside the complex

🦕 The National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

🦕 The Natural History Museum in Berlin (Museum für Naturkunde), which contains some of the most essential dinosaur skeletons ever found – including the largest standing dinosaur skeleton

🦕 The Field Museum in Chicago, where a giant model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex greets visitors

🦕 The Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Bring Dinosaurs Into Your World: Which Dinosaur Products Are There?

Like many characters, dinosaurs have become icons. The love for dinosaurs and the movies in which they star has led to a long list of dinosaur products, which go far beyond the bags of tiny dinosaur dolls you can find in almost any toy store.

Among the dinosaur products we found in a quick search online are:

•  Dinosaur costumes of various types for all age groups: from different types of dinosaur costumes for babies or children to versions adapted for adults. You can also find interesting types, such as an inflatable dinosaur costume
•  Funko Pop dinosaur figures, as well as human figures from the “Jurassic Park” movies
•  Dinosaur dolls and action figures, sometimes with advanced features such as multiple points of articulation, sound and motion effects, and so on
•  Cool and often colorful fashion products, such as pajamas, socks, shirts, suits, and so on
• Special versions of Board Games, such as Dinosaurs  and Jurassic Park Monopoly (read more about scary Monopoly versions here)
•  Lego dinosaurs, from scenes involving dinosaurs to detailed and complex dinosaur assembly models

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