Dino Ranch

This is one of her favorite shows. She loves all of the characters, but especially the Dinos. She is 8 months old but still this is one of the few shows she absolutely loves. No matter what is going on, if she hears this show she will stop in her tracks and crawl towards the tv with a huge smile.

It's refreshing to see such a diverse group of characters starring in a heart warming show about team work and positivity. And dinosaurs! Highly recommended.

Teaching some life lessons about working together, okay. Otherwise, pretty much a cookie cutter slice of garbage mixed with a lot of confusing and lazily inaccurate dinosaur facts.

Nobody bothered to check to see that velociraptors almost certainly had feathers and that brontosaurus skeletons were incorrectly put together from several species. Maybe that's just my being pretentious. Otherwise, though, are these dinosaurs supposed to be horses, dogs, or mumbling children?

On top of all that, the Dino Ranchers go about solving problems in the most roundabout way possible, just to show off other skills and fill time. They use a trick to stop a rampaging dinosaur, and are completely clueless when it goes nuts later. Genuinely frustrating.

This show has a lot of potential. Really it does. I love wild west settings and dinosaurs, and combining those two aspects could make for a fun and engaging series. There could be action, drama, humor, teachable moments, and cuteness galore. But alas, this show is generic and another cog in the manufactured preschool show machine.

I know that people from Boat Rocker Studios are going to find this and mass-report it as unhelpful, like how people from Guru Studios ratioed my Pikwik Pack review. I don't care anymore because shilling for your own product is very embarassing.

The show seems like yet another merchandise-driven show, with no real characterization or plot, just a nonstop product promotion parade of dino toys that kids will want. While I do appreciate the diversity, they need to stop making every preschool protagonist a white boy, and stop making characters whose only personality traits are that they are nice and energetic. Your characters need to have flaws, vices that kids to relate to, because no one's perfect and no one will ever be perfect. Good role models are one thing, but unrealistic and uber-angelic role models are another.

I found the show weirdly paced, with nothing special about the show. Why don't companies hire new actors instead of recycling the same 5 ones over and over? It's getting very frustrating seeing the same actors in every preschool show. There's a lot of undiscovered talent, and yet we see more of the same.

If you want quality preschool shows, check out Dinosaur Train, Peep and the Big Wide World, Ready Jet Go, Let's Go Luna, Little Bear, Sesame Street, Xavier Riddle, Molly of Denali, Arthur, Martha Speaks, Wordgirl, Elena of Avalor, Bear in the Big Blue House, Blue's Clues, The Backyardigans, Rolie Polie Olie, Bluey, Santiago of the Seas, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dragon Tales, Between the Lions, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Theodore Tugboat, Elinor Wonders Why, Hero Elementary, Wild Kratts, Nature Cat, Odd Squad, Doc McStuffins, and The Lion Guard. These are all high-quality shows with strong plots, characterization, and lessons that anyone regardless of age can enjoy, and the gold standard for kid show writers everywhere.

I do agree with the other reviews that it could offer more. It would be nice if it had more educational value. However, I really like this show for a few reasons:

1 - it's family oriented! The family is inclusive of multiple races and is a good representation of adoption. The siblings are kind to each other and help each other out. It also reinforces doing chores and being members of a family team.

2 - there is no violence! It is SO rare to find a kid's show without any violence! The dinosaurs don't even eat meat, so there wouldn't be any visuals of devouring prey or anything of that nature.

3 - there is no technology or screens in the show. Again, this is SO rare! It's refreshing to have a show centered around a farm (albeit an unrealistic farm), that's slower pace and can entertain a toddler without speeding cars, bells and whistles, etc.

4 - although it could improve it's educational value it has kind language, manners, encouragement for children, and basic moral lessons. As someone else mentioned in their review, it deals with kids learning from their mistakes and finding solutions to problems.

5 - it has dinosaurs that aren't too scary for little kiddos. My son now loves dinosaurs because of this show. All-in-all, it's a nice show for young toddlers!