BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE

In BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE, a fantasy adventure movie on Netflix based on the popular TV programs for young children, Blippi and his friend, Meekah, travel to a park where people can explore, hike, climb, learn, and observe live dinosaurs. BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE doesn’t have great production values and lacks focus on building relationships and depth of perspective, but it has a light moral worldview where characters display curiosity and interest in the world around them.

Created by Air Force veteran Stevin John, who used to play Blippi, the Blippi programs and movies feature an adult with a childlike curiosity and lively personality who teaches young children about things like American Sign Language, cooking, crafting, science, and more. Blippi wears a blue and orange cap and sneakers. orange glasses, blue shirt, orange suspenders, and an orange bow tie. Each episode is like a virtual field trip. Blippi visits parks, children’s museums, farms, and even race car tracks.

BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE stars Youtuber Clayton Grimm as Blippi. Cashae Monya stars as Meekah, Blippi’s traveling companion. Arriving at the dinosaur park, they run into their friend, pint-sized Park Ranger Asher, who gives them a mission to help him find some lost dinosaur eggs.

Blippi and Meekah travel all over the colorful park, displaying an off the charts level of enthusiasm while doing so. As they gather egg after egg, they find and engage in a plethora of activities the park affords, such as identifying different dinosaurs, enjoying various park rides, doing simple math, and posing and answering questions aimed at engaging the imagination of preschoolers.

This child’s version of dino discovery is somewhat reminiscent of PEE WEE’S PLAYHOUSE, but lacks much of the ingenuity. However, Blippi has captured the hearts of young children, and his TV shows have produced a number of children’s movies besides BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE. The movie’s CGI dinosaurs are little better than Harryhausen’s 1960s stop motion creatures, and the acting is amateurish, even given the preschool crowd at which it’s aimed. However, BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE is clean, wholesome fun that will keep little ones engaged for a spare hour.

BLIPPI’S BIG DINO ADVENTURE has a light moral worldview. The characters are excited about the adventures life holds and display curiosity and interest in the world around them. The movie takes the time to teach children simple lessons in counting, shapes, colors, kinds and names of dinosaurs, and even basic science lessons in density. A big point in the movie’s favor is that the stars steer clear of evolutionary theories, although other BLIPPI episodes don’t. The closest they come to a statement on the age of the earth is that Blippi says that some dinosaur fossils have been in the ground for “a long time.”

This latest cinematic offering by Blippi has a lot happening, but not a lot of narrative substance. Its plot could be summarized as “two overly enthusiastic people show up at a park, do a series of disconnected activities, and leave.” Some pundits have said that Blippi appeals to preschoolers because he acts like one of them. As Movieguide® previously reported, “Blippi values fun and curiosity. There are some missed opportunities here regarding production, how the show targets kids and how it could be more helpful to children’s emotional and behavioral development, but it is overall wholesome, with some minor questionable elements.” For these reasons, MOVIEGUIDE® advises media-wise families to exercise some caution for their younger children.