Dino Dana is a Canadian television series created and directed by J. J. Johnson. The series was developed as a follow-up to Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures and premiered on Amazon Prime Video on May 27, 2017.[1][2] Dino Dana: The Movie was released on Prime Video in September 2020.[3][4] It was originally going to be a theatrical release on March 21, 2020, but was delayed and later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.[5] A new spin-off of Dino Dana, titled Dino Dex, is set to premiere in 2024.[6]
| Dino Dana | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Television series |
| Created by | J. J. Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Production company | Sinking Ship Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVOKids |
| Release | May 24, 2017 – April 16, 2020 |
Plot
editA sequel series to Dino Dan, Dino Dana focuses on a nine-year-old girl named Dana Jain who sets out to complete "Dino experiments" that teach her more about dinosaurs, pterosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles, synapsids, prehistoric insects and prehistoric mammals. She often also increases her understanding of life and grows in her personal life as a result of the lessons learned while solving the experiments. Other characters include her older stepsister, Saara; her mother, Ava; her stepfather, Ahman; and Gloria, her maternal grandmother, and Dexter, her baby half-brother born at the beginning of season 3. Jason Spevack and Trek Buccino also make periodic guest appearances as Dan and Trek Henderson.
The series combines live action with CGI animation.[7]
Cast
edit- Michela Luci as Dana Jain
- Saara Chaudry as Saara Jain, Dana's older step-sister
- Nicola Correia-Damude as Mom (Eva Jain)
- Amish Patel as Step-Dad (Aman Jain)
- Rayan Mahklouf as Dexter Jain, Dana and Saara's younger half-brother
- Maria Vacratsis as Grandma
- Eric Peterson as Grandpa
- Ali Hassan as Uncle Ravi
- Nelu Handa as Anjali, Uncle Ravi’s girlfriend
- Bill Cobbs as Mr. Hendrickson, Dana's neighbour
- Laaibah Alvi as Young Saara
- Loretta Yu as Cai (recurring)
- Anna Cathcart as Robyn (recurring)
- Olivia Presti as Olivia (recurring)
- Millie Davis as Riley (recurring)
- Jayne Eastwood as Ms Currie
- Jason Spevack as Dan Henderson
- Trek Buccino as Trek Henderson
Episodes
editAwards
edit| Award | Year | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian Screen Awards | 2018 | Best Direction, Children's or Youth | J.J. Johnson | Nominated |
| Best Performance, Children's or Youth | Michela Luci | Nominated | ||
| Canadian Screen Awards | 2019 | Best Pre-School Program or Series | Dino Dana | Won |
| Best Cross-Platform Project - Children's and Youth | Dino Dana Digital | Won | ||
| Best Direction, Children's or Youth | J.J. Johnson | Nominated | ||
| Best Writing, Children's or Youth | J.J. Johnson, Christin Simms and Nathalie Youglai | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance, Children's or Youth | Michela Luci | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance, Children's or Youth | Saara Chaudry | Nominated | ||
| Daytime Emmy Award | 2018 | Outstanding Preschool Children's Series | Dino Dana | Nominated |
| Daytime Emmy Award | 2019 | Outstanding Preschool Children's Series | Dino Dana | Nominated |
| Outstanding Performer in a Children's, Family Viewing or Special Class Program | Michela Luci | Won | ||
| Outstanding Writing in a Children's, Pre-school Children's or Family Viewing Program | J.J. Johnson, Christin Simms and Nathalie Younglai | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Directing in a Children's, Pre-school Children's or Family Viewing Program | J.J. Johnson | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Art direction/Set Direction/Senic Design | Amanda Vernuccio, Tyler McFarland and Kevin Morra | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Lighting Direction | George Lajtai CSC | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for a Live Action Program | Sean W. Karp, Will Preventis, Noah Siegel, Charles Duchesne, Blag Ahilov and Jakob Thiesen | Nominated |
2017: won the Kidscreen Award for Best New Series [8]
2018: won the Kidscreen Award for Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series [9]
2019: won the Daytime Emmy Award for Best Performer in a Children's Program[10]
2019: won the 2019 YMA Award for Best Program, Live Action Scripted and Non-Scripted, Preschool[11]
Broadcast
editOn October 6, 2016, on YouTube, short introductory Dino Dana clips were first published, reusing footage from the past two shows. Dino Dana launched on May 24, 2017 on TVOKids in Canada.[12] Two days later, the show premiered on May 26 on Amazon Prime Video in the US and UK.[13] In Australia Dino Dana screens on ABC Kids.[14] In Latin America, it premiered on Nat Geo Kids Latin America.
References
edit- ^ "Amazon Original Kids Series Dino Dana Premieres May 26 on Prime Video in the US and UK". www.businesswire.com. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- ^ "Amazon sets the date for Dino Dana". kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ "September streaming 2020: Top new TV and movie releases". CNN. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
- ^ "Archive » Sinking Ship roars into Dino Dana movie". Kidscreen. 2018-06-26. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
- ^ "Deals You Missed: Sony, Sinking Ship, Animaccord".
- ^ Whittock, Jesse (July 10, 2023). "'Dino Dex': Prime Video & Canadian Nets Board Latest Series In Sinking Ship's 'Dino' Franchise".
- ^ "Dino Dana - TV Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- ^ "And the 2018 Kidscreen Awards go to". Kidscreen. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
- ^ "Who walked away with a 2019 Kidscreen Award?". kidscreen.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
- ^ Zahed, Ramin (May 4, 2019). "'Loud House', 'Daniel Tiger' Win Top Animation Daytime Emmys". animationmagazine.net. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (May 31, 2019). "2019 YMA Awards of Excellence Winners Announced". animationmagazine.net. Archived from the original on May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
- ^ "Dino Dana is coming to TVOKids on May 24!". TVO. 2017-05-17.
- ^ "Amazon Original Kids Series Dino Dana Premieres May 26 on Prime Video in the US and UK". businesswire.com. May 2, 2017. Archived from the original on May 17, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- ^ "Dino Dana - ABC KIDS". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2019.