88 Years Before Jurᴀssic Park, This Forgotten Movie Was The Start Of Dinosaur Cinema

The incredible success of Jurᴀssic Park introduced a generation of filmgoers to dinosaurs on the big screen, but the first depictions of these prehistoric creatures go back more than 100 years. That’s because the very first dinosaur film was a 1905 British silent movie that laid the foundations for the portrayal of dinosaurs in cinema long before CGI even existed.

While Steven Spielberg changed the game, it’s important to give credit where credit’s due and recognize Prehistoric Peeps as the first-ever dinosaur movie. As viewers revisit some of the best dinosaur films of all time following the recent release of Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, they should also take a moment to learn about the birth of dinosaurs in cinema.

Prehistoric Peeps Is The First Movie To Depict Dinosaurs On Screen

The Film Was Released In 1905

Post for the silent movie Prehistoric Peeps (1905)

As a four-minute comedy short, Prehistoric Peeps achieved quite a lot in its short runtime. This caveman comedy was based on a cartoon series by Edward Tennyson Reed and depicted non-avian dinosaurs for the first time in film history. Coming from director Lewin Fitzhamon, this one-reel film was packed with impressive practical effects.

The Prehistoric Peeps cartoon comic series began in the 1890s and appeared in the British satirical magazine Punch.

Prehistoric Peeps featured actor Sebastian Smith as a sleeping scientist who dreams that he’s being chased by dinosaurs in a cave. With actors inside giant pantomime models, they chase the man who attempts to shoot the creatures to no avail. Eventually, the scientist manages to defeat the monsters before meeting a prehistoric woman who lives in a grᴀss hut.

This wasn’t just the first dinosaur movie but also the first to show cavemen living alongside these prehistoric creatures. Blending action, comedy, fantasy, and sci-fi, Prehistoric Peeps set the tone for future dinosaur films and even echoed many of the elements that made Jurᴀssic Park such a blockbuster juggernaut 88 years later.

Despite Being An Essential Part Of Film History, Prehistoric Has Never Been Officially Released

Prehistoric Peeps Is Available At The British Film Insтιтute

Although Prehistoric Peeps holds an important place in dinosaur cinema history, it has long been difficult to find. Once only viewable in person at the British Film Insтιтute, a bootleg copy has since surfaced online, finally giving curious dinosaur enthusiasts a chance to see this long-unavailable short film.

While most will think of Spielberg’s work on Jurᴀssic Park as the most prominent piece of dinosaur media ever made, the truth is that the film comes out of a long legacy of depicting these creatures in cinema. The presentation of everything from a Tyrannosaurus Rex to a Velociraptor on screen has a long history behind it, all of which began with Prehistoric Peeps.

Source: S.R. Bissette

Related Posts

A24 Releasing 2025’s Highest Grossing Movie At The Worldwide Box Office In America

A24 Releasing 2025’s Highest Grossing Movie At The Worldwide Box Office In America

Ne Zha 2 has now gotten a United States distributor for theatrical release. The Chinese animated sequel is directed by Yu Yang and tells a fantasy epic…

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story Review: I Could Count The Number Of Genuine Scares In This Underwhelming Vampire Western On One Hand

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story Review: I Could Count The Number Of Genuine Scares In This Underwhelming Vampire Western On One Hand

Between Nosferatu, Renfield, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter, we’ve seen a lot of variations on the Dracula story recently. But despite all the ways that…

Karate Kid: Legends Delete Scenes Gives Emotional Payoff To Three Generations

Karate Kid: Legends Delete Scenes Gives Emotional Payoff To Three Generations

Karate Kid: Legends brings together the original Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio’s Daniel, with Jackie Chan’s Mr. Han from the unrelated 2010 remake. The new film confirms their…

The 2025 Thriller You Definitely Missed In Cinemas Despite An 88% RT Score Finally Arrives On Streaming Next Week

The 2025 Thriller You Definitely Missed In Cinemas Despite An 88% RT Score Finally Arrives On Streaming Next Week

2025 has been a rough year for the thriller genre at the box office. Movies classified as thrillers, such as Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard, have…

The .4 Billion Grossing Queen Of Sci-Fi Movies Will Be Crowned In 2026

The $4.4 Billion Grossing Queen Of Sci-Fi Movies Will Be Crowned In 2026

Sci-fi movies today are not what they used to be, by any means. While the 21st century has seen the advent of advanced CGI and other VFX…

10 Untouchable Classics Hollywood Shouldn’t Dare Reboot

10 Untouchable Classics Hollywood Shouldn’t Dare Reboot

It can be hard to predict what movies get sequels and remakes in Hollywood, but there are some untouchable classics that should be left alone. In a…