Let's Trux it Up!

Dinotrux

By Sheena McNeil
April 25, 2016

Dinotrux is a Netflix Original Series created by Dreamworks and based on Chris Gall's illustrated children's books of the same name. As you would expect from Dreamworks, the character designs and animation quality are top-notch! Dreamworks brought the designs and content up to a slightly older target (child) audience, and in doing so found an audience with young adults as well. My husband and I really enjoyed Season 1 and are currently enjoying Season 2, and I have a few young adult friends who are also fans of the show.

The show follows Ty, an anthopomorphized T-Trux Dinotrux, and Revvit, an anthopomorphized Rotilian Reptool, as they see past their normal life roles by bringing a variety of Dinotrux and Reptools together to build things! T-Trux seem to have a reputation for being bullies (especially since they aren't actually predators -- they eat the same ore as everyone else), so Ty's friendly and outgoing personality is met with distrust from most. However, Revvit sees an opportunity with Ty that will benefit them both -- Dinotrux need repairs, and Reptools like to fix things. Their group quickly grows to include three more Dinotrux (and later another one) and three more Reptools, each with their own unique strengths and abilities based on their species. The mutually beneficial relationship grows further as the Dinotrux (with Revvit creating the design plans) build various structures including a garage, ore silo, and car wash. They also build things like a ramp to escape a pit and a decoy Reptool Ravine in order to trick D-Structs and protect the Reptools. Some episodes don't involve building anything, but maintain a focus on teamwork in order to accomplish something. The stories are simple, but the characters' personalities and interactions keep us coming back for more.

Along with the Dinotrux (anthropomorphized hybrid dinosaur-construction vehicles) and Reptools (anthropomorphized hybrid reptile-tools), there are some non-anthropomorphized creatures that make up this world. Some are useful like Bitbugs, which I'm not even sure are "alive" in the same sense as the other creatures. Some are "evil" / "dangerous" predators in the form of Scrapadactyls and Scraptors. I must admit to being disappointed when the Scraptors were introduced as rather base animals (making sounds not words, lacking paint, and one-dimensional predators). While both Scrapadactyls and Scraptors live in flocks and packs, respectively, and will attack, they act like scavengers rather than hunters. I wish there was a reason beyond plot convenience for the difference between the Scrap-Dinotrux and the regular Dinotrux, especially since Scraptools (like Reptools) are anthropomorphized. In the grand scheme of things, we know very little about the scrap-creatures, but we know equally as little about the different Dinotrux species or what they do in their regular lives. In "Scraptors" we meet another Dozeratops, but he's a completely different personality from Dozer and we get the impression this new one is not typical.

Revvit has one of the best designs in the entire show. His lemon and lime coloring stands out -- partially because he's the only truly bi-colored species! I fell in love with him when I first saw the teaser trailers that showed his tape measure tongue! He's part rotary drill, but he often uses the bits in unusual ways (like etching plans and blueprints into a rock). His personality is also the most well-rounded (even more than Ty). He's a thinker, able to see things from many different perspectives and come up with solutions as well as building plans, and he's often a voice of reason without coming off like a parent.

There are many tropes in this series, but there are a few in particular I want to touch on. The first is rather obvious: Good Colors, Evil Colors. The Dinotrux we've seen (in Season 1) share the same color with all of their species except the T-Trux Ty (red) and D-Structs (gray and black). Red is Heroic is its own trope, which is certainly at play here as well, which works well in this case as the "apex" species is the leader. D-Structs has other details (like the spikes on his wrecking ball) that indicate he is a bad guy, but the visuals, including the color, seem more indicative of them being separate-but-similar species rather than different colors of the same. On a related note, I am happy to report that Skya, the lone Dinotrux female of the group, is orange and not pink, and Ace, the lone female Reptool is blue! While some might disagree, I see Skya as the second-in-command of the Dinotrux group, bringing brains as well as maturity but also a sense of humor. Her height is advantageous more often than it is not, and she is a character they all admire. Ace is adventurous like Ton-Ton, who is also blue, and it's interesting that they used a calm color like blue for these characters. Meanwhile, all scrap-collecting are plain grey metal, often with rust. This includes Scrap-It. After episode 1:7 "Tortools" where baby Tortools paint Ty new colors, I wonder where the colors come from in the first place and why the scrap-species don't have them.

Another trope worth discussing is The Smurfette Principle. Skya is the only female Dinotrux in the group, and Ace is the only female Reptool. Now, I love all the characters as they are, but the show's creators could have at least made an attempt to have a second female in one of these groups! Garby (the garbage truck hybrid) could have been played as female with very little, if anything, changing in the personality. D-Structs and Scrap-It are both male, so the show is clearly lacking in any female villain (and they could easily have made Scrap-It female!). At the very least they could have made some of the minor, one-off characters female. At least neither of these females bear any of the stereotypical markings (bows, flowers, eyelashes, etc.), and they are portrayed as being completely on par with the males in the show! On a related note, I love that it's Dozer who gets to explore his maternal instincts in "Tortools".

Season 1 is only ten episodes long, and I was ready for more the moment it ended (thankfully, Season 2 was recently released). This series is fun and a new take on anthropomorphic dinosaurs and vehicles! While it could still stand to push things a bit more progressively in some areas, it does to a marvelous job of showing how different species learn to work together (and not just to defeat a common enemy), appreciating each other's differences as strengths, with some growing pains along the way, naturally.

Dreamworks Dinotrux