Popular films have inspired some of the most bizarre and entertaining projects around the globe. While many love a film like 1984’s Terminator, not as many realize that several countries had their own version, falling short of the original but offering a culturally different perspective on the Hollywood blockbuster. At the same time, movies ‘borrow’ obvious inspiration from popular trends, with purveyors of b-movies proclaiming, “Killer robot movies are in; let’s make a hundred and see what sticks.”
Steven Speilberg’s Jurassic Park, a cultural phenomenon, would also see a worldwide attempt to capitalize on the popularity of dinosaurs; some, like the entertainingly cheesy Carnosaur, even saw cult success. Yet one oddity that came out of Japan decided not only to try to ride the wave of dino success but to reach an even broader audience: a kid-friendly movie with a chunk of the runtime set during Christmas. A mash-up of genres released in a rush has to be great, right?
The Strange Plot of ‘Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story’ (1993)

On an expedition into a remote cave in Japan, a team of scientists decides not to heed the warning of the aboriginal people who lived there and head into the heart of an unexplored area. There, they find a dinosaur egg, and once they take it from its crystal pedestal, the entire cave collapses, closing off the route. Taking the egg back to their lab, they begin to monitor it, but it is not until the lead scientist’s daughter, Chie, plays her ocarina for the egg that it hatches. With the newly hatched Tyrannosaurus-Rex hatched, it sees Chie as its mother.
She names it Rex and begins training it. As news spreads of the remarkable discovery, Rex becomes a phenom, but Chie escapes with her dino friend when a museum demands the right to display him. Chie runs away with Rex into a city in the full swing of Christmas, hiding him among the people by dressing him in festive garb. During their time exploring the Christmas landscape, Chie starts to believe that Rex’s real family is still out there, waiting for him. She plans to return to the cave in search of an underground dinosaur paradise where she hopes to reunite with Rex and his parents.

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‘Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story’ Banks on Holiday Nostalgia and the Popularity of ‘Jurrasic Park’

Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story was adapted from a manga of the same name by CLAMP, the team behind the cultural phenomenon that was Cardcaptor Sakura and cult hits like Tokyo Babylon. Its release only a month after the release of Jurassic Park has led to the consensus that the movie was made quickly to capitalize on the dino craze. Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story’s release date of July 3, 1993, is also peculiar for a movie that primarily occurs on Christmas.
Director Haruki Kadokawa was also a businessman through and through, having inherited the massive Kadakowa corporation from his father when he passed away. Kadokawa continues to grow in various markets, including publishing, film production, video games, web services, education/Edtech, and entertainment venues. The movie feels like an amalgamation of pop culture jammed together in a quick attempt to make a buck, though that label can be applied to many Christmas movies, with consumerism as essential to the holiday as spreading joy and making merry.
Unfortunately, the movie would prove to be a failure and become increasingly hard to find. During Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story’s theatrical run, director Haruki Kadokawa was arrested on suspicion of cocaine smuggling after allegedly getting an employee to go to the USA to bring back the product. Kadokawa would step down as the head of the company, and Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story was pulled from theaters; the idea of a coke-smuggling embezzler was not exactly the best image to be attached to a family-friendly Christmas film.
Is ‘Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story’ Worth Watching?

It is understandable why Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story was pulled from theaters in its native Japan and given a lousy rap. Still, if we were to condemn any entertainment made under the guidance of corrupt corporate figures, we would be bereft of a large chunk of entertainment. Even with the dark history looming over it and the movie feeling like a rushed cash grab, that does not mean it does not hit the requirement for heartwarming festive content.

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Chie and the animated dinosaur are a pretty adorable duo, and the film touches on some sensitive subject matter, with the young girl using her friendship to get over her parents’ divorce. Seeing Christmas in Japan in the ’90s is also a strange look into other cultural celebrations, including the appearance of Colonel Sanders, as KFC has long been a festive tradition in Japan. The movie also features the work of practical effects’ wiz Carlo Rambaldi, who also created E.T. for Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
To enjoy Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story, you have to be okay with a bit of heavy-handed pandering, product placement (dinos love Coke, a funny inclusion given Kadokawa’s subsequent troubles), and heavy reliance on established tropes. At the same time, the movie borders on so-bad-its-good Christmas movie territory, particularly when looking at it in the time frame and its close relation to the Dino craze brought on by Jurassic Park. Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story is an interesting oddity in both narrative and delivery, but it is a delightful peculiarity that needs to be seen. The movie can be challenging to track down; it is not available on streaming, but copies exist on the Internet archive.