Dinosaur Attack

Dinosaur Attack was the first truly non-narrative short produced by Ted Phillips with T.J.'s Cracked Egg Productions. Unlike his other films from the same time period, this used stop-motion animation sparingly. It was recorded on VHS-C format media in May or July 1993, but was not edited or released to the public until December 28, 2008.

The short was intended to be an experiment in documenting what might happen if all the characters from his previous films were put in a room together. The reunion between the previous cast members results in a blood bath.

Ted Phillips was inspired by the similarly-named trading card set Dinosaurs Attack!, which featured a slew of dinosaurs suddenly terrorizing the world.[1] He first encountered the trading cards on a visit with John Phillips to Cosmo's Comics[2] probably no earlier than July 1992, during which Ted convinced John to purchase a complete set for him; however, John kept the set for himself and told Ted that he would give it to him when he was older. As an alternative, Ted produced the Dinosaur Attack short and created the 1000 Cards trading cards. John eventually sold the Dinosaurs Attack! cards on eBay. Ted finally purchased his own set on December 12, 2021.

At the time Dinosaur Attack was filmed, camera operator John Phillips did not have any blank VHS-C media available, as the previous tape Ted's Movies had recently been filled to capacity. Thus, he selected a tape with existing footage that was considered of low importance, specifically the tape containing John Egan's meteorological audition, because it had already been partially recorded over for When There Were Monsters. Roughly three more minutes of audition footage was destroyed in order to film Dinosaur Attack.

Previously this short was dated August 1992, making it one of the earliest recorded productions by Ted Phillips. This was mainly due to its position on "Ted's Tape 2," where it appears before the documentary of his first day of school, which occurred in September 1992. However, more recent analysis of the tape revealed that Dinosaur Attack actually recorded over other content which immediately precedes the September 1992 footage. Because of this, it was resolved instead that this short was recorded after all other blank media was exhausted, placing it after every production on "Ted's Tape," and finally in agreement with the original numbering of the tape labels.

Dinosaur Attack has received critical acclaim. In 2008, it was named "the worst movie ever."

• King Kong, the monster from the 1933 film King Kong, participates in the brawl.
• Just before "The End," several notes from the theme song of the 1940s animated series Superman can be heard.

• When applying to film school, Ted Phillips attempted to describe Dinosaur Attack in his portfolio:
  

  Ted Phillips said:

  A city is terrorized by a swarm of bloodthirsty monsters.

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