The second half-hour
episode of the animated series Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974)
is titled “What Goes Up,” and it aired on September 14, 1974.
“What Goes Up” opens
with a stampede of angry dinosaurs -- including a tyrannosaurus -- charging
through the jungle near the Butler family cave. The prehistoric brutes are
agitated because millions of over-sized ants called “Tagas” are on the march
towards the valley.
Before you can say The Naked Jungle (1954), the Butlers and their prehistoric friends are grappling with this new and troublesome issue.
They realize that no
force in the valley can stop the onslaught of the army ants, and so decide to
create a defense line of "fire rocks" (or hot coals...) as a barrier
between their cave and the marauding ants.
"Back home, we'd
just call the exterminator," quips Katie.
Mrs. Butler, however, suggests another more helpful alternative. She wants to
create a hot air balloon that can transport both families and their pets to the
mountaintop and out of harm's way.
In short order, this
mission is accomplished. Gorok makes a visit to the cave of "giant snakes" and steals their
cast-off skins for the weaving of the balloon.
They weave a gondola basket, and prepare to lift off.
Disaster is averted when the Butlers and their prehistoric counterparts fly away in the balloon, and the ants obligingly retreat during a storm.
The threat this week on Valley
of the Dinosaurs feels a bit run-of-the-mill in one sense because there
is no follow-up. The tagas decimate the
valley, especially the plant life, and move through village, but by the story’s
end everything is back to normal. Of
course, this is a Saturday morning TV series, so it’s natural that some aspects
of the danger are minimized for the sake of children.
What makes the threat
interesting is the idea that something tiny -- miniscule, actually -- can scare
giant dinosaurs.
The events in “What Goes
Up” also, however, call into question the overall premise of Valley
of the Dinosaurs. If the Butlers can make a hot air balloon and fly to
the cliff top -- why not fly out of the valley of the dinosaurs all together?
We’ve got to assume that
the Valley isn’t that gigantic, so a short flight ought to do it. Even if it were a long flight, the Butlers
would no doubt feel it worth the effort.
One of the Butlers'
actually suggests this notion in the episode, but then, at the end, the balloon
is destroyed and Kim says something along the lines of "so much for going home."
Why? Can't the family
just build another balloon? There's a cave full of giant snakes nearby, and
their skins make for great balloons, as we’ve seen.
The
plot device of the hot-air balloon was a popular one on Saturday morning shows
of the 1970s. Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975)
had a story about one, “Terror on Ice Mountain,” and the third season of Land of the Lost (1974 – 1977)
highlighted a tale called “Hot Air Artist.”
Next week: “A Turned
Turtle.”
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