Man, the ’90s were a weird time. They were really optimistic in a lot of ways; it felt like we were figuring everything out! It also felt like society had just realized some things, like the seriousness of environmental issues, so there was an odd and pretty ham-fisted effort to try and make environmental awareness cool for the kids with a lot of preachy cartoons like Captain Planet and whatever the hell this was. But there were also variations of these ideas that mutated delightfully into even weirder things, like the one I want to talk about today: Dinosaurs and Cadillacs. No, wait: Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
I didn’t know about this at all until yesterday when a commenter mentioned them, and I wish I could find the specific comment, but I’m already late getting Cold Start up so you’ll just have to trust me here. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs was a cartoon that ran from 1993 to 1994, based on the premise that the Earth had undergone an ecological disaster so severe (hence the ’90s eco-tie in, sorta) that it forced the surviving remnants of humanity underground for about 600 years, and when they emerged back to the surface, the found that, somehow dinosaurs had cone back and were now running the show.
This, of course, meant fights between plucky, tough humans and dinosaurs. Using what looks to be at least one early ’50s Cadillac that has been converted to run on dinosaur guano. Here, look for yourself:
Bonkers, right? That Caddy is over 600 years old! Someone must have restored it at some point.
The series seems to have come from a 1987 independent comic book, originally titled Xenozoic Tales, written and drawn by Mark Schultz. The comic is a lot grittier than the cartoon, which really isn’t surprising. The main characters are a gruff meathead named Jack Tenrec, who seems to lead a group (the Mechanics) that still knows how to repair machines and vehicles, a scientist/ambassador named Hannah Dundee, and a bunch of other post-apocalyptic types, some tame dinosaurs, reptile people, and all that sort of thing.
The animated cartoon ran on CBS and was pretty much a flop, running only one season, though that was long enough to at least try and sell some toys:
They licensed the Cadillac name from GM, but they didn’t make any toys of the car? What the hell? Who was in charge of this? Oh wait – they did. Whew. Someone at Tycho seems to have some sense:
The Caddy seems to be based on a 1953 Cadillac, and the toy does capture the look of the car pretty well, considering.
And, since it was the ’90s, there also had to be a beat-em-up video game, and I’m pleased to report that there was, both in arcade versions and it seems Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions.
I’m surprised I’ve been so ignorant of this media property, as it seems to have had every chance to succeed: cars, dinosaurs, scientists in tight, knotted blouses, comic books, video games, half-assed environmental messaging, television shows – what more could they have done here? And yet it seems to be at best a footnote now.
It also seems to be Cadillac’s biggest and I think only attempt to market themselves to kids, who generally have not been part of Cadillac’s demographic, since kids are famously always broke.
What a strange relic of such a particular moment in time. Also, why Cadillacs? You’d think something like a Jeep or another more off-road capable vehicle would be a much better choice, right? But I guess even after the ecology and civilization have collapsed, style still means something.
Top graphic image: Epic Comics/Marvel
This is one of my favorite comics of all time. I wish I still had my copies. The TV show was a pale imitation as you noted; the comic was amazing.
I remembered the name instantaneously, but I had outgrown those beautiful Saturday mornings by that time. Why Cadillac? Because it’s a brilliant aesthetic, although they missed the chance to make a Bumblebee-type character out of a Cimmaron.