The Dinosaurs Finale Traumatized an Entire Generation of ’90s Kids But It’s Even Darker Now)

In the 1990s, the Dinosaurs TV show became part of many families’ prime-time TV routine, airing during the legendary TGIF block. It was there whenever somebody in the Sinclair family was about to make an already ridiculous situation even worse. Earl was loud, Fran was usually the one keeping everyone together. Robbie was trying to figure out life, and Baby Sinclair was busy insulting everyone—and declaring who wasn’t the mama in the family.

The show was funny, strange, and, for a show about dinosaurs, seemingly normal. And then there was the ending to the series that no one expected. The family sitcom starring talking dinosaurs suddenly took a turn into something haunting. Kids who watched it back then may have remembered the shock—and not fully understood why it felt so unsettling. Watching the finale now is just as much of an experience. Even when trying to watch the show while pretending not to know the ending, you’ll still feel slightly disturbed.

Dinosaurs Gave Its ’90s Audience a Finale They Never Saw Coming

The final episode of Dinosaurs, “Changing Nature,” starts with the kind of problem the Sinclair family probably should have been able to handle. Their world is being affected by an environmental disaster, and the company Earl works for has, unsurprisingly, played a pretty big role in causing it. The WESAYSO Corporation has been doing what giant corporations in sitcoms tend to do. They focused only on making money without any regard for how people and the environment might be negatively impacted. This time, however, there is no convenient reset button waiting at the end of the episode.

And I remember plainly just how things kept getting worse as the episode progressed. Attempts to fix the environmental damage create another problem, which creates another problem, until the consequences become impossible to ignore. The weather turns catastrophic, food becomes scarce, and the Sinclair family is left facing something that feels completely out of place. One minute, Baby Sinclair is yelling “Not the mama!” and the next, the family is facing catastrophic events. Earl finally understands that the endless pursuit of progress has helped bring his family to this point. And then the snow starts falling. As the Sinclair family freezes, news anchor Howard Handupme gives his sorrowful final sign-off as the entire population of dinosaurs goes extinct. That image is the part many viewers never forgot, because Dinosaurs had spent years teaching them that, no matter how ridiculous things became, the next episode would always be there. Only this time, it wouldn’t.

Why the Dinosaurs Ending Feels Even Darker Now

There is a funny thing about watching Dinosaurs as an adult. You notice jokes you missed as a kid, but you also notice just how much the show was hiding underneath those jokes. The series was always making fun of consumerism, television culture, bad parenting, and corporate greed. It also explored humanity’s habit of assuming somebody else will deal with the consequences of greedy actions. A child could watch Earl make another terrible decision and laugh. An adult can watch the same episode and think, “Oh. That was actually the point.” And who could ever forget the famous last words of Baby Sinclair? It was an absolutely heart wrenching scene.

That makes “Changing Nature” hit differently now. In the early ’90s, its environmental message was still relevant. As a matter of fact, many shows and movies of the era shared the same messaging. So the writers of this sitcom echoed that sentiment loud and clear. And considering the climate change the world is experiencing now, the theme of the sitcom might have fallen on deaf ears. It’s not only ironic, it’s tragic, when a comedic sitcom can serve as a reminder of how history repeats and what progress might ultimately lead to. For the kids watching at the time, it was a genuinely upsetting way to say goodbye to characters they had spent years with. For adults coming back to it now, the uncomfortable part is realizing how little of the warning feels like a joke anymore. Dinosaurs was supposed to be extinct. And even though it might be currently forgotten and underappreciated, that won’t change the fact that it serves as proof of the challenges our world continues to face.

That being said, the Dinosaurs sitcom shouldn’t be remembered as being all doom and gloom. The show made sure to keep audiences laughing and entertained while trying to warn them about our world’s shortcomings. As someone who was around in the ’90s, Baby Sinclair’s infamous line was all over pop culture. And there were so many fun ways to imitate Baby Sinclair and joke around with friends for pleny of laughs. Then there’s the Baby Sinclair music video that deserves more attention.

Even with its dark ending, Dinosaurs should still be remembered for the laughs, the absurdity, and a certain baby dinosaur who somehow became one of the biggest stars of the show. Like many great 1990s cartoon characters, Baby Sinclair gave kids during that time plenty of reasons to laugh, from his endless insults to the legendary “Not the mama!” line that seemed to be everywhere. And after everything the Sinclair family went through, maybe there’s only one thing left to say: at least Baby never had to worry about growing up to be an adult. If you have any favorite episodes or moments from the show, please let us know in the comments below!