5 Dinosaur Films You've Never Heard Of (But Probably Inspired Jurassic Park)

The most famous dinosaurs in films may be the ones in Jurassic Park, but dinosaurs have been capturing the hearts and imaginations of audiences for many decades, well before Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg teamed up to make them mainstream in pop culture.

Here is a list of 5 films that feature dinosaurs, starting with the oldest, from 1914:

Gertie the Dinosaur: a short animated film released February 8, 1914. Cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay created Gertie as part of his vaudeville act. In the 12 minute film, Gertie is playful and can do many tricks.
Brute Force: A short, silent film, released on April 25, 1914. It was probably the first live-action film with dinosaurs, and the story revolved around dinosaurs and cavemen.
Unknown Island: Released October 15, 1948, this action film seems awfully similar to Jurassic Park. In a simplified synopsis, a group of people go looking for an island they have heard is inhabited by dinosaurs. They get stranded and must survive, while avoiding epic fights, such as the one between a giant sloth a T-rex (really a Ceratosaurus).
Lost Continent: A sci-fi movie released on August 17, 1951. Apparently it is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s book, The Lost World. Basically, a group is sent to get back a lost atomic rocket. They crash land on a tropical island, where a bunch of dinosaurs live, and they must escape.
The Missing Link: Released May 21, 1980, this animated French-Belgian film is about an abandoned caveman named O. But it features a whole cast of dinosaurs, including a Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus), Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Pteradactyl–basically t cast of Land Before Time (another great Spielberg dinosaur movie).