The Dinosaur on the Titanic is a 1939 American animated short film from the Color Symphonies series, released by Selznick International Pictures. Based on the sinking of the Titanic, the cartoon became the inspiration for the underwater level from the game Super Mario World, and also for Beany and Cecil, two characters created by Bob Clampett, who also animated the short.
Plot[]
The cartoon opens with a foreword about how it will show the story of the collision between the RMS Titanic in a stone age manner, when dinosaurs and people were coexisting, with a dance scene between a king and a queen. The islanders soon arrive and prepare for the big day. One of the dinosaurs, who is named Fido, sees the Titanic arriving and then runs away. Meanwhile, the crew of the Titanic has set up to fish for dinner, with Captain Smith ordering to fry "something as big as a Pteranodon".
The crew receive word that Fido is in trouble. Smith and another crew member dive down to rescue him, but only succeed in scraping the deck, much to the dismay of the rest of the men. Meanwhile, in the surface world, two young animals, Mike and Mary (the former representing modern-day children, while the latter represents the younger generation) watch as the disaster unfolds on the Titanic. Meanwhile, on the ship, there is a dance between Fido, and many other animals and humans (along with the King and Queen). However, the dinosaurs on board start killing the humans, and suddenly a dinosaur grabs a lampshade and flips over, causing the lamp to fall to the decks of the ship, crushing the King and Queen. The sun comes out, and Fido is saved and his friends find him in one of the cabins.
In the end, the animals congratulate Fido on his survival, but the cartoon then cuts to the scene at the surface where Fido is shown swimming in a river. He spots a crocodile about to eat a fish, and Fido tries to save the fish. However, the crocodile kicks out his flippers and scares Fido. He then swims away, with the camera pointing to the crocodile's back to show a tail coming out of his back. In an act of self-destruction, the crocodile pulls out the fish from Fido's mouth, only for Fido to pop out and kick it in the crocodile's face. The crocodile gives up and then runs away. He is then shown to have swallowed the fish.