Monday, May 22, 2000
By LOUIS B. HOBSON
Calgary Sun

To play one of the dinosaurs in Disney's $200-million US animated adventure Dinosaur, D.B. Sweeney was prepared to grunt and growl, but he wasn't about to sing.

In Dinosaur, Sweeney provides the voice for Aladar, the heroic iguanodon who is adopted by a colony of lemurs.

"There was talk about sprinkling in some songs, but fortunately that idea was nixed. I was so relieved that they didn't get someone like Leo Sayer to sing my songs because I sure know I couldn't have done it," says Sweeney, whose live-action films include Eight Men Out, Fire in the Sky and Memphis Belle.

Sweeney admits he was amazed when he saw a finished version of Dinosaur.

"Aladar has my mouth. I can see my face in his. The animators said my teeth are very prominent when I speak, so they incorporated that into Aladar."

Sweeney says the PG rating on Dinosaur should help parents decide whether they should allow their preschoolers to see the film.

"This movie isn't for very young children. It's for older kids and adults. It is much more Jurassic Park than it is Beauty and the Beast."

Sweeney says one of his most unexpected rewards for doing Dinosaur was having his own Aladar action figure.

"I'll be using giving them as stocking stuffers for Christmas."