Cadillacs and Dinosaurs now there’s a name that blows its source material over. Not for lack of quality but how much love it brings an obscure franchise. The TV show is still a highly regarded as a cult classic. Plus the beat ’em up arcade game is what got many people hooked onto the source comic Xenozoic Tales.
Xenozoic (Tales)
The original comic by Mark Schultz is a tribute to pulp stories like Doc Sampson and the lost world adventure genre. This series revolves around a post-apocalyptic world where humanity lives in what’s left of civilization. Want to make it more memorable; the Earth’s prehistoric animals somehow came back, from dinosaurs to mammoths. Most of the series takes place in the City in the Sea (formerly known as Manhattan). There are two main characters. The first is Jack Tenrec, a mechanic and shaman who restores Cadillacs to run on dino guano. Next there’s Hannah Dundee a scholar from Wasoon (formerly known as Washington D.C.) who came as an ambassador.
The series revolves around a philosophy of a group Tenrec is a part of, the Old Blood Mechanics. This Machinatio Vitae is about preserving a delicate natural balance since the old world fell to pollution and natural disasters. Just as natural this puts characters at odds with scientific advancements and the politics surrounding them. As well as the poachers out for profit.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: Science vs. Politics
When it comes to adaptations, a line from the TV Tenrec says it all: “I hate politicians. […] I hate scientists even more.”
The arcade game from Capcom is probably best known for bringing guns and vehicular combat to side-scrolling beat ’em ups. Translation: advanced at the time but shows its age. As for the plot, it’s a very simple one with a mad scientist combining human and “slither” DNA. Symbolically this is a perverted take on the Old Blood’s philosophy. Why be at the mercy of predators or technology that could destroy the world when you can replace them all with a new species? Gameplay-wise that doesn’t always translate to this theme; the tools like the Cadillac and guns are fine without being too disruptive. But if it’s bad for enemies to hit slithers, why do the heroes have to do that to calm them down?
Don’t even get me started on the Sega CD game that Elon Musk helped program.
As for the show, if explores the effect of politics rather than the ideologies behind them. Because let’s face it, being progressive or conservative can lean in either direction. Let’s look at this “all-ages” show’s overarching villain, Wilhelmina Scharnhorst. Unlike the 14 issue comic, she becomes less antagonistic over the only season. Scharnhorst unlike her cohort Nock isn’t driven by greed, she wants what’s best for her tribe. But her drive for productivity puts her against safeties, even necessary ones. So when it’s in her best interests, Scharnhorst allows herself to listen to Jack, especially after finding that her biases lead to her getting manipulated.
Machinatio Vitae in Action
That’s not to say that Jack’s views are always the right one in Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. One of the best displays of a political struggle is in the episode “It Only Comes Out At Night”.
When a nothosaurus is causing trouble in the city, it might look like Scharnhorst is being too stubborn to stop anything. Even when it looks like the excavation acid she commissions is making a sewer’s foundation unstable. But here’s another perspective, with the creature nesting in the water processing plant any halting to drinking water would cause unrest. Then again, this same acid’s scent is what brought the amphibious slither in the first place. Worse the acid prevents most of the dino eggs from hatching, not that it stops her from taking people to feed her young. To get the slither out without killing it, Hannah has to destroy the unhatched eggs. Jack meanwhile gives the only living hatchling to the mother so they can leave.
This entire situation is neither pro-environmental or pro-urbanization, it’s probably the best display of the balance. I mean it’s not like Jack was in favor of smashing the eggs, but time wasn’t on his side. Comparing it to the episodes featuring Hermes the Allosaurus and the Wild Child, it tackles the hard truths of needing to compromise.
Xenozoic vs. Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
In all honesty, there’s no one way to enjoy this franchise. Some of the best adaptations of an IP complement one another. Like I said earlier, the game is great for people just wanting to play for fun. Most people get that with Mustafa Cairo who usually just has a supporting role in other mediums. It also makes a minor character Dr. Fessenden and his horrifying mutation into a major threat. As for the show it touches things the comic didn’t have time for like showing the city’s geothermal power. The Wild Child episode might not be my favorite, but Teen Titan’s Marv Wolfman does write a good episode.
As for the comic, I think there are plenty of things it does better than the show. Like how Hannah manages to get pteranodons to not only help the city but help a friend study them. Although Jack could be a little more like he is on TV, but I think that’s his arc in the comic.
Availability?
So where does anybody find this stuff?
The Xenozoic comic is currently published through Flesk Publications along with Mark Schultz’s art books. Schultz might want to make more issues, but the time he spends on the art’s detail takes a long time. Impressively on a similar level to the late Kentaro Miura. Besides his time on the Prince Valiant comic strip is his main focus.
The show is currently streaming for free on YouTube channel Retro Rerun. On the chance that channel gets taken down, it’s also on… Amazon’s ameba service. It’s one of the only shows that doesn’t feel like it’s for first graders… if you’re in the US. If you want to own something it’s on… VHS.
And the game? Emulator; at least that’s more accessible. Look the word Cadillac is trademarked, don’t expect to see any official rereleases of the arcade game. The most you’ll get is that Elon Musk game.
Even then emulators are cheaper.
So thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.