Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the film "two thumbs up" on a November 19, 1988 episode of their television program "At the Movies". Siskel found it to be "sweet more than it was scary" and "quite beautiful", also praising its straightforward story and remarked that he would recommend it to children over Disney's "Oliver and Company", released the same day. In his own review for the "Chicago Sun-Times", Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, writing "I guess I sort of liked the film, although I wonder why it couldn't have spent more time on natural history and the sense of discovery, and less time on tragedy." Peter Travers of "People" magazine felt the movie had an unclear audience, stating "The animation is fine. But the Stu Krieger screenplay contains violence that might be hard on the younger ones, [...] and a never-let-up cuteness that can turn minds of all ages to mush." "Los Angeles Times" writer Sheila Benson also stated that the movie's enjoyment was limited to younger viewers, remarking "do dinosaurs really lend themselves to ootsie-cutesiness?" Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" wrote that "Still, though it's not a great film, it is an entertaining and, at times, emotionally rich one."