Denver was a hip, cool dinosaur, sporting sunglasses and a guitar and also star of his own animated show that debuted in 1988.

The little saurian hadn’t even hatched from his egg back in his own era but he was found by a group of modern day teens that coaxed him out into the world. The group consisted of Jeremy, Mario, Shades, Wally and Casey—an appropriately multi-racial band of average teenagers. Attached to the group was Heather, Wally’s sister, who often tagged along on their adventures. The kids taught Denver to skateboard and generally hang out, all the while evading sleazy concert promoter Morton Fizzback, who wanted to squeeze every single dollar he could out of Denver’s unique existence. The kids regularly outwitted him though, keeping Denver safe and unspoiled.

The series emphasized lessons on ecology, conservation and friendship and gained the approval of both kids and adults with its fun, but educational, story lines. Denver didn’t turn out to have staying power though and lasted only one season on syndication.