Life can get pretty surreal sometimes. Like when you happen to come face–to-face with one of the most powerful creatures on the planet that happened to have died 65 million years ago. It stands before you undeniably in your face yet you know it shouldn’t exist. Thankfully the dinosaurs coming to Chicago July 28 through August 1 with “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular” aren’t flesh and blood but some of the most advanced technology known to man.
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Walking With Dinosaurs |
Allstate Arena
Rosemont, Ill.
July 28 through August 1, 2010
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“Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular” is a walk through the age the dinosaur. Life-size dinosaurs will walk through the arena interacting with not only each other but the audience as well. There are no strings on this adventure as the creatures step out of the Jurassic and into real life for all to see.
Lumino got the chance to sit down with Nellie Beavers, Associate Tour Manager for the show last week and talk about how such a thing came to be.
How did the Walking With Dinosaurs tour get started?
Well it is an offshoot of the BBC Animated program that ran a few years ago with the same name. The animation quality was so good that creature creator Sonny Tilders felt he could do the same thing in real life…and he did. It took about four or five years of design to create the dinosaurs for the show.
Tell me about some of the technical achievements of the show?
We have 17 life sized dinosaurs on each tour and two sets of shows that run constantly around the world. One set travels Europe and the United States while the other goes to Asia. It took Tilders about a year to create the first one and then a year to create the other 16 dinosaurs.
It takes each of the large dinosaurs three people moving the controls plus a dino driver inside to run the creatures. We also have a team of puppeteers in the audience working the eyes. The smaller dinos like the raptors only need a dino driver to get them moving since there are a lot less moving parts.
Only once have we had to replace a dinosaur and that was our stegosaurus. It wasn’t because there was anything wrong with it was just that new evidence was found that suggested it might be smaller than how we portrayed it in the show and we wanted to make sure we were as scientifically accurate as possible. It’s not a difference that anyone would notice but we want to make sure everything is right.
What do you think attracts people to the show?
It is unlike anything else out there. Most people have the misconception that it is an exhibit just for kids, it’s not. It is a show that can be enjoyed for the whole family and people of any age that love dinosaurs.
For more information on the show and to book your tickets go to
www.dinosaurlive.com
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