#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES HOW TO#
#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES SKIN#
#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES SERIES#

'The dinosaurs that are coming to the UK are being built from scratch and will have the benefit of all we have learned using the original models out on the road вЂ“ theyвЂ™re the next generation. 'They told us the dinosaurs were looking them in the eye, watching them as much as they were being watched, and they loved that. I remember at the first show, we were worried if they would like it, but right from the start there was a building excitement from the start. 'For instance, the dinosaurs are so realistic that we can get put them up close with the audience. 'People love dinosaurs and that fascination is realised by the incredibly talented team using all the skills they have picked up from the theatre and elsewhere. We had to live up to the BBC documentary and be true to the science, and also be as entertaining as we could. He adds: 'We wanted to build a show where the audience meets a cast of characters and is pulled along on a fantastic journey. 'Sometimes they are frightening вЂ“ and we have a few screams вЂ“ sometimes comical, but always lifelike, with all the roars and excitement that goes with it. The dinosaurs truly come alive thanks to the skill of the performers and I saw the potential straight away to make a great show that everybody could enjoy. 'I said no, but they kept after me and when I went to see them, I was hooked. He has worked with some of the biggest names in show business, including Bette Midler and Michael Crawford, and on some of the biggest stages, but he says he was sceptical at first. It was the realism that first amazed the showвЂ™s director Scott Faris.

That frame is hidden by hand-painted latex skin, which is stretched over 'muscle bags' of polystyrene balls, to give the creatures form.ДЇor the smaller dinosaurs, a super fit puppeteer operates each one by donning a special suit and heading onto the stage. The other two operate the Voodoo Rig вЂ“ a joystick-like device that fits on the operatorвЂ™s arm and allows them to control the animalвЂ™s movements, such as waggling their tail, roaring or even blinking, by moving the animatronic frame. One uses a special carriage beneath the creature to drive it around the arena floor. The system they devised uses three controllers to operate each of the larger dinosaurs.

#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES SKIN#

The incredible results were achieved by animatronic expert Sonny Tilders and his 50-strong team of engineers, fabricators, skin makers, artists and painters working round the clock in a warehouse big enough to house a jumbo jet.

#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES HOW TO#

'We started from scratch and the guys in the workshop had to face a lot of challenges вЂ“ not least how to make them look real and respond in a realistic way.' The initial response was no, why would we, but the idea was picked up and work started in Melbourne.

#WALKING WITH DINOSAURS ORIGINAL SERIES SERIES#

'The television series was a tremendous hit, but then the BBC was asked if they had thought about doing it live. That spectacle is a long way from the showвЂ™s origins and Making the dinosaurs believable was no walk in the Jurassic park, as Cameron explains. 'WeвЂ™ve had Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie come to a show, Whoopi Goldberg, even Slash, who is a dinosaur fanatic. 'When I first saw what they could do I was blown away and having been with them for so long, I get the same thrill watching the audience react to what is in front of them. But itвЂ™s not just a parade of dinosaurs, they are true to life and history as you would expect and we pass on a lot of information, but presented by blending special effects, lighting, music вЂ“ the works.

He explains: 'These dinosaurs are life-size, which in the case of the T Rex means more than 75 feet from snout to tail вЂ“ truly immense. The creatures play, eat, breathe and fight right in front of you, while Huxley вЂ“ a paleontologist in the Indiana Jones mould вЂ“ walks around as the audienceвЂ™s guide to the changes in the dinosaurs and their surroundings over 200 million years.Д¬ameron Wenn, the travelling director who has been with the production from its earliest days, says it is unlike anything staged in Liverpool before. You can see why as the show вЂ“ based on the original BBC series вЂ“ features 15 life-size dinosaurs, including the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex, in a magical blend of science, history, showmanship and magic. The Liverpool ECHO arena is gearing up to host the ВЈ10m Walking With Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular, which has already broken box office records and wowed millions of people across America and Australia. AFTER 65 million years the dinosaurs are back вЂ“ and they are on their way to ruling the world once more.

Walking with dinosaurs original series