The dinosaurs who have roar T-rex appeal...

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Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, but the technology bringing them to London this summer couldn't be more modern.

The O2 arena show Walking With Dinosaurs is a jaw-droppingly convincing experience. Based on the BBC documentary of the same name, the stage show took years to develop as renowned designers worked with palaeontologists, spending £10m. But how did they bring the dinosaurs back to life?

The line-up
The show's 15 dinosaurs include the herbivore plateosaurus, which roamed in herds round Europe, and the stegosaurus and its tiny brain (80g for its five tonnes).

Biggest of all is the brachiosaurus, which fed constantly to sustain its 50-tonne bulk, and is a vast 11m tall and 17m long. Then there's the flying ornithocheirus, soaring above the stage with an 11m wingspan, and a tyrannosaurus rex with its chilling roar.

Bringing dino to life
So, how do you make a puppet the size of a house walk, fight, eat and roar realistically? The mastermind is Sonny Tilders, an expert in animatronics (hi-tech puppetry) whose film special effects work includes the Star Wars and Narnia series.

He's used technology borrowed from the movies to create the larger dinosaurs, like T-rex or the massive horned torosaurus. These each need three people to operate them. A driver in a buggy camouflaged as a rock steers the creature on stage.

Voodoo rigs
Meanwhile, two puppeteers control it from hundreds of feet away using a “voodoo rig”. This small, metal model of a dinosaur is hand-operated to control the dinosaur like a radio-controlled car. One puppeteer takes care of the limbs, head and tail. The other controls such details as blinking, roaring or snorting.

Each beast has 24 microprocessors to control movement, and a hydraulic system with 15 motors and six cylinders. Every one of the puppets needs 7kW power from 12 lorry batteries. It's no shock to learn they weigh around 1.6 tonnes — about the same as a family car.

Dinosaurs on the go
Knowing exactly how dinosaurs moved was a challenge, says Tilders. He basically took his best guess and went with it. “We looked at modern animals, particularly elephants, since they're closest in size,” he explains.

“If we got a group of palaeontologists together they'd all have different views. We can't please everyone. What's accepted wisdom now can be wiped out by the discovery of a new fossil.”

Some experts claim the movements are too robotic. Tilders responds: “We're not trying to mislead. The aim is to have dinosaurs that live and breathe in front of them and let the audience revel in their power and majesty.”

Happily not many visitors are disgruntled palaeontologists: the show has been seen by two million people around the world who have been spooked by the convincing special effects. Tilders says: “We use muscle bags' of stretch mesh filled with polystyrene to make these creatures appear flesh and blood. The bags contract and stretch just like real muscle, fat, and skin do.”

Jurassic IT
As for technical difficulties, they do occur from time to time. The Walking With Dinosaurs team includes engineers who “service” the puppets regularly and are on hand in case of a crash (it has happened...)

And then there are the dangers of overheating and clashing radio frequencies — perhaps unsurprisingly, the dinosaurs get twitchy and start playing up if they are too close to a police station.

Walking With Dinosaurs, The O2 arena 5-9 Aug, Wembley Arena 26-31 Aug. 0844 875 9000; dinosaurlive.com

 

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