''Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular'' was a live adaptation of the award-winning television series ''

Walking with Dinosaurs ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' is a 1999 six-part nature documentary television miniseries created by Tim Haines and produced by the BBC Science Unit, the Discovery Channel and BBC Worldwide, in association with TV Asahi, ProSieben and France 3. ...

''. Like the TV series, ''The Arena Spectacular'' has to recreate

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

to the point of the viewers accepting the creatures as real. Created by late renowned Artistic Director and Visionary - William ‘Bill’ May. The show played its last show on 22 December 2019 at the

Taipei Arena The Taipei Arena () is a multi-purpose stadium in the capital Taipei, Taiwan, and it is operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (TRTC). Built in 2005, the large multi-purpose stadium can accommodate major international sport event ...

Production

''Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular'' was created by Australian live entertainment company

Global Creatures Global Creatures is a live entertainment company based in Sydney, Australia with offices in New York and London. It is privately owned by Gerry Ryan Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish people, Irish presenter of radio a ...

, with puppet design by The Creature Technology Company. The production cost $20 million to stage and used

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

, suits, and

animatronics An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

to create 16

Mesozoic era The Mesozoic Era is the era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian reptiles such as the dinosaurs, and of gymnosperms s ...

creatures representing 10 species. Each large dinosaur weighs several tons, and is operated by two "voodoo puppeteers" and a driver beneath the dinosaur who also monitors the hydraulics and batteries. The smaller dinosaurs (marked by an *) are suits operated by the person in it, each weighing from 20–30 kg (44-66 lbs). There are six puppeteers for these suits, which only have side views. The nine prehistoric creatures featured are: *''

Allosaurus ''Allosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian ages). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to th ...

'' *''

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of Thyreophora, armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, m ...

'' *''

Brachiosaurus ''Brachiosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic, about . It was first Species description, described by American paleontologist Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 in paleontology, 1903 from fossi ...

'' (1 adult, 1 adolescent) *''

Liliensternus ''Liliensternus'' is an extinct genus of basal neotheropod dinosaur that lived approximately 210 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period in what is now Germany. ''Liliensternus'' was a bipedal, ground-dwelling carnivore ...

''* *''

Ornithocheirus ''Ornithocheirus'' (from Ancient Greek "ὄρνις", meaning bird, and "χεῖρ", meaning hand) is a pterosaur genus known from fragmentary fossil remains uncovered from sediments in the United Kingdom and possibly Morocco. Several species ha ...

'' also appeared as an animatronic in earlier versions of the tour, before being replaced with a CGI video sequence *''

Plateosaurus ''Plateosaurus'' (probably meaning "broad lizard", often mistranslated as "flat lizard") is a genus of plateosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period, around 214 to 204 million years ago, in what is now Central and Northern Eu ...

'' (1 adult, 3 hatchlings) *''

Stegosaurus ''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been fo ...

'' *''

Thescelosaurus ''Thescelosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of Ornithischia, ornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (geology), period in western North America. It was named and described in 1913 by the Paleontology, paleontologist Charles W. G ...

'' (4x)* *''

Dakotaraptor ''Dakotaraptor'' (meaning “thief from Dakota”) is a possible chimaeric genus of maniraptoriform theropod dinosaur that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The remains have been found in the Maastrichtian-aged ...

'' (2x)* *''

Edmontosaurus annectens ''Edmontosaurus annectens'' (meaning "connected lizard from Edmonton"), often colloquially and historically known as ''Anatosaurus'' (meaning "duck lizard"), is a species of flat-headed Saurolophinae, saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur from the la ...

'' (5)* *''

Torosaurus ''Torosaurus'' (meaning "perforated lizard", in reference to the large openings in its frill) is a genus of herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cret ...

'' (2x) *''

Tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

'' (1 adult, 1 juvenile*) *''

Utahraptor ''Utahraptor'' (meaning "Utah's predator") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid (a group of feathered carnivorous theropods) dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period from around 139 to 135 million years ago in what is now the United ...

'' (3x)* There was also the carcass of an ornithopod and a video sequence about the ''

''. Some of the dinosaurs initially did not have feathers, but they were later added after new research showed dinosaurs possessed plumage. This also necessitated rewrites of the script, which were added to later iterations of the show as well as improvements in the animatronics, making them more responsive to puppeteers and giving them the ability to "eat" food and spray water vapor as "breath".

Tours

''Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular'' originated in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in January 2007 (as ''Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience''), and toured

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

in 2007–10,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 2010, and returned to North America until 2011. It also toured

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

beginning in December 2010. In 2011 the show came to its final destination of its first tour,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 2012, the show toured the UK, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. While in the US, the adaption appeared on ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' season 11 episode 6.

Tour dates

North America

UK

Reception

Elliot Wagland from ''

Huffington Post UK ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American Progressivism in the United States, progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, ...

'' called the show "an enchanting way to spend an afternoon", saying that it "stunned" his son into silence.

References

External links

Tour website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walking with Dinosaurs The Arena Spectacular Dinosaurs in popular culture Entertainment events in the United Kingdom Walking with...