Walking With Dinosaurs

As a kid I was a huge dinosaur fanatic. When the BBC launched Walking With Dinosaurs in 1999 I was glued to the television set, recording the entire series on VHS (remember that?) to watch again and again. I even created my own custom cover art. Thus upon receiving tickets to see the arena tour of Walking With Dinosaurs at the O2 for my birthday, I was excited to say the least.

Prior to the show, I had taken a look on the O2 website however had misinterpreted the experience as some form of CGI/VR representation. This was quickly rectified as I saw the arena, the stage a rocky plain with two central outcrops representing the singular continent of Pangaea. The lighting rig was immense, illuminating the floor with undergrowth whilst the environment was expressed using a huge screen, and fantastic inflatable foliage – seeming to grow as the air was pumped in.

Of course the dinosaurs were the most spectacular. Operated by up to three people each, the motion of each creature was incredibly realistic. In fact it wasn’t until reading online afterwards that I realised they weren’t controlled with animatronics, the movement of the mouth, legs and tail so fluid.

A variety of dinosaurs were featured including some well-known and some lesser-known. First out the gates was the Plateosaurus, one of the first dinosaurs and pivotal in setting the scene. Fan favourites like Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Allosaurus also showed their faces, much to my delight, with the Utahraptor and Triceratops-like Torosaurus also making an appearance. Each dinosaur had great texture, simulating scales and feathers which rippled as the operators moved inside.

Thankfully there was more to the show than a simple presentation of different dinosaurs. Throughout, the timeline of these giant lizards was told, spanning the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Explaining this on my visit was presenter Michaela Strachan under the guise of an archaeologist. Providing extra detail as well as injecting some humour to proceedings, this was a welcome addition to flesh out the experience.

In a final battle-scene prior to their inevitable extinction, Ankylosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex made their mark, facing off as the latter tried to protect its young. The only slight disappointment, though understandable given the expense of these creatures, was the physicality of the encounters. The majority consisted of one creature chasing the other in circles before fending it off, or fleeing. The one exception, and made all the better for it, was the snapping of a Torosaurus horn during a fight for breeding rights.

Unfortunately the time to see the show in the UK has now passed, with the dinosaurs migrating to mainland Europe. If you do get the chance to visit I would highly recommend it, and if not, here is the official website to take a look at some of the beasties close-up.