December 12, 2009
Albuquerque Journal
By Rosalie Rayburn, Journal Staff Writer

DINOSAUR A SNEAK PEAK AT COMING STAR CENTER SHOW

Remember when your mother warned you about patting strange dogs?

How about a seven-foot carnivorous predator?

A group of first graders from Colinas del Norte Elementary had a chance to cosy up to Baby Tyrannosaurus Rex on Thursday when it paid a visit to the Santa Ana Star Center.

Despite his fearsome appearance, complete with finger-size bloody-looking teeth, the infant dinosaur was in a playful mood in Rio Rancho. He nuzzled up to the children seeking a pat on the nose and took a mock charge at the mayor and Star Center managers seated on a dais.

Lorielle Tapia thought the prehistoric visitor was cool. Her classmate Kiara Varona giggled nervously.

"I was a little scared," she admitted.

The six-month old dinosaur visited the Star Center to give a sneak preview of the "Walking with Dinosaurs — the Arena Spectacular" show scheduled for nine performances at the arena, beginning March 17.

"This is a once in a lifetime educational opportunity," said Mayor Thomas Swisstack, who spoke at a news conference announcing the event.

Originating in Melbourne, Australia, the show is based on a BBC Television series. It features 17 life-size replicas of dinosaurs — the Brachiosaurus is 36 feet tall and 56 feet long — that walk, bob, weave, gnash their teeth and roar around the arena.

Creating them took six years and cost $20 million. The technology is a blend of animatronic puppetry used in film and television. Mesh fabric, filled with polystyrene balls stretched across the moving parts of the body, makes the skin look like the muscle, fat and skin on live creatures.

The adult dinosaur bodies weigh between one and 1.5 tons and cost more than $1 million to create. It takes three people to operate them.

Baby T-Rex, weighing 100 pounds and costing between $250,000 to $300,000, can be "worn" like a costume by one man.

"Walking with Dinosaurs" was brought to North America by The Creature Production Company and has been touring the U.S. and Canada since 2007.