Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular

The Arena Spectacular was a live adaptation of the award-winning television series Walking with Dinosaurs. Like the TV series, The Arena Spectacular has to recreate dinosaurs 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 final show on 22 December 2019 at the Taipei Arena.[1]

Production
Tyrannosaurs in the arena

The Arena Spectacular was created by The Creature Technology Company.[2] The production cost $20 million to stage and used puppetry, suits, and animatronics to create 16 Mesozoic era creatures representing 10 species.[3] 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.[4] The smaller dinosaurs (marked by an *) are suits operated by the person in it, each weighing from 20–30 kg (44-66 lbs).[4] There are six puppeteers for these suits, which only have side views.[2] The ten prehistoric creatures featured are:

There was also the carcass of an ornithopod and a video sequence about the Ornithocheirus. The dinosaurs initially did not have feathers, but they were later added after new research showed dinosaurs possessed plumage.[2] 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".[2]

Tours

The Arena Spectacular originated in Australia in January 2007 (as Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience), and toured North America in 2007–10, Europe in 2010, and returned to North America until 2011. It also toured Asia beginning in December 2010. In 2011 the show came to its final destination of its first tour, New Zealand. In 2012, the show toured the UK, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands.

Tour dates
Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular tour dates
DateVenueCity
20–22 July 2018Metro Radio ArenaNewcastle-upon-Tyne
26–28 July 2018Arena BirminghamBirmingham
31 Jul-1 Aug 2018Echo ArenaLiverpool
3–4 August 2018Manchester ArenaManchester
7–8 August 2018Motorpoint ArenaNottingham
10–11 August 2018FlyDSA ArenaSheffield
14–19 August 2018O2 ArenaLondon
22–23 August 2018First Direct ArenaLeeds
25–28 August 2018SSE HydroGlasgow
29 Aug-2 Sept 2018SSE ArenaSSE HydroBelfastGlasgow
3–26 September 2018SSE HydroGlasgow
19–23 December 20183ArenaDublin
27–30 December 2018SSE Arena, WembleyLondon

Reception

Elliot Wagland from Huffington Post UK called the show "an enchanting way to spend an afternoon", saying that it "stunned" his son into silence.[5]

References
  1. "Walking With Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. "245 million years of history on stage". Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  3. ""Stepping into the world of dinosaurs:" Sneak peek of "Walking with Dinosaurs" arena spectacular!". FOX6Now.com. 2014-10-15. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  4. "Behind-the-Scenes of 'Walking with Dinosaurs' | BBC America". BBC America. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  5. "Walking With Dinosaurs (REVIEW): Prehistoric Monsters Roar Into The 02 In Spectacular Style". HuffPost UK. 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
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