They first stormed Australian arenas in 2007 and have since conquered the world. Based on the award-winning BBC Television Series, Walking With Dinosaurs opens in Melbourne on 25 March 2015 before continuing its national tour.
Worldwide, more than eight million people in 243 cities over 2,000 performances have seen Walking with Dinosaurs. This updated production will showcase spectacular and colourful changes to the dinosaurs based on the latest scientific research including the likely feathering of some species.
Depicting the dinosaurs’ evolution with almost cinematic realism. Walking with Dinosaurs has scenes of the interactions between dinosaurs, how carnivorous dinosaurs evolved to walk on two legs, and how the herbivores fended off their more agile predators.
The history of the world is played out with the splitting of the earth’s continents, and the transition from the arid desert of the Triassic period is given over to the lush green prairies and forces of the later Jurassic. Oceans form, volcanoes erupt, a forest catches fire – all leading to the impact of the massive comet, which struck the earth, and forced the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Ten species are represented from the entire 200 million year reign of the dinosaurs. The show includes the Tyrannosaurus Rex – the terror of the ancient terrain; as well as the Plateosaurus and Liliensternus from the Triassic period; the Stegosaurus and Allosaurus from the Jurassic period; and Torosaurus and Utahraptor from the awesome Cretaceous period.
The largest of them, the Brachiosaurus is 36 feet tall and 56 feet from nose to tail. It took a team of 50 – including engineers, fabricators, skin makers, artists and painters, and animatronic experts – a year to build the production.
Originating in Australia after years of planning, Walking with Dinosaurs came to life at Sydney’s Acer Arena in January 2007. After this successful season, it went on to conquer Europe and Asia garnering record-breaking statistics.
Walking with Dinosaurs plays Melbourne’s Hisense Area Melbourne: 25 – 29 March; before touring to Brisbane Entertainment Centre (1 – 5 April); Newcastle Entertainment Centre (9 – 12 April); and Perth Arena (17 – 19 April). For more information, visit: www.dinosaurlive.com for details.
Image: Walking with Dinosaurs – by Patrick Murphy