Robodinos
Planning to take over the world? Perhaps a 23-foot-tall robot dinosaur would help. The T. rexes shown above are each operated by two wingmen who run the blinks, twitches, and roars remotely, and a pilot who sits inside the chassis, Power Rangers-style. Take that, puny humans!
Built for the stage show Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular—based on the similarly named 1999 BBC TV miniseries—the dinobots turned the production into a hit. Thanks to robotics work of Melbourne-based Creature Technology Company, the beasts pulled in $110 million in 600 shows across North America. Now the company has two new projects in the works: live adaptations of King Kong and next year’s film How to Train Your Dragon.
Kong will have to be much more expressive than the dinos, says CTC head Sonny Tilders, a puppet master for blockbusters like Revenge of the Sith. Underneath Kong’s facial skin will be mesh nets filled with foam pellets; actuators will push and pull the stuff to simulate grins and grimaces. He’ll also be stronger and more articulated. But don’t worry—the eighth wonder of the world is totally harmless. “It’s all very much sleight of hand,” Tilders says. And you can totally trust the evil genius with the giant remote-controlled robot ape.
