Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 22, 1990 TAG: 9004220263
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By HANK BURCHARD THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON - LENGTH: Medium
Well, semi-animated dinosaurs, actually. Created by a California company called Dinamation International, the colorful rubber-skinned creatures slowly roll their eyes, slowly bob their heads, slowly open their toothy mouths, slowly lift the occasional forefoot and sometimes sway slowly.
But that's about it. While the dinosaurs are superbly detailed, their air-powered, computer-coordinated movements are so slow and jerky that the creatures are more convincing when they're turned off. Which is what the typical family of four is likely to be after paying $12 to get in. (Tickets are $4 for adults, $2 children under 12. Children under 3 get in free, as does everybody on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.)
Considering that Tyrannosaurus rex is credited with a speed of 25 mph in pursuit of its prey, the half-size replica that's meant to be the climax of the show seems terminally arthritic in its face-off with an even slower half-sized triceratops, which does an odd and repetitive bob-and-weave in defense of its baby, which stands in the background and periodically leans slightly to the right.
There are 18 animated creatures in eight scenarios illustrating geological periods from the late Permian to the close of the Cretaceous, embracing the dawn and disappearance of the dinosaurs. Each scenario is set in a diorama depicting a landscape thought to be typical of its period and is accompanied by an information panel refreshingly divided into "what we know" and "what we think we know" about a given dinosaur's life and times.
The Smithsonian says it has to charge admission because the creatures are extremely expensive to build and maintain, and asserts that the scientific accuracy of the show justifies allowing a profit-making private company to set up shop in one of its major public halls. Presumably the visitor will come away with a better feel for the "terrible lizards" that ruled the Earth for 150 million years.
Yet the weight of scientific opinion has shifted away from the old conception of dinosaurs as cold-blooded, plodding brutes that fell victim to lively, egg-stealing mammals. If they hadn't been blown away by comets crashing into the Earth, it now appears, dinosaurs might still be the lords of creation, with our furry little would-be ancestors still skulking in the bushes.
And visitors accustomed to the much more lifelike "mechanimation" seen in the movies may be disappointed by these buzz-whirr-click beasts presented at theater prices. Dinamation's lumbering tyrannosaurus wouldn't have stood a chance against the one that fought King Kong for Fay Wray.
Much more impressive are the two dozen "20th-century dinosaurs" on display for free in the museum's Evans Gallery. Created by sculptor Jim Gary from junk auto parts, the creatures range up to 47 feet long.
While Gary doesn't strain for anatomical correctness, the sculptures closely approximate the skeletal structures of tyrannosaurus, pteranodon, apatasaurus (the renamed brontosaurus) and so forth. Rigidly welded, they nevertheless suggest life and movement, even personality.
It's fascinating and a little nervous-making to note that the automobile A-frames, leaf springs and radius rods Gary uses as pelvic joints, ribs and limbs performed similar functions in a Dodge Dart or a dinosaur, both now extinct. Some of these marvelous sculptures deserve a permanent place in the museum.
\ Dinamation's Dinosaurs Alive and in Color - Through Sept. 3. See admission prices above.
\ 20th Century Dinosaurs by Jim Gary - Through Aug. 10.
Both shows at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Open 10 to 5:30 daily.
by CNB