Friday, August 26, 2011

The Dinosaur Petting Zoo

His Mouth May Be Full Of Meat But There's Always Room For A Kid
Photo by Diana House, shared via Flickr.

Erth Visual and Physical, an Australian company that creates all sorts of cool visual physical theater shows and events, has been touring with their "Dinosaur Petting Zoo" for the last couple of years. Having built their business mainly in Australia, they've also been branching out globally, having performed for the Sue 10 year anniversary at the Field Museum in Chicago as well as a visiting Ireland this summer. Being Australian, they prominently feature Laellynasaura and Minmi, part of the island continent's Mesozoic fauna. You can't thrill the kids on diminutive ornithischians alone, of course, so a "dwarf allosaur" and a tyrannosaur are featured as well, more heavily stylized than their small co-stars.

Dinosaur Petting Zoo, Town Hall 2
Photo by Mike Riversdale, shared via Flickr.

erth dinosaur
Photo by Merrigong Theater Co., shared via Flickr.

It's hard to predict what the rocks will produce, and I'm sure that had Erth had psychic powers, or developed the petting zoo just a year later, they would have loved to include a few more Aussie natives - namely, Wintonotitan, Australovenator, and Diamantinasaurus, three dinosaurs described in 2009 who would make for showy additions to the program. It seems that it's done well, so maybe they're developing new puppets as I type. The company's calendar doesn't indicate if there are more dates scheduled for the rest of the year, but here are some more photos of what to expect if you get the chance to see the show. Find out more at Erth's website and Youtube channel.

2 comments:

  1. Saw these guys down here in Oz.
    It's a pretty funny show to watch kids at.
    "At first it's all Ooooh, Ahhhh! But then comes the running and the screaming"

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  2. Hey! That's my friend Drew with the Allosaurus! He works for Erth...it's a wonderful company. Erth built our juvenile T.rex and Triceratops puppets for our "Dinosaur Encounters" show at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. We were the first in the USA to have dinosaur puppets specifically made from measuring our specimens. Check them out at

    http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/dinosaurs/dinosaur-encounters

    -Ashley
    Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

    ReplyDelete

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