Dinosaurs Roam Air Canada Centre

Anyone who has followed the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs in recent years can attest to witnessing some truly gargantuan gaffes from the rafters of the Air Canada Centre.  But when it comes to sheer size, nothing can match the beasts who are currently stalking the spacious arena. 

Fifteen life-sized mechanical dinosaurs are awing spectators and recreating a time when Raptors weren’t just lanky b-ball dribblers.  It’s all part of the Walking With Dinosaurs show, and as director Cameron Wenn explained, extreme measures are taken to assure accuracy. 

“There’s been a lot of research put into the design of them, the skins, the animatronics,” he explains.  “Obviously it’s all based on the existing factual fossil records.”

Ten of the replicas are robotic puppets whose movements are controlled by a robotic arm high above the action. Christopher Lane is responsible for dictating their behaviour. “Their heads twist and we’ve got head up and down and with all of those motions combined we end up with very realistic movements of the dinosaurs,” he explains.

The high-tech production is based on a television show of the same name and it runs until Sunday at the A.C.C.

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