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walking with dinosaurs

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

We took Kenny to Yokohama today to see the "Walking With Dinosaurs" show they're putting on in the arena.

The show takes place on 2/3 of the arena floor, a surface contained in a shape like a hockey arena but bordered with clever inflatable ferns and rocky stage pieces. When you step into the arena the lights are low and the crowd is hushed (this is Japan), and they've got the distant groans and moans of giant reptiles humming about the place.

Naturally, Kenny was petrified. At first he cried in dismay and fear, and asked to be taken back away from the arena floor (Mari got us great seats). But after we'd taken our seats, he seemed to get the sense that real dinosaurs were going to appear on the stage he went into a blind bawling panic. In fact he was so keen to get away that he was clinging the chair behind so hard that I couldn't move.

Looking about to our neighbours and trying to apologize, I noticed that a little girl of around Kenny's age was reacting exactly the same way.

Eventually, he calmed down and enjoyed the show. We were all really impressed with the dinosaurs—the textures and movement were just amazing. And it's one thing to see a museum skeleton or a replica in statue, but when you see a full-grown T-rex simulacra striding around and craning its neck to get a glimpse of you, it really hits home. It's no wonder the dinosaurs lived for more than 150 million years; they were as perfect as crocodiles or sharks but .. unstoppable!