Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular was the production that started it all for Global Creatures. Developed in Australia and inspired by the hit BBC documentary series, it marked the company’s first production and set a bold new standard for immersive live entertainment.
Born from Bruce Mactaggart’s vision to bring the documentary to life in an arena setting, and brought to life by artistic director William May’s creative vision, the production merged cutting-edge technology with scientific expertise to give audiences the chance to see dinosaurs walk the Earth once more through life-size animatronic creatures.
Central to the production was creature designer Sonny Tilders of the Creature Technology Company, who pioneered the animatronic technology that made these dinosaurs not only move, but breathe, roar, and interact with their environment in ways never before seen on stage. His work set a new benchmark for what live entertainment could achieve, and his collaboration with Global Creatures soon grew into a lasting creative partnership.
Over its 12-year journey, Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular evolved to incorporate the latest paleontological discoveries, including vibrant colouring and feathering on certain species, offering audiences an even more accurate and visually captivating experience.
The production premiered in Australia in January 2007 (originally titled Walking with Dinosaurs – The Live Experience) and went on to tour more than 250 cities worldwide for over a decade, spanning North America, the UK, Asia, New Zealand, and Europe. After playing to over 10 million audience members across 2,630 performances, Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular played its final performance on 22 December 2019 at Taipei Arena in Taiwan.
Credit Patrick Murphy
Creatives
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Credit Creature Technology Company
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Credit Getty Images
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Credit Alex Coppel
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| Artistic Director | William May |
| Director | Scott Faris |
| Script Writer | Warner Brown |
| Music Composer | James Seymour Brett |
| Creature Designer | Sonny Tilders |
| Set Design & Projected Image Design | Peter England |
| Lighting Design | John Rayment |
| Sound Design | Peter Hylenski |
| Creature Design Engineer | Trevor Tighe |
| Project Consultant | Tim Haines |
| Script Consultant | Jonathan Tolins |
| Costume Design | Adam Gardnir |
| Production Director | Jake Berry |
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Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsIt took a team of 50 – including engineers, fabricators, skin makers, artists and painters, and animatronic experts – a year to build the production. -
Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsThere are 15 dinosaurs featured, representing 10 different dinosaur species. Each large dinosaur weighs 1.6 tons a piece (standard family car) and runs on 6 roller blade wheels. -
Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsTo operate one dinosaur it takes a team of 3 people: 1 driver, and 2 external Voodoo Puppeteers (one operates head and tail gross motion; the other in charge of minor movements: mouth, blinking and roars). -
Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsBaby T-Rex appearances had to be limited to 10 minutes because the suit weighs 90 pounds! -
Show FactsWalking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular has a cast of 65 performers and voodoo operators. The 15 Cast include six suit performers, two actors and seven puppeteers. The 45 Crew include nine dinosaur drivers, three person skins/dressing staff, and multiple engineers, lighting and sound personnel, carpenters, riggers and workers in audio visual and automation. -
Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsIt took a fleet of 27 trucks to move the production from city to city and along the way, the show was performed in 26 different languages around the world. -
Credit Patrick Murphy
Show FactsThe dinosaurs were used in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode “Cold Blooded” (S11 E6), where a college student suffers a death at the hands of an animatronic dinosaur from a Las Vegas show.
Awards & Nominations
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Credit Patrick Murphy
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Credit David Scheinmann
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Credit Patrick Murphy
| Best Special Event | |
| Best Original Score | James Brett |
| Best Lighting Design | John Rayment |
| Platinum Ticket Award |
| Outstanding Achievement |
| Outstanding Creative Content |
| Most Creative Stage Production |
| Best Family Show |
Social Responsibility
Bringing Dinosaurs to Life for Students
Given the show’s focus on the evolution of dinosaurs, complete with the dramatic climatic and tectonic changes that shaped their world, it was extremely important to us to engage school-aged students in a fun, educational way. We wanted them to not only learn about the science, history, and incredible creatures of the time, but also experience it through the lens of theatrical storytelling, complete with narrative, design, and stagecraft.
To achieve this we took our baby T-Rex puppet on a national school outreach tour, giving students the chance to meet a dinosaur up close — no field trips required! We also developed a free education kit packed with learning resources and lesson plans, tailored for students aged 5 to 14+, helping teachers bring the prehistoric world into the classroom.
By combining science, storytelling, and hands-on experiences, we made sure that every student could step into the world of dinosaurs and not only see history come alive, but actually experience it firsthand.
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Credit Nick Reed
Gallery
What it was Like Working on the Show
Step into the shadow of Tyrannosaurus Rex, the terror of the ancient terrain, and of the Plateosaurus and Liliensternus from the Triassic period. Experience the might of the Stegosaurus and Allosaurus from the Jurassic period, and the awesome Torosaurus and Utahraptor from the Cretaceous. And look up in wonder at the largest of them all: the Brachiosaurus, which stands at 36 feet tall and an awe-inspiring 56 feet in length, from nose to tail.
The history of the world is played out with the splitting of the earth’s continents, and the transition from the arid desert of the Triassic period is given over to the lush green prairies and forces of the later Jurassic. Oceans form, volcanoes erupt, a forest catches fire – all leading to the impact of the massive comet, which struck the earth, and forced the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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Credit Patrick Murphy
Story
Key Dates
2007 |
The world premiere took place on 10 January, kicking off the journey of Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular. From January to March, the Australian tour visited Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne. The North American tour launched in July 2007 and ran through September 2010, bringing prehistoric giants to stages across the continent. |
2009 |
The European tour began on 1 July, traveling across the UK, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands. |
2010 |
The European tour continued until 25 May followed by an Asia tour which kicked off in Japan on 8 July before heading to Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Nanjing, and Shanghai. |
2011 |
The production returned to where it all began with performances in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, and Auckland from 27 April to 10 July. |
2012 |
From September 2012, the UK and European tour roared into cities across the continent, thrilling audiences with prehistoric spectacle. |
2013 |
While the European tour continued, a second Japanese tour ran from July to August, bringing the life-sized dinosaurs to Japan once again. |
2015 |
Dinosaurs roared onto stages worldwide, with tours across North America, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. |
2018 |
From July 2018 to May 2019, a second UK and European tour captivated new audiences, proving that the prehistoric magic still had jaws dropping everywhere it went. |
2019 |
A final Asia tour ran from July to August, culminating in a spectacular closing performance on 22 December 2019 at Taipei Arena in Taiwan, a thrilling end to a truly global adventure. |
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