Animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex
Kokoro Company · Installed in 2001
Halfway through the Dinosaurs gallery, the walkway turns a corner and the air fills with a low growl. In a dim enclosure a Tyrannosaurus rex swings its head towards you, flares its nostrils, and lets out a roar that has startled generations of London schoolchildren. Its skin is mottled and scaly, its small arms twitch, and its eyes track the crowd. The model is not full size, but at more than four metres tall it is more than enough to make the point that this was the largest predator ever to walk on land in North America.
Animatronics of this kind combine a steel skeleton, hydraulic and electric actuators and a moulded silicone skin. What makes this one convincing is the timing: the pauses, the sideways glance, the way the chest rises as if the animal were breathing. The museum periodically updates the model to reflect new science, and the colouring and posture reflect the current view that Tyrannosaurus held its body horizontally with its tail out as a counterbalance, rather than dragging it upright like the old film monsters. Around the enclosure, real fossils and casts show the teeth, each as long as a banana and serrated like a steak knife, and a skull that could bite with a force of several tonnes.
The gallery itself opened in 1992 and was among the first in the world to combine skeletons with moving models and hands on displays. Its raised walkway lets you look down on the skeletons of Triceratops relatives and up at hanging casts, and the roaring T. rex at the end has become as much a part of a London childhood as the Christmas lights on Regent Street.
Did You Know? The model's growl is played through a speaker below the floor so that you feel it through your feet before you hear it.
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