The first time I thougt about the possibilities for a promotion for the sequel of Jurrasic park, I knew it wouldn’t be small scale.  Alex, the 1/2 scale animatronic T-Rex turned out to be 21 feet long and 15 feet high (when standing upright).  Alex was situated on top of the theatre roof and was part of a 30 foot set which included a waterfall, theatrical smoke, and audio-synced light show.

    Alex was a big hit with children as well as adults. Many a day cars would be parked with people just sitting and watching.  

    The project started in Feburary of 1997.  Preliminary ideas and rough sketches were laid out.  Budget concerns helped in narrowing down the choices.  Originally, an  animatronic velociraptor was thought to be the main attraction.  A mock concrete wall with “The Lost World” logo topped with barbed wiring, electrical fencing and the unforgetable blue-red beacons would contain an animatronic velociraptor.  The velociraptor would apparently be tapping the wall eventually knocking it down, making its grand appearance. The velociraptor would feature servo-driven animatronics and a realistic  urethane skin. The set would automatically re-set itself and featured computer-synced lighting and audio.

     The set seen to the left  was ‘the other’ idea, kinda.  Originally, it was planned that we would try to re-inact the cliff scene from the movie.  This would have required two animatronic T-Rex dinos,  a baby T- Rex, and a truly dynamic set.  Looking back on it, it would have cost around twenty thousand in supplies alone to have to have come even close.  Even at the time it was deemed to expensive so cuts were made.  What we came up with was animatronic T-Rex push a jeep that  would end up in the top of the waterfall creating a big splash.  What we ended up with was a fairly nimble half scale T-Rex.