I wanted to do something quirky to close off the year. I like to think we are all dinosaur kitsch connaisseurs here. As the blog’s resident European mainlander, I have made it my mission to visit lots of dinosaur-related attractions, expositions and museums around the continent. I will then write whatever there is to write, whether it’s about priceless, unique vintage models in Poland or rubbish animatronics at some zoo. I’ve found that in this time of plenty there is…
So, you might imagine we’ve all been spoiled a bit lately, what with Prehistoric Planet and all. It’s easy to develop high expectations, and to expect everything to be subject to the same sublime standards of visual quality and scientific accuracy. Lest we get too comfortable, I think it prudent to take a stroll among some good old fashioned ugly Chinese dinosaur animatronics. It’s good to be reminded that dinosaurs in public spaces can still be rubbish, too. Take it…
Happy New Year! Last month, I promised you I’d take an in-depth look at the dinosaur designs from The Land Before Time, and I’m still going to, but life, uh, got in the way (not least because there was a podcast to edit). Today, to cleanse the palate, I’m going to give you something small and quick and dirty and a little bit ridiculous. This is a book I found in my attic. It’s dusty, slightly battered from years of…
Dinosaurs and zoos, they go together like peanut butter and jelly. A lot of the major zoos in the Netherlands have some sort of dinosaur presence, from the beautiful sculputures at Artis Amsterdam to the Dinobos at Amersfoort (remind me to talk about GaiaZoo’s Dino Dome someday). Not to be outdone, the small, regional zoo known as ZooParc Overloon has been taken over by animatronic dinosaurs for the autumn of 2020. The dinosaurs are some of the ones also found…
Many years ago, Marc introduced you all to the marvellous wonder that is Paradise Park. Early in 2019, he also introduced me to the place. Now I will re-introduce you to it, because I am on a mission to bring back Ugly Ugly Dinosaurs to LITC (or, as those savvy to today’s Internet lingo call them, Cursed Dinosaurs), and there is simply no place quite like Paradise Park. Enjoy! Although there’s plenty of tourism in the greater Brighton area, there…
Natura Artis Magistra, or simply Artis, is Amsterdam’s city centre zoo. It was founded back in the 1830s, making it one of the oldest zoos in the world. As such, it’s has a fascinating history: it has many monumental buildings, including the plantearium and the aquarium, it was a haven for refugees during World War Two, and it holds the distinction of being the place where the world’s last quagga lived and died. Our story today takes us back to…
As readers of this blog should know all too well, palaeoart is a field where copying other people’s work is commonplace. This is especially true if a nonexpert artist has been commissioned to cook something up on the cheap. How many books have been reviewed here whose artwork can be traced back to the old greats? How many lesser artists have we seen who’ve copied the work of originals like Charles Knight, Zdeněk Burian, Robert Bakker, Greg Paul or John…
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Chasmosaurus belli silhouette in custom bulleted list by Scott D. Sampson, Mark A. Loewen, Andrew A. Farke, Eric M. Roberts, Catherine A. Forster, Joshua A. Smith, and Alan L. Titus, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sourced from PhyloPic.