Dinamation
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Special effects, Robotics |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Founder | Chris Mays |
| Defunct | 2001-03 |
| Headquarters | San Juan Capistrano, California , United States |
Area served | North America, Global (museums and zoological parks) |
Number of employees | 150 (1988) |
Dinamation International Corporation was a company specializing in robotic effects, with offices located in San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, and Tustin, California.
History
Established in 1982 by ex-airline pilot Chris Mays alongside his neighbors, Dinamation ended its activities in March 2001. The business initially concentrated on leasing handcrafted Japanese robotic dinosaurs to shopping centers throughout North America. Subsequently, it shifted focus to creating its own mass-produced models for exhibitions in science museums and zoological parks globally. Dinamation represented a U.S.-based enterprise that not only followed but refined and eventually surpassed its Japanese rivals.
Beginning with a small group of approximately twelve special effects experts, sculptors, painters, and engineers operating out of modest industrial facilities in Santa Ana, the firm produced its initial "beta" exhibit for a museum in Boston and secured another commission from the Mesa Southwest Museum in Colorado. With input from paleontologists Drs. Robert Bakker and George Callison, and the expertise of engineers and artists including Raymond Persinger, Marianne O'Barr, Steve Koch, Brian Sipe, and Matt Croteau, Dinamation improved both the scientific authenticity and technical sophistication of its creations. By 1988, the workforce had expanded to 150 employees housed within a 39,000-square-foot building in Tustin.
The "Dinosaur Alive!" exhibitions substantially increased visitor numbers and revenue for museums. Dinamation gained considerable recognition through displays at renowned venues such as the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the National Geographic Museum, and the British Museum of Natural History.
Following the company's closure amid fiscal difficulties, more than 700 American-manufactured robotic creatures were dispersed across museums, transportation vehicles, and shipping containers worldwide. Some became permanent fixtures in museum collections; others were sold off, dismantled, or utilized for parts. The company's influence endures through uncredited images and features in children's literature, toys, background visuals for videos, magazines, and films like Woody Allen's Alice. Photographs documenting sculptures during creation and exhibition remain available online.
The most extensive surviving collection is held by WonderWorks USA in Abilene, Texas—owned by Jack Hull—who has leased these assets since 2001 together with former associate John Thomas. Maintenance efforts rely heavily on two ex-Dinamation technicians who established Creature Craft in Nebraska.
Sculptures
Dinamation's creations continue to be exhibited at venues such as the Otway Fly in Victoria, Australia, and the Dinosaur Journey Museum of Western Colorado located in Fruita. These displays feature both animatronic and static representations of dinosaurs including Dilophosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Utahraptor, Apatosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus.
Selected examples of Dinamation’s robotic dinosaurs include:
- Tyrannosaurus rex (half-size and full-size versions)
- Apatosaurus (half-size)
- Stegosaurus stenops (half-size)
- Allosaurus fragilis (full-size)
- Triceratops (half-size)
- Thalassomedon (full-size)
- Deinonychus (full-size)
- Parasaurolophus (half-size)
- Pachycephalosaurus (half-size)
- Dimetrodon (full-size)
- Tenontosaurus (full-size; no longer operational)
- Pterygotus (full-size)
- Utahraptor (full-size)
- Protoceratops along with two Velociraptors (half-size)
- Dilophosaurus (full-size)
Additional figures comprised juvenile dinosaurs, hatching eggs, prehistoric mammals and whales, a great white shark model, an eight-limbed Archeteuthis ("giant squid"), oversized insects, as well as creatures inspired by Dougal Dixon's speculative work After Man: A Zoology Of The Future.