'Walking with Dinosaurs' stampedes into United Center

Scientifically up-to-date and paleontologist-approved, “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience” features life-sized, moving replicas that will provide a historically accurate and entertaining experience for Chicago audiences come August.

The first production of its kind, “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience” is coming to Chicago’s United Center August 7 to 17.

There are 10 species of dinosaurs represented in the production, and there are 15 dinosaurs total. Five of the smaller dinosaurs are operated by puppeteers while the larger dinosaurs are operated by three individuals: one person at the base of the dinosaur and two people operating the dinosaur’s movements and sounds from a booth away from the stage.

The show is appropriate even for young children, as there is no serious violence involved. However, the dinosaurs do fight each other, as “Walking With Dinosaurs” tries to closely imitate what life was like when the animals roamed the earth, said the show’s resident director Cameron Wenn.

A few lucky children were introduced to a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex during the event preview. This T-Rex was life-sized, at 7 ft. tall and 15 ft. long. A puppeteer operated the dinosaur from inside the T-Rex, carrying the 90 lb. suit on his back.

At the sneak preview for the press, a number of reporters brought their children. “I just liked it,” said Reilly Hemingway, a 6-year-old from Naperville. She said she “freaked out” when she saw the dinosaur at first.

“It was cool that it could roar and do sounds effects,” said 5-year-old Brooks DeAnte Elmore IV from Chicago. “Everything that [the dinosaur] could do was real but I know it was just a puppet.”