#King Dinosaur

[atomic-chronoscaph]

King Dinosaur (1955)

[mst3kgifs]

I am willing to travel and would make an excellent companion to any elderly or un-elderly person. Gentlemen, please consider me. Thank you, won't you?

[crazy56u]

Concept: Tangle has a cousin, who’s a kinkajou.

He’s trying to make a name as a stand-up comedian, but he keeps bombing.

His name? Joey.

(Context: “Joey the Lemur” is considered one of the weakest skits MST3K did.)

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[monsterasia-zero]

This day King Dinosaur was released

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Slurpasaurs: A History

When it comes to classic dinosaur films, what is typically the first special effect that comes to mind which is used to bring the prehistoric beasts to life?

Stop motion with figurines like in The Lost World (1925)?

Suitmation made famous by Gojira (1954)?

...put some crummy ass fins and horns on your pet iguana and call it a day?

Yeah, we're gonna be talking about the last one for today's post.

The term "slurpasaur" is used to describe a peculiar method of bringing creatures to life that was used quite well up until the 60s. As I said, it refers to using a pet lizard or reptile and filming it in a way to appear more monstrous than they actually are (to...varying degrees of effectiveness). Usually this includes filming them close up and in slow-motion to give them more "weight" and make them appear larger. Horns, fins, and other adornments were often used to more vaguely resemble the dinosaurs they're supposed to portray.

Again, mileage varies on how this...uh..."creative" way of bringing dinosaurs to life works.

(Hint: it rarely did)

Dinosaurs and lizards actually do go quite back aways to their earliest depictions. When dinosaurs such as Iguanodon and Megalosaurus were first discovered, their remains were very fragmentary at best. And so early paleontologists had to do what they could to properly reconstruct these mysterious finds. Since the teeth and bones seemed to vaguely resemble reptiles, it was thought they were lizards. As seen in the two depictions above: the left being the famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs designed by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, and the right being a painting of a Megalosaurus attacking an Iguanodon made by Édouard Riou.

Obviously future finds that showed dinosaurs weren't oversized lizards would render these depictions outdated, but the model would later find a surprising reemergence on the silver screen.

Since the use of stop motion was a slow, arduous, and expensive process while rubber suits had it's own set of problems (the suits being stiff and difficult to work in), the use of pet lizards provided a cheap and easy alternative. Not...necessarily the most effective special effects in the world, but movies are a business and sometimes in order to make some money back, you needed to cut some...

...corners.

Among the first users of the slurpasaur technique is the 1940 "classic", One Million B.C. The plot involves a pair of cavemen tribes learning to live together in a prehistoric world filled with hungry predators and exploding volcanos. Interestingly enough, this film got nominated for an Academy Award for special effects.

Let's see what everyone was so excited about!

(Fair warning about the clip in question...animal rights weren't really a thing back then, so it involves an actual fight between a gator and a monitor lizard. Be advised)

One Million B.C. (1940) Gatorsaurus vs. Tegudon - YouTube

...huh. That's some...award winning effects right there.

One Million B.C is also one of the most well-known practitioners of the slurpasaur technique, and stock footage taken from this film is often used in many future films that depict dinosaurs that may also involve slurpasaurs. Including some of the films in this post. One of them is the 1961 Valley of the Dragons, which also inspired the name of this blog cause admittedly that is a cool name for a dinosaur film.

Interesting note before we move on: the One Million Years B.C remake (1966) also used an iguana in a rather late usage of slurpasaur. Partly to pay homage to the original film. And partly to show just how far special effects had come.

Considering that Ray Harryhausen was in charge of special effects...quite a lot.

The next film on the list is The Land Unknown (1957) where a helicopter crashes in the South Pole and discovers a whole lost world of dinosaurs.

Who apparently evolved backwards to resemble monitor lizards.

Now to be fair, The Land Unknown didn't rely solely on slurpasaurs. Like One Million B.C it also used several other techniques to bring dinosaurs to life.

...which were just as effective.

Now to actually be fair, there were a...very few amount of slurpasaur applications that aren't too bad. Take this depiction of Dimetrodon from Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) which...wasn't too far off from older depictions of the species actually. I'll let this one slide.

Not as forgivable is King Dinosaur (1955). Set on an alien planet that features similar animals to those on earth (allegedly), our "heroes" find themselves on an island populated by lizar-er, I mean "dinosaurs".

Again, to be fair, the slurpasaur idea could work if the animals in question were portrayed as generic prehistoric reptiles that weren't based on a specific species. Still looks silly, but at least there would be some reason for it.

Not with King Dinosaur. Here, two of our "heroes" are trapped in a cave by the eponymous King Dinosaur, where one of them, a noted biologist I might add, looks at what is clearly an iguana...and identifies it as a TYRANNOSAURUS REX.

To show I am not high and making this up, here is the clip in question with expected commentary from Joel and the bots.

MST3K: King Dinosaur (FULL MOVIE) - YouTube

Repeat, a skilled biologist looked at this guy:

And thought he was a T.rex, one of the most recognizable dinosaurs in all history.

You may take this moment to facepalm.

And it wasn't just King Dinosaur either. The 1960 remake of The Lost World had Professor Challenger identify a slurpasaur as a Brontosaurus. For a little clarity, here is what a Brontosaurus looked like back then and what Challenger saw.

...can you see the family resemblance?

Which is part of the reason why the slurpasaur technique thankfully fell out of fashion since nobody can look at a lizard with fins and say that's a famous dinosaur. That and the gratuitous examples of animal violence. And that better effects were becoming cheaper and more accessible.

Nowadays the most you can expect from slurpasaurs is maybe a winking nod to their depiction. Like in this clip from South Park where the dinosaur is depicted by...a guinea pig.

guinea pig south park - YouTube

Only slightly harder to take seriously then an iguana trying to gum the viewer to death.

Which is the reason why slurpasaurs are fun to poke fun at. It's both absurd, silly, and kind of charming that early filmmakers tried to pass harmless lizards off as powerful and terrifying dinosaurs. These films do have that cheesy popcorn vibe that makes it fun to watch and bring up with friends.

Cause nothing says so bad it's good when a bunch of cavemen try to fend off that iguana you saw at your local reptile convention.

[algusunderdunk]

Bert I Gordon just passed away at the ripe old age of 100 on March 8th, 2023. If you're a fan of MST3k, you've seen the work of Mr. BIG.

The Amazing Colossal Man

The Magic Sword

King Dinosaur

The Beginning of the End

The Village of the Giants

War of the Colossal Beasts

Tormented

You had a good run, big guy!

[sciencefiction-and-comics]

RiP : Bert I. Gordon

[moviesandmania]

KING DINOSAUR Bert I. Gordon's first movie - reviews and free online

King Dinosaur is a 1955 sci-fi film about scientists sent to explore a planet and are terrorised by marauding monsters. This was Bert I. Gordon‘s (Secrets of a Psychopath; Satan’s Princess; The Coming; Empire of the Ants; The Food of the Gods; Necromancy; Picture Mommy Dead; Village of the Giants; Tormented; Attack of the Puppet People; War of the Colossal Beast; Earth vs. the Spider; Beginning…

[yamujiburo]

Femme fatale, girlfailure with a tragic past and spunky preteen boy with electric pet is a winning formula idk idk 

(the veronica taylor/rachael lillis effect)

[emacrow]

Alfred's new ward making sure everyone is having great day during their day off from crime whether they want to or not.

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Damian knew from day one of meeting alfred's new ward that he was going to be trouble..

He may have been stalking the kid doing alfred's work while alfred sat down in a comfy couch with a plate of fresh jasmine tea, his prescription medince bottle at ready and a raspberry strudel to nibble on.

He ain't going to replace his favorite Butler, not now, not ever. So Damian got Tim and Dick to help sabotage this heathen from taking over...Not knowing this kid was expecting their over the top sabotages. They tried scaring him with Titus but the little traitor lay there on his back getting belly rubs like it was heaven itself.

Changing the plumbing in his shower to freezing cold, but he walk out there refreshed. Tim trying to look of anything to blackmail him only for the batcomputer to go off the frizz with a virus.

Alfred did make sure to have his work sort out alphabetical because he is the Glue that keep these Wayne Manor going and everyone living in it not because caveman style creatures of the night.

Danny made sure Bruce didn't escape to his batcave on his supposed day off after 96 hours without sleep and spite driven nature, and don't even come with Justice never sleep excuses is going to run by him. He got Alfred's speical Bruce's tranquilizer gun at ready and he is not hesitating to shot you Bruce.

He does kept Tim from overdoing with the coffee addiction, giving him a better offer of coffee as long as he goes to sleep. Dick will still talk about Saturday night when Tim tries to sneak out to do some more investigating in the batcave only to see Danny dragged a unconscious Tim back to his room, a two tranquilizers to the back and one of his arm, though he didn't mention the Danny's glowing cat light green eyes that shine in the dark.

Danny's funny puns neon ghost stickers made dick's days, every morning as he goes to get his lunch, and he really want to know where he get them from.

Danny did actually helped a lot with the Wayne Manor as it never been cleaner before, Jason visited one time even mentioned that the chandelier never feel so clean to hang on from, not a speck of dust on it.

Damian getting a new animals book/documentaries, a new knifes for the collection or art supplies that match his demands in a way that keep his stabby nature at sate and bay for now.

Barb, Cass and Duke are amused by the fact that Bruce, Tim and Damian are having a little mid crisis that danny making them have day off on certain days such as holidays.

All this free time actually had alfred's going back to old hobbies that were nearly long forgotten such as conversations with old dear friends, practicing his old shooting skills, and having well deserved rest. Once his arm was healed, he stil did his duty along side with Danny as it was much quicker to do together as two people at hand.

What they will probably find out later on in the future that danny is actually Bruce's great grand uncle from his older sister side, and that he had disappeared when he was 20 years old in a old spooky town that vanished and still on today uneXplained series after his great grandmother moved to gotham. (But that another story for next post)

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Looks like a cajun cooking show.

[ex0toxin]

road trip 🚗💨

jsys week'24, day 4

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[mewtwo365]

Imagine you're the dino kid and the show you get put in (whos premise is summoning creatures via cards and device, with king in its name) is Yu-Gi-Oh and NOT Dinosaur King. Poor Rex!

Hope you enjoy, and have an AWESOME day!