Wired magazine gave Jimmy Kimmel the first look at the latest creation for its web series How to Make a Giant Creature. Bodock the dragon is a walking, talking animatronic creature that will be on display at Comic-Con International: San Diego this weekend.
Kimmel’s Hispanic sidekick Guillermo rode atop the beast and provided the voice for an unintelligible game of Simon says. Not lost in translation was a gross gag, in which the creature sneezed on the children.
The project was a collaboration between artists at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts and engineers at the special effects studio Legacy Effects (Pacific Rim, Iron Man, Robocop).
“Everything about the giant creature project was ambitious, including size, weight, delivery schedule and performance requirements,” said Matt Winston, co-founder of the Stan Winston School. “Without the close involvement of our partners at Stratasys, whose 3D printing technologies are, in our view, revolutionizing not only the manufacturing industry but the entertainment industry as well, none of it would have been possible.”
The 14-foot-tall, 2,000-pound dragon is significantly larger than last year’s 9.5-foot-tall, 400-pound giant robot but the monstrous creature it started out small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. Lead systems engineer Jason Lopes used a Stratasys 3D printer to create a maquette less than 18-inches tall. It not only serves as a small scale model but also makes for a cool collectible says Lopes.
“The main advantage to 3D printing was going directly from a concept design to an end-use, physical part, helping avoid any interpretation by hand or casting in a different material,” said Jason Lopes, lead systems engineer at Legacy Effects. “There is a reason why Legacy Effects has always been a Stratasys house, and this giant creature build shows why.”
The final version was sculpted out of foam by the same artists responsible for dinosaurs in Jurassic Park 1 & 2. The concept originally had a Tyrannosaurus rex head but its protruding teeth prevented it from mouthing words so they opted for a dragon design. The artists worked off photos of rhinos to determine where scales stop and the lips start.
“We are excited to debut the series, How to Make a Giant Creature on The Scene with our partners. With last year’s success, we are eager to provide audiences with something bigger and better, which this new creation definitely is,” said Michael Klein, Executive Vice President, Programming and Content Strategy, Condé Nast Entertainment, the parent company of Wired.
