ICONS - T. rex: The King of Time
ICONS - T. REX: THE KING OF TIME
[VACUUM CLEANER WHIRRING]
[A man in an elevated lift cleans the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
NARRATOR: This is the king of time. For many of us, Tyrannosaurus rex is the dinosaur—our lens into a lost world.
[The words “Tyrannosaurus rex” appear in many different fonts, floating towards us.]
NARRATOR: Since its discovery, the word “Tyrannosaurus” has been used in print more than twice as many times as any other dinosaur name.
[A line graph animates out. On the X-axis, are years from 1910 to 2010. The Y-axis represents the number of times a word was used in a particular year. Different lines represent different dinosaur names, including Stegosaurus and Velociraptor. The line representing “Tyrannosaurus” is a much greater height than all the others, representing much greater use of that word over time.]
NARRATOR: And T. rex landed its first starring role the same year as Rudolph Valentino.
[OLD FILM PROJECTOR SPOOLS]
[Pieces of archival footage from old silent films are played in various spots around the screen. On the left side are scenes from a film with a Tyrannosaurus fighting a Triceratops. On the right side are scenes from a movie featuring Rudolph Valentino emerging from the waves in a swimswuit.]
[Archival photograph of a paleontologist at a fossil dig, superimposed with a scientific illustration of a reconstructed T. rex skeleton.]
NARRATOR: Ever since a fossil hunter from the American Museum of Natural History dug Tyrannosaurus rex out of the Montana dirt, it’s ruled our view of the past.
[A visitor takes a photo of the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil mount in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. The camera tilts up as a crowd of visitors moves around the Hall.]
MIKE NOVACEK (Provost of Science and Curator, Division of Paleontology): Icons tend to capture the public imagination.
[Mike Novacek stands in paleontology collection space.]
NOVACEK: They’re just too big and too- sometimes too ugly, and sometimes too beautiful to be denied.
[The American Museum of Natural History logo and text appears over a shot of the T. rex: ICONS – The King of Time.]
[Illustration of desktop with open book, lamp, and glasses. The lamp clicks on.]
CHIP KIDD (Graphic Designer): In my work, I get to read the manuscript first.
[Illustration of man in glasses, flipping through manuscript.]
[PAGES FLIP]
KIDD: So, I read the manuscript of Jurassic Park. We’re talking, this would have been back in 1989.
[Illustration of hands holding up a manuscript, labeled “Jurassic Park.”]
KIDD: I was relatively young…
[Illustration of young Chip Kidd at his desk.]
KIDD: Twenty-five, 26. Junior designer for book jackets at Alfred A. Knopf.
[Previous scene morphs into an illustration of Chip Kidd today, holding a copy of Jurassic Park, and then into actual footage of Kidd, sitting in the Museum.]
NARRATOR: Chip Kidd is the man behind a famous dinosaur.
[Chip Kidd sits on a director’s chair in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
NARRATOR: Behind him is the dinosaur that inspired his famous book cover.
[Hardback copy of Jurassic Park. Cover reads, “Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton.”]
[Illustration of Kidd standing in front of inspiration wall, showing many tacked up pieces of paper. Question marks surround his head.]
NARRATOR: When tasked with creating a design for Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, Chip searched for ideas.
[MAN’S VOICE SAYING “HMMM…”]
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. Text identifies him as “Chip Kidd, Graphic Designer.”]
KIDD: Certainly, there’s a lot of books on dinosaurs.
[Camera pans across rows of books with titles like The Hot-Blooded Dinosaurs, Dinosaur Lives, Grave Secrets of Dinosaurs, etc. A hand pulls out one from the shelf and holds it towards the camera. The cover shows a cowboy riding on the back of a T. rex and the title reads, “Two Tiny Claws.”]
KIDD: Scientific paleontology and fantasy and everything in between.
[Illustration of Kidd at desk, surrounded by papers. His head is in his hands.]
KIDD: So, the problem to solve when creating the first edition book jacket for Jurassic Park…
[Illustration of a hand tapping a pencil on the table. Piece of paper reads, “1st Edition (no pressure!).”]
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: …was to somehow entice the reader into a story that was about dinosaurs,
[Various pages from Jurassic Park.]
KIDD: …but like nothing that they had ever encountered before.
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: But I do remember, before I started and I was talking to our Editor-In-Chief.
[Illustration of silhouetted editor shaking his finger behind a glass door labeled, “Editor In Chief.”]
KIDD: And I do remember him saying, you know,
[Illustrated cover of Jaws, featuring a triangular shark nose and teeth pointing up towards a swimmer and the title in large letters.]
KIDD: …“Think of something as iconic as Jaws. That’s what we want to come up with.”
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: And I’m thinking, “Well, yeah, that would be nice, but I don’t see how that’s going to happen in a million years. But hey!”
[Illustration of an insect in amber, a large pointy tooth, and an egg cracking open to reveal a small hand emerging.]
KIDD: We tried a bunch of different things.
[EGG CRACKING]
KIDD: I remember we tried commissioning…
[Illustration of a drape covering a painting on the wall.]
KIDD: …a painting of what a close-up of dinosaur skin would look like.
[The drape is pulled away…]
[CROWD GASPS]
KIDD: And the answer was it didn’t really look like much of anything.
[The painting is of many small circles on a plain background.]
[MAN SAYS, “HMMM…” DISAPPROVINGLY]
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. Animated pterodactyls circle around his head.]
KIDD: I’ve always been fascinated by pterodactyls. I tried that. But, you know, really, of course you’ve gotta give the T. rex a try.
[Illustration of a Tyrannosaurus rex surrounded by tiny versions of many other kinds of dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus.]
NARRATOR: T. rex has come to be a shorthand for all dinosaurs. It didn’t live in the Jurassic, but Cretaceous Park didn’t have the same ring.
[Leaves cover over the dinosaurs and then open to reveal an illustration of the Museum’s façade.]
KIDD: And so, I came here…
[Illustration of Kidd walking through Museum halls.]
KIDD: …to the Museum of Natural History and just hung out and stared at this guy.
[Illustration of T. rex skull dissolves into footage of the real fossil.]
NARRATOR: This is AMNH 5027. It doesn’t have a cute nickname. But it was one of the first dinosaurs displayed to the public.
[Illustration of dinosaur feet surrounded by crowd of visitors.]
NARRATOR: So, it’s had time to leave a big footprint.
[Camera pans across T. rex teeth and vertebrae.]
NOVACEK: It’s certainly fair to say that our T. rex is one of the world’s most famous dinosaurs, if not THE most famous.
[Novacek stands in paleontology collections, next to cast of AMNH 5027’s skull. Text identifies him as “Michael Novacek, Provost of Science and Curator, Division of Paleontology.”]
NOVACEK: Tyrannosaurus rex, this skull, is a very important scientific discovery. The first really complete skull and skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus ever discovered.
[Old newspaper clippings, movie posters, and comic book covers featuring Tyrannosaurus rex are collaged on screen.]
NOVACEK: Since the early 1900s, we’ve had many decades to absorb T. rex into our own cultural fabric.
[Time lapse view of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs. Hundreds of visitors flash past, taking selfies and taking in the fossil.]
NARRATOR: This specimen, seen by millions of visitors every year, has shaped our collective idea of what a dinosaur is.
[Montage of archival images showing the original T. rex mount—only hips, two legs, and feet of the dinosaur.]
NARRATOR: In the beginning, this was T. rex.
[Illustration in archival style of crowds surrounding T. rex feet. An archival newspaper clipping is superimposed. The headline reads, “Tyrannosaurus Is Enthroned.”]
NARRATOR: Nine years later, in 1915, crowds thrilled at the site of a towering Tyrannosaurus rex.
[Archival photo of T. rex posed in upright position. A man stands beneath him for scale.]
NARRATOR: To the public, it was a monster with enviable posture.
[Archival footage of two men in suits looking up at T. rex skull.]
NARRATOR: But paleontologists already knew the stiff, prizefighter stance wasn’t right.
[Various models of two Tyrannosaurus rex fighting in very active poses.]
NARRATOR: Planning models showed more nimble animals,
[Close-up on archival photo of the support rods beneath the fossil mount.]
NARRATOR: …but the metal rods that had to hold up several tons of fossil could only support the T. rex in a very vertical pose.
[Illustration of various Tyrannosaurs—all standing in vertical pose, with tails dragging on the ground.]
NARRATOR: And thus were born generations of tremendous tail-draggers.
[One of the illustrated T. rex drawings dissolves into a painting of a T. rex.]
NARRATOR: It started with the skeleton, and this early illustration by Charles Knight, done for the Museum. One of the first dinosaurs on film was almost an exact copy.
[Archival footage shows stop motion animation of a very reptilian, lizard-like T. rex fighting a Triceratops. The dinosaur looks almost exactly like the one in the Charles Knight painting.]
NARRATOR: This is T. rex’s movie debut, in a 1918 film called The Ghost of Slumber Mountain.
[Spotlights flicker across the screen, transitioning to an illustration of a King Kong poster. On the poster, the giant ape battles a T. rex.]
NARRATOR: That same animator would go on to make King Kong, which also featured a T. rex. And the Museum Tyrannosaurus was solidly lodged in pop culture.
[Archival photo of Barnum Brown holding a model of upright T. rex.]
NARRATOR: Barnum Brown, the discoverer of T. rex, consulted with Walt Disney…
[Illustration of curtains opening to reveal a poster of Fantasia, featuring a sorcerer’s cap and a T. rex.]
NARRATOR: …on the dinosaurs of Fantasia.
[Illustration of curtains opening on a poster of Godzilla, stomping its way through a city.]
NARRATOR: And Godzilla carried the DNA of Specimen 5027 in his mutated cells.
[Montage of archival photos shows the Museum’s T. rex over the decades.]
NARRATOR: It was the dinosaur that ruled our imagination for decades. The only mounted Tyrannosaurus seen for a quarter century.
[Novacek stands in a paleontology collection space.]
NOVACEK: When I was a kid, I mean, I guess my image of T. rex was…
[Close-up of an old children’s book about dinosaurs. Hand flips the page to reveal an illustration of T. rex standing straight up in a primeval swamp setting.]
NOVACEK: …a kind of ink etching of a T. rex standing in front of a bunch of palm trees.
[Novacek stands in a paleontology collection space.]
NOVACEK: And he’s fully standing erect with his hands up and his tail dragging on the ground, just in those traditional ways.
[Hands hold an open copy of Jurassic Park.]
NOVACEK: It’s kind of the same image you see on the cover of books like Jurassic Park.
[Illustration of Chip Kidd’s face. Reflected in his glasses is an image of the T. rex skull.]
NARRATOR: After staring at specimen 5027—at the time still posed in a very upright stance…
[Illustration of Chip standing at check-out counter. A book slides across the counter towards him.]
NARRATOR: Chip made his way to the Museum gift shop and bought a book.
[Kidd sits in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, holding a book.]
KIDD: This is the book.
NARRATOR: The book is Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution.
[Close-up on a page of the book showing a scientific illustration of a Tyrannosaurus rex.]
NARRATOR: And the drawing is adapted from a paper…
[Scientific illustration depicting specimen 5027, in almost the exact same pose as the illustration in the previous book.]
NARRATOR: …published in 1917 by the Museum paleontologist who named Tyrannosaurus rex, after Barnum Brown dug it up.
[Scientific illustration dissolves into an archival photo of AMNH 5027 in the same position.]
NARRATOR: And it’s an illustration of this very same specimen.
[Close-up on archival T. rex image. An arrow indicates a protrusion in the skull.]
NARRATOR: You can tell because of this little bump—right here.
[Archival image of T. rex 5027. Arrow again indicates the protrusion and text appears onscreen reading, “ectopterygoid.”]
NARRATOR: When this particular T. rex was fossilized, one of its bones—this one—the ectopterygoid, which supports biting force, got shoved out of place.
[Archival image of T. rex in exhibition hall.]
NARRATOR: It makes for a very distinctive profile.
[Illustration of scientific drawing of AMNH 5027.]
NARRATOR: So, Chip took this scientific illustration of specimen 5027 and started working.
[Illustration of Kidd at drafting desk, surrounded by pencils and design tools.]
KIDD: This was totally pre-computer. We were still doing everything in the art department by hand.
[Illustration of a blank piece of paper. A T. rex skull is drawn out on the page.]
KIDD: I was literally tracing it, but I was making creative decisions about how to alter it…
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: …to make it into something somewhere between just a skeleton and a completed animal.
[Illustration of book cover design being fed into a fax machine.]
NARRATOR: Chip’s design was sent off to Michael Crichton for approval.
[Close up of the fax receiving tray. A piece of paper prints out.]
NARRATOR: The reply was swiftly delivered via fax machine.
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: I think it said, “Wow, fantastic [bleeping] jacket.”
[Montage of Best Sellers lists, featuring Jurassic Park in the top 10.]
NARRATOR: Jurassic Park hit the shelves in 1990 and was on the best seller list for 12 weeks.
[Archival newspaper movie ads, featuring Jurassic Park.]
NARRATOR: And that was before the movie came out.
[Illustration of movie theater with marquee reading, “Jurassic Park, PG-13.”]
KIDD: They did an advance screening of the first movie for us. And we’re sitting there, and the movie comes on…
[Illustration of movie theater interior. Curtain lifts on a theme park sign showing Jurassic Park T. rex logo.]
KIDD: …and you get to the part where they’re finally going to the park. And there is the sign.
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: And we’re like, “Oh my god.”
[Book cover of Jurassic Park dissolves into movie poster.]
NARRATOR: Universal Studios had licensed Chip’s design and adapted it, almost unchanged, for the poster.
[Close-up of the T. rex on the Jurassic Park movie poster. The “bump” on the skull is highlighted.]
NARRATOR: See? It still has the bump.
[Camera zooms into bump on cast of AMNH 5027.]
NARRATOR: It’s specimen 5027’s birthmark—distinctive and unique among all fossils.
[Montage of various other T. rex skulls—all lacking AMNH 5027’s bump.]
[Visitors mill around the T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
NARRATOR: So, this very dinosaur has made its way onto…
[Gift shop with Jurassic Park t-shirts and toy dinosaurs.]
NARRATOR: …countless t-shirts, toys,
[Kidd holds up box of Jurassic Park Cheez-Its.]
NARRATOR: …Jurassic Park Cheez-Its, and this.
[Kidd holds a box for the Jurassic World toaster.]
KIDD: This is the official Jurassic World toaster. And it burns an image of the drawing into a piece of bread.
[Toast pops out of Jurassic World toaster.]
NARRATOR: Well, it’s supposed to.
[Hand turns toast back and forth, revealing slight toasting on one side and nothing on the other. The toaster didn’t work as advertised.]
NARRATOR: Not everything can live up to the T. rex’s oversized reputation.
[Novacek stands in the paleontology collections, next to a cast of AMNH 5027’s skull.]
NOVACEK: There’s no predator in the history of the Earth on land that was bigger, and by inference, more ferocious.
[Camera pans over skeleton of AMNH 5027 in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
MARK NORELL (Macauley Curator, Division of Paleontology & Curator of T. rex: The Ultimate Predator): I think that it’s probably by far the best-known dinosaur. Because of its notoriety, and because it was found in North America…
[Curator Mark Norell sits in paleontology collection space. The cast of AMNH 5027’s skull is behind him. Text ID’s him as “Mark Norell, Curator, T. rex: The Ultimate Predator.”]
NORELL: …it probably is the most studied dinosaur of all the dinosaurs that we know.
[Various renderings and illustrations of T. rex throughout the decades are shown in succession.]
NARRATOR: Our concept of what T. rex looked like and how it moved has radically changed as we’ve learned more about it.
[Old plastic model of Tyrannosaurus rex.]
NORELL: In looking at most tyrannosaur models,
[Norell sits in paleontology collection space.]
NORELL: …the body is just so big and fat and totally robust. I mean, I don’t view Tyrannosaurus that way. And I think that the skeletal evidence really shows that they were much thinner.
[Animated T. rex stalks across the screen. It looks slim and muscular, and is covered in a wiry fluff on the top of its body.]
NORELL: They were very svelte animals.
NARRATOR: And they probably looked a little fluffier.
[Norell sits in paleontology collection space.]
NORELL: From all the inferential evidence we have, adult tyrannosaurs were feathered.
[Present-day reconstruction model of Tyrannosaurus rex at the American Museum of Natural History.]
[Novacek stands in paleontology collection space.]
NOVACEK: People sometimes don’t like a revision of what they cherish, in terms of their own imagery. But what I find is that over time, that’s easily changed.
[Father and two daughters look at the T. rex skeleton in the Museum.]
NOVACEK: Because younger people come to it without those kinds of connections to their own nostalgia. As science becomes more understood, it’s absorbed by culture.
[Kidd sits in front of T. rex in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.]
KIDD: You know, dinosaur skeletons suggest the dinosaur, but we have to complete it in our heads.
[In a Museum exhibit, a child and parents dance and run in front of an interactive screen featuring an animated T. rex.]
KIDD: When you come here, to the Museum, you know, your imagination takes over and you imagine these things walking around and how big they are and-
[Close-ups of various parts of AMNH 5027—teeth, spine, etc.]
KIDD: A dinosaur skeleton is- it’s mysterious.
NARRATOR: It’s that mystery that keeps us coming back. Our imaginations layer the possibilities of millions of years over these bones.
[Visitors walk around the T. rex as animated pterosaurs fly over their heads, and ancient plants grow around them.]
NARRATOR: This is as close as we come to walking in the shadow of deep time.
[Credits roll.]
The Tyrannosaurus rex on display at the American Museum of Natural History has been the tyrant lizard king of the public imagination for 100 years. T. rex has inspired Hollywood and pop culture from its first days on exhibit and still continues to awe millions of visitors each year. Legendary book designer Chip Kidd tells the story of how the Museum’s T. rex specimen, AMNH 5027, came to grace the cover of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, and Provost of Science Mike Novacek guides us through the history of this dinosaur icon.