Cultural depictions of dinosaurs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As they are popularly understood, dinosaurs were creatures of fantastic appearance and often enormous size. As such, they have captured people's imagination and become an enduring part of popular culture. Dinosaur exhibitions, park, and museum exhibits around the world both cater to and reinforce public interest. The popular preoccupation with dinosaurs also is reflected in a broad array of fictional and non-fictional works.^[1][2][3][4]

Contents 1 History of depictions 1.1 Early human history to 1900: Early depictions 1.2 1900 to the 1930s: New media 1.3 The 1930s to 1970s: Moribund dinosaurs to renaissance 1.4 The 1980s to the present: Dinosaurs reconsidered 2 Public perception of dinosaurs 2.1 Usage 2.2 Appeal 3 References

[edit] History of depictions

[edit] Early human history to 1900: Early depictions

The first attempts to understand dinosaurs may have started thousands of years before they were officially named. Humans have long found fossils and incorporated them into their mythos. For example, the griffin of mythology may be based on dinosaur skeletons found in the Gobi Desert. As noted by Adrienne Mayor, a classical folklorist, griffins were said to inhabit the Scythian steppes that reached from the modern Ukraine to central Asia. Mayor draws a connection to Protoceratops, a frilled dinosaur that is commonly found in the Gobi.^[5] This dinosaur has many features associated with griffins; they share sharp beaks, four legs, claws, similar size, and large eyes (or eye sockets in the case of the fossils), and the neck frill of Protoceratops, with large open holes, is consistent with descriptions of large ears or wings. Additionally, its bones, which appear white, are easy to see in reddish Gobi rocks.^[6]

Serious study of dinosaurs began in the 1820s of England. In 1842, Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur, which under his vision were elephantine reptiles. An ambitious scientist who used dinosaurs and other fossils to promote his beliefs, he was the driving force for the Crystal Palace dinosaur sculptures, the first large-scale dinosaur reconstructions that were accessible to the public (1854). These sculptures, which can still be seen today, immortalized a very early stage in the perception of dinosaurs.^[7] This was successful enough that Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, Owen's collaborator, sold models of his sculptures^[2] and planned a second exhibition, Paleozoic Museum, for Central Park in Manhattan in the late 1860s; it was never completed due to the interference of local politics and "Boss" William Marcy Tweed.^[8] In the same period, dinosaurs first appeared in popular literature, with a passing mention of an Owen-style Megalosaurus in Charles Dickens's Bleak House (1852-1853).^[9] However, depictions of dinosaurs are rare in the 19th century, possibly due to incomplete knowledge. Despite the well-publicized "Bone Wars" of the late 1800s between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, dinosaurs were not yet ingrained in culture. Marsh, although a pioneer of skeletal reconstructions, did not support putting mounted skeletons on display, and derided the Crystal Palace sculptures.^[10]

[edit] 1900 to the 1930s: New media

As study caught up to the wealth of new material from western North America, and venues for depictions proliferated, dinosaurs gained in popularity. The paintings of Charles R. Knight were the first influential representations of these finds. Knight worked extensively with the American Museum of Natural History and its director, Henry Fairfield Osborn, who wanted to use dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals to promote his museum^[11] and his ideas on evolution.^[12] Knight’s work, found in museums around the country, popularized the traditional views on dinosaurs and influenced generations of paleoartists. Interestingly, his early work showing fighting "Laelaps" (=Dryptosaurus) depicted dinosaurs as much more lively than they would be presented for much of the 20th century.^[11] At the same time, improvements in casting allowed dinosaur skeletons to be reproduced and shipped across the world for display in far-flung museums, bringing them to the attention of a wider audience; Diplodocus was the first such dinosaur reproduced in this way.^[13]

Dinosaurs began appearing in films soon after the introduction of cinema, the first being the good-natured animated Gertie the Dinosaur in 1912.^[4] However, lovable dinosaurs were quickly replaced by monsters as moviemakers recognized the potential of huge scary monsters.^[14] D. W. Griffith in 1914’s Brute Force provided the first example of a threatening cinematic dinosaur, a Ceratosaurus who menaced cavemen. This film enshrined the fiction that dinosaurs and early humans lived together, and set up the cliché that dinosaurs were bloodthirsty and attacked anything that moved.^[2]

The now-common plot of dinosaurs existing in isolated locations in today’s world began appearing at the same time, with Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 book The Lost World and the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs being influential. The Lost World crossed into the movies in 1925, setting heights for special effects and attempts at scientific accuracy. It is unusual, even today, for attempting to portray dinosaurs as more than monsters that spent their lives in combat. The stop-motion techniques of Willis O'Brien went to bring dinosaurs to life in the 1933 film King Kong, which merged dinosaur combat and dinosaurs in a lost world.^[2] His protégé Ray Harryhausen would continue to refine this method, but most later dinosaurs movies until the advent of CGI would eschew such expensive effects for cheaper methods, such as humans in dinosaur suits, modern reptiles enlarged by cinematography, and reptiles with dinosaur decorations.^[1][2] Dinosaur depictions diversified in the 1930s, spreading to newspaper comic strips in Alley Oop^[1] and to advertising for Sinclair Oil.^[2] However, external events and changing scientific perceptions would soon freeze the public image of dinosaurs as sluggish, maladapted monsters.

[edit] The 1930s to 1970s: Moribund dinosaurs to renaissance

The Great Depression and World War II combined to sink the study of dinosaurs into a decades-long lull,^[15] and the dinosaurs of the public had the same malaise. Scientists considered dinosaurs a group of unrelated animals^[16][17] that left no descendants, and dinosaurs were presented as stupid, slow, stuck in swamps, and doomed to extinction.^[18] Scientific dinosaur artwork, primarily from Rudolph F. Zallinger and Zdeněk Burian, reflected and reinforced the conception of dinosaurs as slow and static (one artistic quirk that became commonplace in representations of Mesozoic landscapes, the presence of a volcano, was a hallmark of Zallinger's).^[15] From such ideas comes the alternate definition of “dinosaur” as something out of date.^[19]

Films of the time leaned toward monsters, with the added element of atomic fears in the early Cold War. Thus, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) and Godzilla (1954; American release 1956) portray monstrous dinosaur-like prehistoric reptiles that go on rampages after being awakened by atomic bomb tests.^[2][20] An alternative appears in Disney’s animated Fantasia (1940), in its Rite of Spring sequence, which attempted to portray dinosaurs with some scientific accuracy (although it has the common error of showing prehistoric animals from many different time periods living at the same time).^[2] Dinosaurs gained a home in television in the 1960s animated sitcom The Flintstones, in another example of dinosaurs shown as coexisting with humans (for comedic effect in this case).^[1] Dinosaurs entered comic books in this period in such series as Tor and Turok, where prehistoric humans fought anachronistic dinosaurs. For those wanting more scientific accounts of dinosaurs, there were the first nontechnical dinosaur books. Ned Colbert’s The Dinosaur Book (1945) was the first such book, and its status as the only such book for many years made Colbert an important figure for the coming generations of scientists and dinosaur enthusiasts.^[2]

In the 1960s, paleontologist John Ostrom began work on the theropod Deinonychus.^[21] His findings, which were expanded upon by his student Robert T. Bakker, contributed to the Dinosaur Renaissance,^[22] a revolution in the study of dinosaurs. Of particular importance were a reevaluation of the origin of birds that showed them to be closely related to coelurosaurian dinosaurs,^[23] reappraisal of dinosaur physiology that suggested they weren’t the sluggish cold-blooded animals they’d long been assumed to be,^[24] and a recognition that dinosaurs formed a natural group.^[25] Soon thereafter came new evidence on dinosaur social behavior, with nests of Maiasaura suggesting parental care.^[26] These findings were reflected in the work of a new generation of paleoartists; one milestone was Sarah Landry's feathered dinosaur in Bakker's 1975 Dinosaur Renaissance article in Scientific American.^[15]

[edit] The 1980s to the present: Dinosaurs reconsidered

The reevaluation of dinosaurs spurred public interest, with the new generation of paleoartists as the first to respond. Artists such as Mark Hallett, Doug Henderson, John Gurche, Gregory S. Paul, Bill Stout, and Bob Walters illustrated the new findings in response to the demand.^[15] By the latter half of the 1980s and into the 1990s, other media were showing the influence of the increased popularity, with a variety of depictions aimed at a variety of ages and interests. In 1990 the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., featured an exhibition of dinosaur sculpture by Jim Gary that drew more visitors than any of its previous exhibits.^[27] His dinosaurs, popular since the 1960s, began being featured in textbooks, encyclopedias, and videos as well as later, by the likes of National Geographic, in their publications for children in 1975. ^[28] For preschools, there was the educational television show Barney & Friends starting in 1992; their older siblings had the 1988 animated movie The Land Before Time and its increasing line of direct to video sequels (over 12). Dinosaurs, a television sitcom, parodied humans and other television shows. Of particular note is Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, Jurassic Park, the popularity of which led to a series of films and other media. The first of these, Jurassic Park married advanced CGI^[2] with advances in scientific knowledge of dinosaurs.^[3] The falling cost of computer-generated effects also has recently allowed the increased production of documentaries for television; the award-winning 1999 BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs and 2001's When Dinosaurs Roamed America are notable examples.

[edit] Public perception of dinosaurs

The popular ideals of dinosaurs have many misconceptions, reinforced by films, books, comics, television shows, and other media. Typical errors include: prehistoric humans living with dinosaurs; dinosaurs as monsters that did little else but fight;^[2][3] the portrayal of a kind of "prehistoric world" where all prehistoric animals are shown to exist;^[2] dinosaurs as all large; dinosaurs as stupid and slow; the inclusion of many prehistoric animals (such as Dimetrodon, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and plesiosaurs) as dinosaurs;^[1][3] and dinosaurs as failures. Reports in the news media of dinosaur finds and dinosaur science are often inaccurate and sensationalistic, and popular dinosaur books usually lag scientific understanding.^[3] Dinosaur toys and models are often inaccurate, packaged indiscriminately with other prehistoric animals,^[3] or have fictitious additions like the large sharp teeth in some rubber Triceratops toys.^[2] The pejorative use of "dinosaur" as something behind the times has been applied to people, styles, and ideas that are perceived to be out of date, and on the wane.^[29] For example, members of the punk movement derided the "progressive" bands that preceded them as "dinosaur bands".^[30]

However, some popular depictors have striven for accuracy and present up-to-date information; Michael Crichton^[3] and Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes)^[31] are two contemporary examples. Paleoartists and illustrators in particular have been keeping up with research. Popular conceptions of dinosaurs have also been important in stimulating the interest and imagination of young people, and have been responsible for introducing many who would later become paleontologists to the field. In addition, popular depictions can be more imaginative and speculative than technical works.^[4]

[edit] Usage

The typical use of dinosaurs in popular culture has been as fierce monsters.^[2] There are several distinct genres of dinosaur depictions commonly used: "lost worlds" on modern Earth; time travel stories; educational works for children;^[4] prehistoric world stories (often with cavemen);^[3] and dinosaurs running amok in the modern world.^[1]

[edit] Appeal

The appeal of dinosaurs, as suggested by author, researcher, and dinosaur enthusiast Donald F. Glut, has multiple factors. Dinosaurs were "monsters," yet are safely extinct, allowing for vicarious thrills. They appeal to the imagination, and there are many ways to approach them intellectually. Finally, they appeal to adults nostalgic for what they enjoyed as children. Children have been particularly drawn to dinosaurs over the years.^[2]

[edit] References