A Chat with the "Walking with Dinosaurs - 3D" Stars

This week's article focuses on two of the behind-the-scenes stars of Walking with Dinosaurs: 3D.

Disclaimer: We at Smileys News claim no ownership to Walking with Dinosaurs: 3D.

As many of you are aware of, the movie Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie just hit theaters on December 20, 2013 . . . Ok, so it didn't just hit theaters, but we here at Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI. for short) were affected by the film's release until now in a positive way: two of our residents, Gorgo the Gorgosaurus and Andrew the Triceratops recently finished their Hollywood debut. Andrew helped the filmmakers with advising them when it came time to film the dinosaurs in the wild and Gorgo actually was one of the stars of the film . . . sort of. After they got back to AAI., my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I decided to get an exclusive interview with these two awesome dinosaurs. “Walking with Dinosaurs is about this young Pachyrhinosaurus, named Pachi, who struggles to survive in a dangerous world,” Gorgo explains. “He faces many difficulties as he matures and eventually becomes leader of the herd. One of the difficulties he faces is deadly encounters with a dangerous species of dinosaur called Gorgosaurus – my species.” He went on to explain that Gorgosaurus is a smaller version of the larger and more famous Tyrannosaurus. It once made its home in the the northern part of the United States, Canada and what would later become Alaska. Gorgosaurus might have been smaller than T. rex, but it was way faster, reaching speeds of 30 mph in short bursts. “The main threat in the film,” Gorgo says, “is a ferocious Gorgosaurus named Gorgon. He's a killer dude, let me tell you! Even I'd give him a wide birth!” When asked what the WWD team did to make the film, Gorgo is quoted for saying, “Well, Andrew and I joined the WWD film crew as we went back in time to film the life of Pachi. Originally, the film was going to be a mere documentary, but a last minute decision was to do voice-overs with famous actors/actresses . . . [after] we finished the filming process, we went back to the studio and did the voice-overs for dinosaurs the film focuses on. The dinosaurs in the film are awesome! Many of the ones that appear – including my species and Pachyrhinosaurus – have never appeared in a major film before, just a few documentaries in recent years.” Then I asked him what role he played in the film. “One might say I 'stared' in the film,” Gorgo says, “so to speak. As with all documentaries, we filmed the animals doing the things they do to survive everyday with no acting, but there were shots the filmmakers wanted that would have been too dangerous to get using wild animals. Some of these scenes were close-ups of Gorgon. Let me tell you, Gorgon is a bad dude! And that's coming from a guy who weighs around three tons and has a mouth full of sharp teeth of his own! I think if I were in a face-off with Gorgon, I'd loose for sure . . . So what the filmmakers did for closeups of Gorgon was use me for a stand-in instead. Since I'm a little different color from Gorgon, they used special effects to alter my color to look like Gorgon's in post-production. Amazing process isn't it?” The last question I asked him was what creature in the movie was his favorite, besides the Gorgosaurus. He said, “Um . . . I think I like the Troodon and the Quetzalcoatlus. They were amazing to watch in action when we were filming. Now, for my least favorite creature in the film? Probably that pesky bird Alex the Alexornis! Every time I'd wake up from sleep with my mouth open, I'd find that crazy bird in my mouth looking for food scraps between my teeth! How annoying! All the other creatures though were great to watch.” Next, Daniel and I went to another film assistant: Andrew the Triceratops, to learn his role in the movie. “Unlike Gorgo,” Andrew says, “I didn't do any acting myself. Instead, I was more of a . . . I guess you could call me a dinosaur behavior specialist. I mean, who better to tell the filmmakers about dinosaurs than a dinosaur! The movie stars one of my lesser known relatives, the Pachyrhinosaurus. Instead of the horns the general public is familiar with on ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, Pachyrhinosaurus has a bony mass on its snout called a boss; it was perfect for ramming some sense into the hide of any carnivore, including Gorgosaurus.” Andrew went on to say that a key part in the film-making process was to insure that the cameras captured interesting moments. Andrew pointed out that since he's an expert at the behavior of ceratopsians such as himself, he could tell the cameramen where to point their cameras in order to get a good shot. Andrew's quoted for saying, “For instance, there once was a time we were filming the Pachyrhinosaurus herd and two large males – Bruiser and a rival male – were up on a hill nearby, just out of camera shot. Based on the noises and gestures they were making to each other, I knew they were getting ready to fight for dominance in the herd. 'The cameramen are going to miss this potentially great shot if I don't warn them,' I had thought. So I alerted the cameramen to start filming the two bulls and sure enough, we got a great fight scene for the movie!” When asked about his favorite creature in the film besides Pachyrhinosaurus, he was quoted for saying, “I really enjoyed the Edmontosaurus and ankylosaur, but I loved all the animals, including Alex, who I think Gorgo found very annoying. He's such a funny and fun-loving guy, you know. I also think it's great that animals that haven't been seen in cinema before get to make their Hollywood debut!” For those of you who didn't get to see Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie in theaters, it should be coming out on DVD this spring . . . and you can be sure I'll get myself a copy!

Written by: Mr. Smiley

Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan, Joy Hammond

*Disclaimer*

We here at Smiley's News don't claim any ownership to or wish to make a profit from anything related to Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie in anyway.

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Next Issue: Lizzy and the Riddler pt. 2

Chores Are For Boars

Boars are guaranteed to revolutionize the cleaning industry and make even the most boring chores, like mopping and vacuuming, really fun!

Chores . . . they're necessary but so very boring! I mean, there are loads of other cool things that can be done both outdoors and indoors, but they often must be done after chores are completed. But those days might soon be over – the same scientist who brought us the “hair grazer” and the “Airway car” brings you the Boar! Dr. James Crowferd of Vassar College has successfully created this new invention, and what it is is essentially a “mop” that mops the floor by itself. For more details, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I went to Vassar College to get an exclusive interview from Dr. Crowferd. He is quoted for saying, “I know the pain many – especially kids and janitors – have to go to to get their houses, workplaces, schools and other places clean. Mopping is, in my opinion, one of the most exhausting chores. I mean, come on, you're dragging the mop forward and backward, foreward and backward, forward and backward, forward and backward, forward and backward . . . (and a lot more “forward and backwards”). . . and backward . . . [it's] an endless process and it gets tiring.” But that's when Dr. Crowferd thought of an amazing and revolutionary idea: why not create a mop that mops by itself! “I was going to create a vacuum cleaner – which in my opinion is just the dry version of a mop – but that's already been invented,” he says. “So I came up with the new device called the Boar. I thought of that name for my invention because of the way wild boars are known to feed.” He went on to explain that wild boars stick their snouts into and throughout the leaf litter on the forest floor of their woodland homes to find tasty foods such as roots, flowers, grubs and etc. “It's sort of like that when you're vacuuming,” he says. “What the Boar does is you place it on the floor you want to clean, and after turning it on, you have two choices: the first is to let it do the job. The other choice is to remote control it so that it can get to places the device might not think of getting.” Dr. Crowferd's Boar is controlled by a state-of-the-art thinking-computer inside of it that is able to determine which parts of the floor are dirty and which parts are clean. The scientist also informed me that it works sort of like a vacuum as well – sucking up the filth – since it isn't able to ring itself out like a mop can do. “Another cool feature,” says Dr. Crowferd, “is the Boar's amazing ability to clean carpets and rugs too. So it is, in a sense, a mocuum . . . get it? Mop plus vacuum equals mocuum? Ha, ha . . . yeah. Anyways, I expect that once we've produced enough Boars to sell, they'll literally fly off the shelves. Now that people won't be mopping, they can actually spend time doing other things . . . like being with family and going to church.” Then I asked Dr. Crowferd what exactly the Boar is made to clean up. His response was, “Well . . . it can clean up just about anything, really. Anything from dirt, mud, dust bunnies, lint and many other small objects. Of course, the Boar will never be able to clean up a dirty bedroom filled with things like clothes, toys, books and large objects, so people will still have to do that themselves. Hey! I know what I'm going to start working on tomorrow!” Then, Daniel recommended that I ask Dr. Crowferd if the Boar is environmentally-friendly. “Oh yes, actually,” he says. “The Boar runs on little to no power. We made it so that it can efficiently get the job done. In fact, it runs on the same power as does a large CD player or radio. In the future, I plan to design another edition to the Boar that instead of running on electricity, runs on vegetable oil. I was going to make one that runs off of cat litter but . . . that would have grossed people out too much.” The Boar will be in stores this coming fall, and when this time comes, we can relax and not have to worry about mopping ever again . . . though a large-numbered price tag could potentially cause your ease to vanish. “Yeah, the price of the Boar might be anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a couple hundred thousand dollars at first,” Dr. Crowferd says, “but perhaps once it's been on the market for a while, the price can come down, because everyone hard-working person in the world has the right to sit back, relax, and watch the Boar do all the work!”

Written by: Mr. Smiley

Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan, Joy Hammond

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We here at Smiley’s News, I have been working night and day to get articles ready. I could really use some help! So we are looking for people interested in writing (especially kids and teens). If you are interested, PLEASE(!) send an email to animaladventures@aol.com and save me from working night and day! I’m exhausted!

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Next Issue: A Chat with the "Walking with Dinosaurs - 3D" Stars

Lizzy and the Riddler pt. 1

In this photo, Jack the Jackrabbit helps Lizzy solve a few riddles. Read more about it below!

I finally received my order for a special delivery. It was officially sealed and as heavy as ever. When I opened it there was a tiny piece of paper. I looked into the empty box perplexed. I spent $75 on a surprise for Mr. Smiley and now it was gone. Where is my package? I opened up the note and this is what it read:

 “To save your package, Lizard, You must solve my riddles. What is clean when it's black but dirty when it's white?”

I sit down at my desk, confused. I couldn't tell Mr. Smiley about this because then it would ruin the surprise, of course.

“Think Lizzy, think” I mutter looking around the office.

I watched as Ted put up a few notes on a clean chalkboard, then hurriedly erased the mistakes as best he could. Oh man, I groan. I just washed that board this morning! I quietly sit up in my seat.

“A Chalkboard!!!!” I exclaim excitedly, “It's clean when it's black and dirty when it's white because when you erase the chalk off it gets all musty!”

I hurry over to the chalkboard and peeled off another note. This is what it says:

“Very good Lizzy, here's the next one. What band does not preform, sing, or act?”

I smile happy to know that my package must be somewhere in the facility because of all these pointless riddles here in the office.

“Hm, what band does not preform...sing...or act?” I mumble as Jack the jackrabbit hops into the room.

“Hi Lizzy, what were you just saying?” he asked.

“Oh hi, Jack....this is a random question but are you good at riddles?” I asked, curious.

“Um yeah, a little,” he admitted. “What's the riddle?”

“What band does not preform, sing, or act?” I repeat.

Jack scratched the back of his head and then his eyes land on something on the table in front of me. He starts to laugh.

“That was a pretty good riddle, Lizzy, but not good enough!” he smiles. “A rubber band! HAHA!”

I look down and see a rubber band holding a rolled up index card right in front of me. I watched as Jack hurried away before I unrolled the note.

“Hey!” I remember, “getting help from others is cheating! Never mind, here's the next riddles: 'What has four eyes but cannot see? And what can run but never walk, has a mouth but never talks. Has a head but never weeps. Has a bed but does never sleeps?'”

I sit down and start to think. This is going to be a long day.

To be continued...

Written by: Lizzy the Lizard

Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan and Joy Hammond

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We here at Smiley’s News, I have been working night and day to get articles ready. I could really use some help! So we are looking for people interested in writing (especially kids and teens). If you are interested, PLEASE(!) send an email to animaladventures@aol.com and save me from working night and day! I’m exhausted!

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Next Issue: Chores Are For Boars