Visitors to the Royal Tyrrell Museum got a bonus two weekends ago. In the galleries was a film crew from the hit Nickolodeon show, Dino Dan.
The show was filming in and around the museum from October 19-22 for a 30-minute special episode.
“We’ve been trying to get them out to the museum to do an episode and we were finally able to make it happen,” said Lisa Making, acting Director of Exhibits & Communications.
While filming, the crew was asked to work around the visiting hours of the museum as much as possible. This meant late nights and early mornings for the crew.
“We were pretty strict. They couldn’t interfere with the experience for our visitors. Most people were really curious about what’s going on, but they also want to see our galleries,” said Making. “The crew worked around our visitor hours, so there were some late nights and early mornings.”
The Dino Dan crew also had to battle the elements when they had to film outside in the badlands next to the museum after a blizzard dumped a thick blanket of snow during filming. The crew adjusted the script to incorporate the snow.
The museum is hoping they can get the film crew back for another episode.
“They had a wonderful time and we’re hoping to get them back here again,” said Making. “They were raving about the time. They really want to come back and film here again. We’re going to continue working with them to find a way.”
Dr. Don Henderson, curator of dinosaurs, even got some time to take the show’s stars on a backstage tour of the museum.
The Tyrrell Museum has been working with Dino Dan for the past four years. The museum, in particular Dr. Henderson, reviews scripts and computer animations to ensure they are scientifically accurate.
“They wanted to work with us to check scientific information, so they knew they were getting everything correct,” said Making. “We’ve been involved in reviewing their scripts and animation, we give feedback, and if they have a plot that doesn’t fit with scientific information, we tell them and they make the change.”
The show currently airs on Nickolodeon Jr. and follows Dan, a young boy who imagines dinosaurs in his everyday life. He investigates different aspects of dinosaurs, such as their behaviour and what they may have looked like.
The half hour special is expected to be aired sometime in 2013.
