Creature Technology Co. creates the world’s most technologically sophisticated, creatively inspired, and lifelike animatronics for arena spectaculars, theme parks, exhibitions, stage shows and events. The firm has a longstanding relationship with Universal Creative, most recently seen in its work on Jurassic World Adventure and How to Train Your Dragon: Untrainable at Universal Studios Beijing. Both of these attractions will be recognised with Thea Awards at this year’s Thea Awards Gala.
Previous award-winning projects include the Kong puppet in King Kong: Alive on Broadway and Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular. The company also worked on Skull Island: Reign of Kong at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando.
The origins of Creature Technology Co.
“Creature Technology Co. is an animatronics company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. We are, essentially, a one-stop shop for high-end, sophisticated animatronics.
“We’ve been around for about 15 years, and we began with the Walking with Dinosaurs project, which really put us on the map,” explains Tilders, referring to the wildly successful arena show based on the popular BBC television series of the same name.”
“It started as a project, and it became a business! We brought the sophistication of film animatronics to the live arena. That’s become one of our unique selling points, to raise the bar of what’s typically seen with animatronics in live entertainment settings.”
A career in the film & TV world
Tilders has over 30 years of experience in animatronics and puppetry, starting in the world of film and TV.
“I studied design at university then found myself working for a company that made props, models, and special effects for TV commercials, shows and films. This was back in the late 80s and early 90, before CGI had taken over. It was wonderful because there were so many tricky and complex things to do back then that you’re never going to be asked to do today! Such is the power of computer graphics.”
“Then I freelanced for about 10 years. I worked on some of the films that were coming to Australia at the time. The US, in particular, was doing a lot of their big-budget, effects-based films outside the US because it was cheaper. I was able to work on some big feature films, such as Star Wars, and TV series like Farscape. I really cut my teeth on that sort of work.”
Farscape was a Jim Henson Company production for the Syfy Channel back in the early 2000s:
“It had a space travel setting with a group of people who came across aliens of all descriptions. So, we got to make new a new alien every few weeks, using the Jim Henson Company’s control system and a range of things like that. It was really formative for my specialisation in animatronics.”
Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular
Then, in 2006, a producer in Melbourne approached Tilders about the opportunity to head up the design and build team for Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular. It was an incredibly ambitious project – to bring audiences face to face with the most realistic, lifelike recreations of iconic, large dinosaurs, which needed to roam freely around an arena floor.
“We gathered a team of 50 people from the production, design and fabrication disciplines. In 12 months, we produced a complete touring set of 16 dinosaurs. It was a ground-breaking development in large-scale live puppetry. And it is one I feel really hasn’t been matched since!”
The tour went several times around the world over the subsequent decade, often outselling the mega rock tours of U2 and Madonna. The project set the foundation for what was to come.
Creating King Kong
Following the success of Walking with Dinosaurs, the production’s principal investor, Australian businessman Gerry Ryan, partnered with Tilders to create Creature Technology Co. The new firm went on to create arena shows based on How to Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks. These were in a similar vein to Walking with Dinosaurs, large-scale touring shows that used complex, animatronic creatures as part of the storytelling.
From there, the team worked with its associated producing entity, Global Creatures, to develop its own show concept, one that wasn’t beholden to existing IP.
“King Kong was out of copyright at that stage,” he says. “So, we had this crazy idea to produce our own version of King Kong as a stage show.
“The puppet we developed for that show still stands as one of our proudest achievements. It was the test bed for a lot of the creatures we’ve developed in recent years. Existing techniques, new innovations, and a lot of clever thinking coalesced in this one project. For instance, it incorporated our approach to lightweight steel structures, our use of muscle bags and inflatables, and our innovations in pneumatic systems.
“That’s all great, but it’s just technology. What I love most about the King Kong animatronic is that it became an incredibly engaging character. Not only was it spectacular, but it was also incredibly emotive, and audiences and actors could empathize with this terrifying beast. It was critical to the story that we created this sense of connection on and off stage.”
Making creations believable
The King Kong project went on to win a Special Tony Award for the company.
“That’s probably my favourite puppet, partly because of the award, but also because it embraced the practical. When you’re making puppets, you can’t ignore physics. If you do, or you try to beat physics into submission, you’ll lose. You have to choose the right technique for the right outcome.
“Kong utilised a combination of traditional and high-tech puppetry techniques. It’s essentially a giant string puppet, but the strings are heavy-duty cables that go up to an automation system. Then there’s a whole bunch of tech on the inside to do the things you can’t do with human power. For example, the mechanical actuators that control Kong’s facial expressions. We also embraced visual puppetry, where you can see the performers manipulating the creature directly.
“With any project, you’re just trying to make the most effective choices, all in abeyance to this idea of bringing the creature to life and ensuring audiences absolutely believe that they’re seeing a sentient being on stage.
“That’s really what floats our boat. We’re not into technology for the sake of it. If we haven’t succeeded in creating that believable level of lifelike engagement, then we haven’t succeeded, full stop.”
Creature Technology Co. and Universal Creative
It was this project that brought the company to the attention of Universal Creative, kickstarting a partnership that has lasted years and delivered a number of projects.
“Universal Creative was looking for a company to help them with Skull Island: Reign of Kong, which was a new attraction at Islands of Adventure in Orlando,” explains Tilders. “They had used a lot of media in other attractions and wanted to create an experience that combined media with something visceral, something that couldn’t be replicated at home.”
“There are a lot of dynamic and exciting moments incorporating CGI. But Universal wanted a sting in the tail, they wanted guests to come face-to-face with Kong. When you want to create that more intimate connection, that’s the right time to use animatronics.
“They were looking for a partner with experience in large-scale animatronics. It’s notoriously difficult to get something that not only looks amazing and realistic but also goes the distance. The physical challenges ramp up considerably when you’re dealing with something so large. Particularly something that you want to look dynamic and to last.”
Entering the world of theme park attractions
Universal Creative initially approached Creature Technology to be part of a consortium working on the Skull Island: Reign of Kong project.
“To that stage, we’d only done theatre shows. These typically have three shows a day, and maybe half an hour of cycling. Whereas for a theme park, you’re cycling for up to 16 hours a day. But we knew we could pull it off. We were able to convince them to give us a chance, and we have worked extensively with them ever since.”
Sonny TildersWe knew that we could pull off the sort of stuff we were doing in theatre for theme parks. We just needed someone to take a gamble with a little company on the other side of the world, and Universal Creative did
“They sent out one of their senior engineers who went through the place with a fine-toothed comb and reported back to Universal that we could do it, and that we wouldn’t need another engineering company to help us develop the mechanical side of Kong.
“That project was the game changer for us. We knew that we could pull off the sort of stuff we were doing in theatre for theme parks. We just needed someone to take a gamble with a little company on the other side of the world, and Universal Creative did. This set up an amazing strategic partnership between us that continues to this day.”
An unforgettable dinosaur experience at Universal Studios Beijing
After the Skull Island: Reign of Kong project was delivered, another Universal project soon followed. This time, the Creature Technology Co. team worked with Universal Studios Beijing, on its award-winning Jurassic World Adventure attraction.
“We were involved fairly early on, working with Universal Creative’s Dan Jenkins, creative director of the attraction, to get the most out of the creatures. It was great fun working with Dan because we reverted to old-school techniques. For instance, we made little stop-motion figures of the creatures and used iPhones to try and zoom in and get the audience’s point of view. We tried to rough it out in a kind of freehand way, so we could explore the best way to encounter these things.
“Of course, in theme parks, you’ve got to do all these things safely. You’ve got to deal with audience proximity and reach bubbles and envelopes etc. So how do you get the most dynamic experience whilst accounting for all these sorts of things? That’s one of the toughest things to do because you can’t zoom in for a close-up like you can on TV or in a movie.”
A challenging and rewarding project for Creature Technology Co.
“It was great that they allowed us to collaborate so deeply at that early stage,” continues Tilders. “We worked through the ride and together we came up with several scenes to convey the idea of this one marauding Indominus Rex that has escaped from its compound.”
“The I-Rex is seen in three or four different scenes, from the first encounter with the ride vehicle, through to the pinnacle, and as far as I’m concerned, of the whole ride – a never-been-done-before payoff for the whole attraction where you get chased by a huge I-Rex! It was incredibly challenging, but also really satisfying in just how close we got people to the gnashing teeth to create such a compelling experience.”
How to Train Your Dragon: Untrainable
In addition to this, Creature Technology Co. created the spectacular flying dragon for How to Train Your Dragon: Untrainable, also at Universal Studios Beijing.
“For the How to Train your Dragon: Untrainable show, we created a variety of showpieces, including Toothless, the hero of the story. It’s a thrilling show and is one of the most stunning reveals I’ve ever seen.”
“Toothless flies around the audience, supported by projections on all the walls, so you get that sense of flight, alongside the physical movement of the creature. It has a rider onboard and once it lands on stage it has an incredible connection with the performers. So it couldn’t just be a simple ride vehicle, it had to be expressive. We added a number of onboard elements that allow control of some of the more nuanced behaviours of the creature.”
Awards recognition
Universal Studios Beijing was recognised in the 29th Annual Thea Awards for both How to Train Your Dragon: Untrainable and Jurassic World Adventure. The Theas were created by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), a non-profit organisation representing compelling places and experiences worldwide, to celebrate individuals, projects, and technologies in the arena of themed attractions and experiences across the globe.
“The Thea Awards are like the Oscars for the themed entertainment sector,” says Tilders. “So, they mean a lot, particularly as they are voted for by people who know the industry well.”
“You create these big multi-year projects, and in this particular case we installed it with Universal Creative in the middle of a pandemic, and for it to then become so well received, it’s wonderful for Universal Destinations & Experiences as well as the wider team to get that recognition that we’re doing something world-class. It’s not why we do it, but it is the cherry on top.
“We do it because we’re excited about the audience and the guest experience. I love puppetry because it’s the idea that you are allowing people to see something that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to see when they step outside. You’re bringing them something otherworldly and giving them the sense of other creatures. I think that’s incredibly compelling and exciting.”
What’s next?
Creature Technology Co. is not, however, resting on its laurels. There are a number of interesting projects in the pipeline, teases Tilders.
“We’re developing a whole bunch of new things, including some new software and ways to control creatures. We’ve done some incredibly ambitious and exciting projects, and each time we do something, people see what we can do. Then they want that, but with some extra spin on it. Everything seems to be pushing us further and further into more challenging territory, and that’s what excites us.”
When it comes to the reasons for the firm’s success, he credits both the team and the philosophy behind Creature Technology Co.
“We’ve got an incredible bunch of people, amazingly astute and sharp engineers, incredible creatives, and adept knowledge workers. We’ve built that up over many years. It’s a testament to our culture that we’ve retained a lot of those people over a long period.
“That’s certainly one of our strong points. The other one is our philosophy. That grew out of my experience in the film world, where you are both designer and maker, creative and technician. I’ve never separated those ways of thinking, and you have to bring that to the table in an integrated way every day to succeed at this.
“When you’re making something small, it’s easy. You’re making all these compromises and design choices in your head. You have to work that much harder to do it at scale, at a company-wide level. You’ve got all these incredibly smart people who are experts at what they do, and the challenge is to bring it all together so that everyone’s thinking is aligned, to make something that just works. When a design works well, we say it has an elegance – a seeming simplicity that belies just how difficult it was to achieve.”
A unique philosophy at Creature Technology Co.
“I think that’s something we do incredibly well, and it’s something that Universal Creative noticed – the way we integrate different types of thinking that are too often segregated in other organizations.
“We’re unified by this one idea. Every time we’re making a design decision or a choice about which way to go, we always ask the question, ‘How does it affect the guest experience?’”
“It seems like a really simple thing to ask. But when it underpins all your decisions, it prevents you from getting railroaded, from overthinking something, from investing money and effort in an area that’s not important. It prevents you from falling in love with the machine.
“We don’t see ourselves as either a technically driven company or a creatively driven company. We see ourselves as a design company in which creativity and technology are just levers we can pull to solve a problem. Also, Australians are quite innovative because we have to make do with what we have. We don’t have Europe on our doorstep, or easy access to the vast resources of the USA, and that pushes us to innovate and improvise. It’s a potent mix!”
