Tyrannosaurus in popular culture

File:JurassicParkTREX.jpg

A CGI T. rex breaks free from its enclosure in the highly acclaimed 1993 Steven Spielberg film Jurassic Park.

Tyrannosaurus rex is unique among dinosaurs in its place in modern culture. At the time of its discovery it was the largest known land predator in history and although it has now been displaced in this respect first by the larger Giganotosaurus, Spinosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, it is still popularly perceived as the most fearsome of all prehistoric creatures. Tyrannosaurus, along with its distant relative Allosaurus, has come to represent the quintessential large, meat eating dinosaur in popular culture and is thought of by people the world over as "King of the Dinosaurs" as its name suggests.

Film appearances

File:Kong vs T-Rex.jpg

Kong wrestles a Tyrannosaurus rex to protect Ann Darrow in a famous scene from the original King Kong film. Of all the scenes in the movie, this was the most difficult and time consuming to animate.

T. rex has played a major role in these films:

• Adventures in Dinosaur City - An anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus named Rex is one of the film's main protagonists.
• Fantasia - The Tyrannosaurus was featured twice during this picture, the first in which a Tyrannosaurus terrorizes a large herd of several different dinosaur species, then fights a winning battle with a Stegosaurus. The second is a sequence showing the death of numerous dinosaurs in the heat of a hot sun. This perhaps shows how the last of the dinosaurs died after a climate change.
• Godzilla - This is not a true Tyrannosaurus, but was inspired by one.
• Ice Age - Tyrannosaurus is seen briefly during scenes in the movie, but plays no large role in the movie.
• Jurassic Park - Tyrannosaurus is the main dinosaur in the film, as well as its first sequel, after it is brought back to life using blood from a fossilized mosquito. After breaking free of its enclosure, the Tyrannosaurus proceeds to hunt and kill scientists and tourists remaining on the island it was placed on.
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park - The Tyrannosaurus reprises its role as the lead dinosaur for the sequel to Jurassic Park. In this film, an infant Tyrannosaurus is seen.
• Jurassic Park III - For the final sequel to the Jurassic Park trilogy, the Tyrannosaurus is defeated by the larger Spinosaurus in the opening stages of the film. The defeat, however, did little to sway the public popularity of the Tyrannosaurus.
• King Kong (1933) - King Kong battles a Tyrannosaurus in a climatic scene to the movie while trying to protect Ann Darrow.
• King Kong (2005) - Actually "Vastatosaurus rex", a fictional species which supposedly evolved from T. rex. King Kong is depicted numerous times fighting the dinosaurs, and they often hunt the film crew throughout the film.

File:Sharptooth vs Littlefoot's Mom.jpg

Sharptooth, a villainous T. rex, battles Littlefoot's Mother in the 1988 Don Bluth animated Film The Land Before Time.

• The Land Before Time - The series featured Sharptooth and many others Tyrannosaurids. A young, friendly Tyrannosaurus named Chomper becomes an important minor character to the film series.
• The Last Dinosaur.
• Night at the Museum - The upcoming movie features a T-Rex skeleton chasing Ben Stiller in a Museum
• Planet of the Dinosaurs - A Spaceship crashes on an uncharted planet, inhabited by creatures identical to Dinosaurs, including a Tyrannosaurus.
• Prehysteria - A baby T-Rex named "Elvis" (after Elvis Presly) is one of many baby dinosaurs featured in the film. The name appears to be a pun; Elvis Presly is the "King of Rock n' Roll", and Tyrannosaurus Rex means "Tyrant Lizard King."
• Raptor - In the 2001 Roger Corman movie the creatures are said to be Tyrannosaurus rather than the Velociraptor the title refers to. In fact, the word Raptor isn't used throughout the entire film.
• Theodore Rex.
• Toy Story - In the Disney/Pixar film Toy Story and its sequel Toy Story 2 Tyrannosaurus is portrayed as a T rex toy named "Rex".
• Toy Story 2 - "Rex" appears again in this film.
• The Valley of Gwangi - Gwangi is technically meant to be an Allosaurus but Ray Harryhausen based his model for the creature off a Tyrannosaurus. Harryhausen often confuses the two, stating in a DVD interview "We called it an Allosaurus, occasionally... they're both meat eaters, they're both Tyrants... one was just a bit larger then the other."
• We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story - A friendly, intelligent, genetically enhanced Tyrannosaurus named Rex is the film's main character and narrator.

Television appearances

File:FGViewerMail1.png

Peter Griffin transforms into a T. rex in the Family Guy episode "Family Guy Viewer Mail". Another Tyrannosaurus rex would be seen in a cutaway gag in the direct to DVD Family Guy movie, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.

• Barney and Friends - Barney the Dinosaur is a Tyrannosaurus.
• Black Cat - In this Manga/Anime series a Tyrannosaurus called Flora appears as the mascot of a rich woman.
• Blackadder: Back & Forth - Blackadder encounters a T. rex while time-travelling in this one-off special.
• Dino Riders - The arch-villain, Lord Krulos, used a Tyrannosaurus rex as his mount.
• Dinosaucers - The arch-villain of the program, "Genghis Rex", is an evolved Tyrannosaurus.
• Dinosaurs - The television series featured a Tyrannosaurus (Roy Hess, named after the petrol company) as the Sinclair's neighbor.
• Dinozaurs -In this anime series there is a tyrannosaurus with the ability to transform who goes by the name of Dino Tyranno. Dino Tyranno is the leader of the Dino Knights. He and the other 7 Core Dino Knights reside in the Dinoterium as skeleton-displays in the musiem. He wields the Silver Sword.
• Doctor Who - The Tyrannosaurus rex made a brief appearance in the episode "Invasion of the Dinosaurs".
• Kyoryuu Sentai ZyuRanger - Geki aka "TyrannoRanger" in Kyoryuu Sentai ZyuRanger, which is a part of Japan's Super Sentai series, uses the power of the Tyrannosaurus. Also, later the Sentai program Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger had a character, Ryouga Hakua aka "Abared", use the power of the Tyrannosaurus as well.
• Land of the Lost - "Grumpy" is the nickname given to a reoccuring Tyrannosaurus Rex which is always chasing after the Marshall family.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Jason Lee Scott, a character in the program, had the power of the Tyrannosaurus. In addition, a later character, Conner McKnight from Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, used the Tyrannosaurus as a power source as well. Both of these shows are based off the sentai footage from Zyuranger and Abaranger.
• Prehistoric Park - A pack of Tyrannosaurus feature heavily in the series' first episode as Nigel Marven attempts to capture one. Their growing pains are also heavily featured throughout the six episodes of the series, culminating in an escape attempt by the female, Matilda, in the final episode.
• Red Dwarf - The crew of Red Dwarf encountered a Tyrannosaurus in the two-parter episode Pete when they accidentally created one by de-evolving a sparrow.
• The Simpsons - Homer Simpson encounters a T. rex when he travels back in time in the episode Treehouse of Horror V. The animal attacks Homer, but he kills it by sneezing and infecting it with the common cold.
• Teen Titans - One of Beast Boy's morphs is that of a green Tyrannosaur. Rarely seen, it is his most powerful.
• The Transformers - T rex appeared as the modes of several different Transformers, including Dinobot leader Grimlock and the robot mode of the Decepticon city Trypticon . In Beast Wars, Tyrannosaurus also featured as the alternate mode of Predacon leader Megatron( the Beast Wars and Beast Machines version rather than the G1 incarnation). He was also altered into a metallic version of a Tyrannosaurus in later series.
• The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurus has one of the main roles in the first episode of the series when pitted against aTriceratops in an animated fight. The program seeks to find which dinosaur would have defeated the other.
• Walking With Dinosaurs - Tyrannosaurs are featured heavily in the last episode of the documentary series.
• When Dinosaurs Roamed America - Tyrannosaurus has one of the main roles.
• The Wiggles - In this Australian childrens TV show the character "Dorothy the Dinosaur" is a stylized adaptation of a Tyrrannosaurus.

Computer and video games

Various incarnations of, and creatures based on T. rex have also appeared in computer and video games:

• 3D Monster Maze
• Banjo-Tooie - In this Nintendo 64 game, Banjo the bear is able to become either an infant Tyrannosaurus rex or an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, depending on the size of Humba Wumba's wigwam at the time of transformation.
• Crash Bandicoot: Warped - Crash is able to ride a baby Tyrannosaurus after he jumps on its egg in the levels Dino Mite! and Eggipus Rex.
• Dino Crisis - This series features the T. rex.
• Dino Stalkers.
• Doom 3 - The Guardian of Hell from this sci-fi video game is said by the creators to be a demonic dinosaur.
• Final Fantasy 8 - The T-Rexaur in the game's Training Centre.
• Final Fantasy 12 - The Rockeater.
• Final Fantasy Mystic Quest - Flamerous Rex.
• Freedom Force.
• Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis.
• Paraworld.
• Primal Rage - As the characters "Diablo" and "Sauron".
• Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge.
• Tomb Raider and its sequels, Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III.
• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - A cybernetic Tyrannosaurus is a boss character in the game.
• Turok Evolution.
• Savage Quest - The game features a Tyrannosaurus as the main protaganistic role.
• Star Fox Adventures - The RedEyes.
• Super Mario - The series features Yoshi, based on the T. rex.
• World of Warcraft - A jungle-themed area contains monsters named "Devilsaurs" which are heavily modeled on T. Rex
• Zoo Tycoon - T. rex is one of the four dinosaurs that appear in the Zoo Tycoon: Dino Danger expansion pack for both Zoo Tycoon and its sequel, Zoo Tycoon 2. Also in the Zoo Tycoon series, if a Tyrannosaurus and a Spinosaurus are put together they will battle each other with the Tyrannosaurus emerging the victor.

Toys

File:Csmegatronii2.jpg

Megatron in the form of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

Numerous Tyrannosaurus merchandise and toys have been produced, particularly after the Jurassic Park films:

• The famous Carnegie Museum Dinosaur Collection toy line released two versions of the dinosaur; the second version is more in line with modern scientific understanding, and feaures a better paint job.
• In the Lego Dino Attack line the Tyrannosaurs came in two colours (green and red), both of which stand 25 cm tall. Both feature light-up eyes and tongues, and have hinged jaws for "dino-chomping action".
• Various large scale Tyrannosaurus rex toys were released for the Jurassic Park toyline, including the Electronic T. rex, Young T. rex, Thrasher T. rex, Bull T. rex and Omega T. rex.
• The King Kong action figures included Vastatosaurus Rex, an evolved version of the dinosaur as featured in the 2005 film.
• The Transformers characters of Grimlock, Snapdragon, Overkill, Trypticon, Gigastorm, Megatron and T-Wrecks each turn into a Tyrannosaurus rex.
• In the Zoids model series, the Godkaiser, Geno Saurer, Geno Breaker, Berserk Fury, Gairyuki and Bio Tyranno are all patterened after the Tyrannosaurus, although the God Kaiser's resemblance to Tyrannosaurus is minimal at best. Gojulas Giga resembles a Tyrannosaur as well but is actually a Giganotosaurus. The Deadborder also resembles a Tyrannosaurus, but is actually based on its close relative Tarbosaurus, although an unreleased Hasbro variant would have been named "Battle Rex". An unreleased Gravity Zoid also exists, which is based on a Tyrannosaurus. Also, various Organoids are based on Tyrannosaurus.
• Tyrannosaurus Rex is Monster in My Pocket #6, but appears to be a legal way of including Godzilla without paying a license. A more accurate likeness of Tyrannosaurus rex was #145.

Other

Tyrannosaurus has appeared in many mediums and is perhaps one of the most widely used dinosaurs in existence.

• Jake, Marco, Cassie, and Ax from the book series Animorphs once had the opportunity to morph into Tyrannosaurs in Megamorphs #2: In the Time of Dinosaurs. It is noted that this morph was one of the hardest for them to control, and at the end of the book they lose the T. rex morph.
• Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes, often fantasises about dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex in particular. In one story arc, Calvin had to write a school paper and chose to write about the T. rex Predator/Scavenger debate. He believed T. rex was a predator simply because "They're so much cooler that way."
• The Marvel Character Devil Dinosaur appears to be based on a Tyrannosaurus.
• A Tyrannosaurus is also the main character in Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North.
• Tyrannosaurus rex was featured in Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park, and its sequel, The Lost World. Its skeleton is also shown on the covers of the books.
• The Quintaglios from Robert J. Sawyer's Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy are a race of highly evolved, sentient Tyrannosaurs decended from Nanotyrannus. Tyrannosaurus rex itself was represented within the series as well, in the form of the Blackdeath, the biggest carnivores living on the Quintaglio moon.
• The popular 1970s glam rock band T. Rex took their name from the dinosaur.
• T-Rex is a brand of popular radio-controlled helicopter models named after the dinosaur. [1]
• Sinclair Oil ads from the 1950s frequently featured T. rex.[2]
• A full-scale replica of the Sue T. rex specimen is on display in DinoLand U.S.A., at the entrance to Dinosaur: the Ride, at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. [3] There is also a T. rex featured in the Jurassic Park River Adventure in Universal Studios Hollywood and at the Universal Orlando Resort, Florida. In both instances they are animatronic, and appear to attack those on the ride, who (of course) successfully escape.
• A Tyrannosaurus rex named "Rex" stars as the protagonist of the children's book "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story." This book was later adapted into a feature-length film.