Carlo Rambaldi | Rex: A Dinosaur's Story (1993) | 恐竜物語

SCREEN-USED ‘BABY REX’ ANIMATRONIC BY CARLO RAMBALDI FOR JAPANESE CULT CLASSIC

With themes inspired by both Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and the Jurassic Park franchise, Rex: A Dinosaur’s Story follows the story of Chie, a young girl who discovers an unhatched Tyrannosaurus Rex egg while on caving expedition with her paleontologist father. Together with Chie’s estranged mother—who happens to be an embryologist working in New York City—and through a series of fantastical experiments, Chie and her scientist parents incubate and hatch the found egg, bring to life an infant dinosaur Chie simply names, ‘Rex.’ The rest of the plot follows the friendship that develops between Chie and Rex, Rex’s rise to national fame following an appearance on television, and the return of Rex to his natural environment to evade government exploitation.

The film’s baby dino was brought to life by Carlo Rambaldi, who constructed and operated animatronic models of Rex at all stages of his development. The present lot is an animatronic baby Rex, with mobile head and tail. Rex was the second highest grossing film of 1993 and remained distributor Shochiku’s highest-grossing release for the next nine years, until their Japanese release of The Lord of the Rings in 2002.

About Carlo Rambaldi

This lot a highlight of the curated collection from the estate of Carlo Rambaldi—Italian special effects artist, animatronics pioneer, and ‘Monster Maker’—that Sotheby’s is honored to bring to auction this April.

Born in Northern Italy’s Vigarano Mainarda, Carlo Rambaldi began exploring the world of sculpture and puppetry from the age of five. After graduating from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna in 1951, Rambaldi’s career as a commercial artist would lead him to becoming one of the most influential special effects artists in the history of contemporary film. Rambaldi worked on over 65 films in Europe before emigrating to the U.S. to work on Dino De Laurentis’ King Kong in 1975. The 40-foot, mechanical ape Rambaldi built for the 1976 Kong film introduced his artistry to the American market, secured his first Academy Award, and cemented his place in the American film industry.

In 1977, Rambaldi collaborated with Steven Spielberg for the first time to create the extraterrestrials for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. E.T. swiftly followed, and Rambaldi would receive his third Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for this collaboration. The career of Carlo Rambaldi traces a path through the some of the greatest science fiction and horror works of the 20th century—including credits on Alien (1979), Possession (1981), The Hand (1981), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Conan the Destroyer (1984), David Lynch’s Dune (1984), Cat’s Eye (1985).