Race to the Cinema: Dinobots vs. Dinotrux

When I was very young I loved all things big and noisy. Trucks, elephants, and (of course) dinosaurs were my favorite things. Once I discovered dinosaurs my fondness for trucks faded, but I still loved dinosaur-machine hybrids like the "Dinobots" on the Transformers television show.

After the success of the 2007 live-action Transformers film, I was hoping that the Dinobots would appear in the sequel, and early rumors suggested this was being planned. In February last year, however, director Michael Bay confirmed that the Dinobots would not appear in the second film. There simply did not seem to be a good way of explaining why these alien robots would choose to transform into dinosaurs given the story he wanted to tell. I guess the appearance of dinosaurs in a movie about warring robots from outer space that transformed into cars and airplanes just seemed a little too weird...

Whether the Dinobots Grimlock, Slag, Sludge, Snarl, and Swoop will ever appear on screen will likely depend on the success of the second Transformers movie, but never fear, dino fans. It has just been announced that the film studio Dreamworks has acquired the rights to the book Dinotrux about a prehistoric world ruled by dinosaur/truck hybirds. The book is not due to hit the shelves until this summer so it is not clear what the film adaptation would be about, but one way or another, robotic dinosaurs may soon be coming to a theater near you.

Riley Black | | READ MORE

Riley Black is the author of The Last Days of the Dinosaurs and many other books. She is a science correspondent for Smithsonian magazine covering fossils and natural history, and she writes about the prehistoric past for a variety of publications.