June 5, 2008

Muppets, Dinosaurs and Ponies... Oh my!

When I was young I remember going to see Sesame Street Live with my mom, aunt and cousin. I really don't remember anything about the show itself, but I do remember going and sitting in my seat. I think we bought peanuts and one of those cool fiber optic wand things. I thought the show was fun, and luckily I was never one of those kids who was freaked out by costumed characters. I think kids either go one way or the other. Some kids go to Disney World and can't wait to get a hug from Mickey or Minnie, others are so terrified of these giant characters they run in the other direction.

A few weeks ago I saw a commercial for a new show that will have kids going nuts over it or cause scarring night terrors for the majority of their adult life. It's called Walking With Dinosaurs and I think it looks like the coolest. show. ever. Take a look at the trailer and just try to convince yourself that you don't want to go see this.



I seriously want to go to this. Jeanette- Are you still in? They have a whole YouTube channel devoted to Walking With Dinosaurs... it's amazing. Seriously. Let's go. The best tickets are only $99 and considering that it costs $350 to see that other dinosaur show (sorry, Madonna) I think it's well worth the cash.

There was another live show make its rounds across the country that I can't go without mentioning, too. Unlike Walking with Dinosaurs, this one looks like the most terrifying experience a child can have, besides maybe a visit from Buffo. Behold the horror of My Little Pony Live.



Truly frightening.

In theory, you would assume that a children's show of realistic-looking, life-sized dinosaurs would be a lot scarier than a group of colorful and happy ponies, but in practice it's a completely different story. Maybe I just have a warped sense of what's going on under those puppets. Under the dinosaurs I imagine there are master puppeteers and acrobats who have trained for years to believably manipulate these giant beasts. Under the ponies I just picture unsuccessful musical theater majors who are just happy to have a job where they don't have to explain that "tall" actually means "small" to Midwestern tourists.

Discuss.