TOO BARE BONES : PAGE MUSEUM CATCHING UP TO DINOSAUR CRAZE.Byline: David Bloom David Bloom (May 22, 1963 – April 6, 2003) was an NBC journalist (co-anchor of Weekend Today and reporter) until his sudden death in 2003 at the age of 39. Early life Daily News Staff Writer George C. Page George C. Page was a farmer boy from Fremont, Nebraska who left for California at the age of sixteen because of an orange. He had only $2.30. He worked as a busboy and a dishwasher until he had earned $1000 dollars. may be 95 years old, but he knows what kids want to see. Dinosaurs. Even at the La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits Fossil field in Hancock Park (formerly Rancho La Brea), Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. It is the site of “pitch springs” oozing crude oil, formerly used by local Indians for waterproofing, and was explored by Gaspar de Portolá's expedition in museum named after Page, where the skeletons of dire wolves, American lions, saber-toothed tigers saber-toothed tiger wild cat that died out about 12,000 years ago. [Ecology: Hammond, 290] See : Extinction , giant sloths and woolly mammoths rear up into the imagination, children want some dinosaurs in their prehistoric mix. ``When children hear you have fossils, they think there will be dinosaurs,'' Page said. But there are no dinosaur bones in the tar pits, mostly because they died out 65 million years before the tar pits came along. Consequently, there are no dinosaur bones at the museum either. To make up for that, during the museum's construction in 1977, Page ensured the design included a theater to show dinosaur movies. ``He wanted to give the children their dinosaur fix, yet set them on the right scientific path,'' said John Harris John Harris may refer to: Dr. John Harris Internationlly Known Educator, Speaker, Philosopher, Theologian, and HomileticianItalic text http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography. , the museum's administrator. In recent years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time theater has been showing ``A Whopping Little Dinosaur,'' which is supposed to placate pla·cate tr.v. pla·cat·ed, pla·cat·ing, pla·cates To allay the anger of, especially by making concessions; appease. See Synonyms at pacify. the lizard lust of the 300,000 children who annually visit the Page Museum. Instead, the movie is a dry documentary about the discovery, in a desolate corner of the American West, of a very old, very little and very unimpressive dinosaur called chindesaurus. The documentary says nothing about the museum, the tar pits or what the kids want to really see, Page said. ``The one we've been using recently was just impossible,'' Page said. ``It's just two men tramping about in the hills. The kids would look at that, be bored and walk out in disgust. I thought that had to be corrected.'' So Page, a businessman and philanthropist who designed, built and outfitted the museum with $4 million of his own money and remains its guardian angel guardian angel believed to protect a particular person. [Folklore: Misc.] See : Angel guardian angel term for Christian namesake who watches over a young child. [Christianity: Misc.] See : Guardianship , pulled an added $50,000 out of his own pockets to create a new dinosaur film. He wanted a movie that would have his museum's youthful visitors buzzing, not snoring snoring, rough, vibratory sounds made in breathing during sleep or coma. The noisy breathing is the result of an open mouth and a relaxation of the palate; it is frequently induced by lying on one's back. . At Page's direction, museum staff members found Don Glut - a lifelong dinosaur fan, filmmaker and writer from Burbank whose nickname is ``Dino Don'' - to write and direct the film. ``Of all the people in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , (Glut) probably knows more about dinosaurs than anyone,'' said Harris, himself a paleontologist. ``He's a film buff and a dinosaur nut.'' Glut has authored numerous dinosaur-related films, lectures, books and even scripts for Saturday-morning television shows, he said. He is about to deliver a massive dinosaur encyclopedia to the publisher. And he swears most of his projects have been far more scientifically grounded than his recent opus, ``Dinosaur Valley Girls.'' ``I have dinosaur stuff everywhere,'' said Glut. ``My house is like the Natural History Museum,'' the Page's parent institution in Exposition Park Exposition Park is the name of more than one place:
On Monday at the Page, Glut will film live-action portions of the new movie, using actors to portray a teacher, students and two paleontologists. They will explain why no dinosaur bones are displayed at the Page. ``We're also trying to suggest the Page Museum has many wonderful fossils of a more recent age that the kids will enjoy,'' Glut said. Those scenes will be combined with a series of dinosaur animations created by Fred Tippett, whose more recent work includes portions of ``Jurassic Park'' and ``Dragonheart,'' Glut said. The animations, of ``dinosaurs fighting, laying eggs, eating and just moving about,'' were used in a television special a decade ago and remain scientifically accurate, Glut said. Just as importantly, they're much more fun to watch than ``a bunch of paleontologists in the desert talking,'' which is Glut's description of the current film. ``We'll get rid of a boring movie, explain why there are no dinosaurs at the museum and show the kids some dinosaurs,'' Glut said. The new film should be completed and ready for showing within several weeks. ``We have this film so the children won't leave broken-hearted and disappointed,'' Page said. ``I have every reason to believe this film will accomplish that.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) George Page George Page (31 March 1935–28 June 2006) was an American television host, known for his love for nature and his unique and mellifluous voice. He created the PBS series Nature, and hosted and narrated it from its beginning in 1982 until his retirement in 1998. has made sure that young visitors to the tar pits will see dinosaurs. Tina Gerson/Daily News (2) The Page Museum has turned to filmmaker Don Glut, nicknamed ``Dino Don.'' John McCoy/Daily News |
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