man-creates-dinosaurs:

History and Evolution of the Rhedosaurus: Pop-Culture’s First Great Fictional Dinosaur

1) In June of 1951, The Saturday Evening Post published acclaimed science-fiction author Ray Bradbury’s short story THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS. The tale concerned a pair of lighthouse keepers who have an unusual encounter when a dinosaur attacks their lighthouse, mistaking the sound of the foghorn for the cry of one of its own kind. This illustration by James Bingham accompanied the original printing of the story.

2) Another painting of the climatic scene from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, by none other then celebrated Czech paleo-artist Zdeněk Burian, c. 1981.

3) In October of 1953 Toby Press adapted Bradbury’s story for comics, though Bradbury himself was not credited. It appeared in Tales of Horror #7 under the title “The Beast from the Deep.” A pretty girl was added to the proceedings but otherwise the story was unchanged.

4) In 1953, following the successful 1951 re-release of KING KONG (1933), Warner Brothers purchased the rights to adapt Bradbury’s story for film. The movie debuted in June and was directed by Eugène Lourié with stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen and stared Paul Christian as nuclear physicist Professor Tom Nesbitt - who accidentally awakens the Rhedosaurus from his icy slumber when he detonates an atomic bomb in the artic circle - and Cecil Kellaway as Dr. Thurgood Elson a paleontologist who’s elation over finding a live dinosaur ends tragically. The film was a box office hit and cemented the reputation of Harryhausen as Hollywood’s foremost special-effects artist for years to come.

5) The film version of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (June, 1953) had more to do with the Rhedosaurus running amok in New York City then it did its melancholy encounter with a single lighthouse, but the dinosaur does destroy one on his way to the Big Apple in homage to the source material. As a result of the film’s success the original Bradbury story began to be published under an alternate title, THE FOG HORN, in order to avoid confusion.

6) In Japan the film was released under the title 原子怪獣現わる/Genshi Kaijū Arawaru/AN ATOMIC KAIJU APPEARS (Dec. 1954)

7) The Rhedosaurus also showed up in the 1988 Topps trading card series DINOSAURS ATTACK! alongside the Paleosaurus from THE GIANT BEHEMOTH (1959), another dinosaur-on-the-loose flick from none other then BEAST director Eugène Lourié. Artist unknown.

8) In order to capitalize off the film Toho Studios produced their own radioactive dinosaur film ゴジラ/Gojira/GODZILLA (Nov. 1954). In 1979 a Japanese children’s book, “Great Scholar’s Training: Giant Monsters Of The World,” featured a series of illustrations pitting Japanese kaijū against American “gaijū” (i.e. foreign monsters) including Godzilla vs. the Rhedosaurus! Artist unknown.

9) The Rhedosaurus made a cameo in the 1977 B-movie PLANET OF DINOSAURS directed by James Shea with stop-motion effects by Douglas Beswick, Stephen Czerkas and James Aupperle. The stop-motion is the only thing that’s good about this film.

10) The Rhedosaurus by artist William Stout, c. 2013