For over a quarter of a century, the talented cast & crew at Animal Makers have been designing, building and performing the finest animal replicas, puppets and rigs. Hollywood's top directors and producers have learned to rely on the integrity, quality and attention to detail that is exhibited in so much of our work.

Each figure we create has it's own personality and "look". The project may be in electronic media (television, commercial film, feature film, or game), zoos, museums, trade show booths, hotel displays, and high end personal collections all feature our works.

This is 21st century taxidermy. The subjects of our art actually live through the experience! Then their animatrons perform actions by taking advantage of the latest in robotic control systems.

As commissioned art that seeks to recreate nature as it is. This takes time, experience, patience and ability. Each request is individual and specialized. We may use parts from other projects, or sculpt a new face as part of your project.

Managing your commission has been made easier by use of the internet. Each project gets assigned a web page at the Animal Makers web site. This page shows key update images of the works in progress. This allows your creative team to analyze the work and help direct the artists.

You can take advantage of the $35 million has been invested in the patterns, molds and animatronic designs, that help to create the animal figures you see on the website. Thousands of sculptures have been preserved as interlocking molds. These molds can create additional models, as you request. Each model figure is created to your individual taste.

The movie "Jurassic Park" signaled the wide spread acceptance of animatronic animals and contributed greatly to the development of animatronic engineering. Hundreds of temporary film crew learned the inner secrets of the science of bringing models to life. Aerospace mold makers were brought in to teach their craft. Hydraulics engineers were consulted with a use they never considered. Large plastics vendors were introduced to the entertainment industry. After the movie's preparation and shooting, many of these artists and technicians came to work at Animal Makers. The first projects using these technological developments were "Flipper" and a commercial for Choice Hotels featuring a friendly dinosaur. This developing technology moved here and has continued ever since. Quality look and performance demands the active coordination of three different departments.

Let us take a look at your project. The first thing to think about is, what's your budget in time and money? The level of the work can be adjusted to meet your needs.

1. Do you want movement in the character?
2. What types of movement would you like to see?
3. Who would do the controlling of actions?
4. Should those moves be preprogrammed?
5. Or performed by the passersby?
6. Is it to be presented outdoors? Indoors?
7. In a trade show? On a film set? In a museum?
8. Should the presentation be mobile or permanent?
9. Should the materials used in construction be stiff or flexible?
10. Are there several characters to be created?
11. Is there an existing live animal to be re-created?
12. When do you need it completed and delivered?
13. If it's a filmed production, is the shoot union or not?
14. How do you want to mount this into your project?
15. Should your new animal make sounds?

The answers to these questions are affected by the budget. With enough time and money, anything can be achieved. When there are significant limitations in either time or money, than we need to start prioritizing.

This must seem like a lot of questions. When you are commissioning custom work, you get to control all of these factors and more. That's why we start with your overall budget, to make sure that the responses to these questions fit.

The variations are endless. Fill out this form to tell us what you are dreaming about.

Jim Boulden, Creative Director, Animal Makers Inc