Children's Museum

Mascot Parade at the Children’s Museum.

February 19, 2014Leave a Comment

Closing time at the Children’s Museum

Rex stands at the top floor of the museum. He has a big, rainbow colored belly & he knows how to move it. He has a big tail that he knows how to wiggles when he walks.

Rex, with wholly, unfettered joy, starts off the Mascot Parade at the Children’s Museum. Children follow Rex the Dinosaur round and round, down the 4 story ramp.

The Mascot Parade at the Children’s Museum

Children beg their parents to go to the Rex Parade at the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis. Colored flags are shared, hops and skips are practiced. It’s fun to follow and mimic Rex. The children finesse their hops, skips and flag waving. The parade meanders down the 4 story ramp that spirals down to the first floor, through the entryway (or exitway) and out the door.

Here’s the video: End of Day Parade w/ Rex mascot

The parade is an exuberant blast of fun. It is also a way to close down the museum for the night. The Rex mascot parade is a daily event – yes. It is also a fun, efficient and kind way to close down the museum.

Rex Rules!

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Mascot Evolution – Rex’s BIG (and little) Mascot Patterns

January 20, 20132 Comments

We have been riffling through Rex pattern pieces labeled:

Rex/1998 nose – CF
Rex/2003 & 2007 side head – cut 2
Rex/2003 front leg – really short
Rex 1998, 2003, 2007, 2011 eyelid

This is mascot evolution. All of the patterns are drafted at our studio out of heavy, brown Kraft paper. Apparently the eyelid for Rex – the smallest pattern piece of all – is the one pattern piece that has remained the same!

We have been creating and re-creating and re-imagining Rex , the mascot for the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis since the early 1990’s. We can trace the evolution of Rex through the patterns.

What has changed on Rex over the years?

The size of the head has changed, the size and curve of the tail, the color of the tongue, the placement of the nostrils, Many of the changes have been for the comfort of the performer. Some have been carefully considered and planned, some have just happened in the constructing – when a hint of sparkle seemed just right.

The 3 toed foot looks the same from year to year, but the inner mechanism of the shoe have changed considerably.

As in all things – it’s not just what you see on the outside. The inner engineering and workings of a mascot are just as important as the outside appearance.

Pattern pieces migrate, and don’t always get back to where they belong. So we may have a Dinosaur sleeve from 1998 that looks wrong for a mascot is 2011, yet none of the sleeves after 1998 can be found.

Through all of the changes and manipulations in patterns & engineering, the essence of Rex remains the same. Rex requires yards and yards and yards of custom-dyed Muppet Fleece – dyed to a special “RexGreen” by our dynamite dyer, Robbie Stanton.

Rex is a big, rainbow bellied & tailed, loving, welcoming Dinosaur with a lovely Dino smile. Rex – End of the Day parade

Defying Gravity in Mascotdom

March 27, 2011Leave a Comment

Many parents have told me that their children beg to go to the museum so that they can wave a flag on the Rex parade…..and be led out of the museum.

The daily Rex Parade is the gentle way to lead children and adults through the Children’s Museum and out the door at closing time.

We are the ones who make the big, rainbow bellied Dinosaur.

Rex is a mascot engineering miracle.

The law of gravity is a law that usually wins. Rex’s tail defies gravity. It takes a lot of engineering to defy gravity.